Oregon Public Broadcasting

In the Northwest, Sasquatch is no longer just mythical hairy forest-dwelling monster.

Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Washington

This year's Sasquatch Music Festival sold out faster than ever before. Each day this Memorial Day weekend, 25,000 music fans filled the Gorge Amphitheater in central Washington.

The festival is quickly becoming famous around the country for its ability to attract eclectic, below-the-radar acts. Correspondent Chantal Anderson went to see what Sasquatch is all about.

Mary Upchurch drove all the way from her home in Austin, Texas for this festival. She came for the music and for the breathtaking view.Mary Upchurch: "It looks like a mini grand canyon with a stage on top of it." Vampire Weekend was one of the acts Mary wanted to hear.

Mary Upchurch: "People know when I say Sasquatch they know what I mean now, no matter where I am. The smell, we decided, it's fresh grass. But all types of grass."

Festival founder Adam Zacks is the first to admit this year's lineup is void of any household name acts. In fact he says that's part of the appeal of Sasquatch and what sets it apart.

Adam Zacks: "We keep getting ranked among these much, much larger festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella and Lollapolooza and they're all at least three times larger capacity wise than this festival and they all have household name headliners so its wonderful that we're mentioned in the same breadth. The festival has developed a good reputation."

The indie lineup at Sasquatch is what attracted Rob Annis and his wife from Indianapolis. They go to several music festivals around the country every year.

Rob Annis: "This is one of the best that we've been too, line-up wise crowd wise the venue is probably obviously the most beautiful in the nation."

His big complaint:

Rob Annis: "Beer is a little bit too expensive."

Kentucky-based band My Morning Jacket was one of the headliners of the festival. Patrick Hallahan is the band's drummer.

Patrick Hallahan: "There's a certain lightness to this, some festivals like you said they have kind of a heavy pretentious vibe to them and some like this, like you said there's people skipping rope next to an ice-cream stand, and I think these smaller festivals allow people to enjoy a little more, there's not the claustrophobia of the bigger festivals."

My Morning Jacket closed the first night of the festival. Fans danced and sprawled out under the stars.

One the web:

Sasquatch Festival