After a two-year hiatus, Bellingham Arts and Music Festival (BAMF!) will return to the Lookout Arts Quarry Aug. 20–21, offering a lineup of 25-plus artists from Bellingham and beyond.
This year’s edition — dubbed “bby BAMF!” — condenses the previously two-day festival into a tight 24 hours of around-the-clock local music and art.
The event’s role as a staple in Bellingham’s music scene dates back to 2017 when founder Olas Perpich developed the festival as part of his senior project at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College. While creating his own degree around event production, Perpich met BAMF! co-founder Monica Griffin, and the two connected over a shared love for music and live events. That same year, the first BAMF! took place.
“I don’t think Bellingham had seen anything quite like that before,” Perpich said. “We had, like, 600 people at the quarry. It went pretty well, and we didn’t go broke.”
Like this year’s version, the first BAMF! took place over the course of 24 hours. After successfully running the format for two years, Perpich and Griffin decided to expand to two days for BAMF! 2019, presenting more than 50 local performers across six performance areas. The expanded festival format was a success, Perpich said, and plans for a two-day BAMF! 2020 were set into motion.
Then, the pandemic happened.
Subsequently, BAMF! 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19. The festival stayed dormant in 2021 as coronavirus cases continued to rise, putting BAMF! on the list of countless musicians, venues and event producers whose artistic endeavors were threatened by shutdowns. But as restrictions relaxed going into 2022, Perpich and Griffin decided to bring back the beloved event, albeit with a few changes. Typically, the gathering occurred in May or June, but bby BAMF! is scheduled to take place much later in the summer.
“The reason we’re doing [the 24-hour format] is just because it’s been a whole process of getting this thing started where we could do this again in the way that we wanted to,” Perpich said. “There were definitely obstacles in our way beyond COVID that it was hard for us to proceed.”
A late-night crowd at the 2019 BAMF! at Lookout Arts Quarry responds to the music. (Photo courtesy of Chloe Corriveau)
Perpich said there was a possibility bby BAMF! wasn’t going to be able to happen at the Lookout Arts Quarry, where it’s been held since the first edition. Though he didn’t expand on the factors behind this possibility, he did note things ended up working out, explaining why the festival has been scheduled for later in the summer.
“A bunch of doors opened right as we kind of stripped out of those ideas and we could do it at the quarry again,” Perpich said. “But it was just definitely on that much-condensed timeline. We have fewer stages. In the past, we had almost six areas with sound, where this one’s going to have three stages, and then maybe another little funky sideshow area.”
This year, BAMF! will take place starting at noon Saturday, Aug. 20 and end at noon Sunday, Aug. 21, with areas for overnight camping.
The 61-acre quarry will boast three stages — the Cedar Stage, which will serve as the festival’s main stage; the lakefront Quarry Stage complete with a floating dance floor; and the Tripping Hazard, dubbed “the most metal stage on the planet.”
Though BAMF! is often seen as primarily a music event, there will be spaces for local artists to vend and create as well. The festival is also expected to have dining options from local restaurants and food trucks.
When putting together the lineup, Perpich and his team wanted to ensure they highlighted Bellingham talent, but still present a wide variety of styles and genres representative of the region.
The festival features New York City dream pop group Mr. Twin Sister as the headliner, along with an impressive grouping of local Bellingham and Seattle favorites, including The Rhetorician, Hockey Teeth and Eclectrick.
“I think a lot of people have thought that we’re an EDM festival,” Perpich said. “We have electronic music, but we also have psych rock and metal and everything. It’s about how much diversity of music we can show that is happening in Bellingham and beyond.”
Perpich said the BAMF! team made sure to keep at least half the lineup Bellingham-based, with a focus on giving opportunities to younger performers in the community. He notes that because he and Griffin started BAMF! in college, tapping back into those circles is incredibly important to him.
“BAMF! kind of started from me and Monica going to house shows when we were in college and seeing that there are all these cool bands playing in little venues and wanting to give those a bigger audience and venue to do that at,” Perpich said. “I still love finding artists that are fresh bands and giving them a chance to play on this bigger lineup. I think it kind of helps cement people in their endeavors moving forward.”
Attend bby BAMF! from noon Saturday, Aug. 20 to noon Sunday, Aug. 21 at the Lookout Arts Quarry, 246 Old Hwy 99 M. Remaining tickets are $95 (camping is an additional $10) and can be purchased online at bamfbham.com.
