Time to expand your idea of the local music festival south to Portland. Our neighbor to the South will be hosting two road trip worthy music festivals in the coming months: the more locally focused PDX Pop Now! (where you’re sure to discover your favorite new PDX band alongside old favorites) and Music Fest NW, which draws from national and local talent for a line-up that bests just about every festival line-up this summer. While it lacks the Top 40 Stars of festivals like Bonnaroo and Bumbershoot, MFNW for my taste, is hard to top: The National, Justin Townes Earle, David Bazan, Menomena, The Gories, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside and Japandroids.

If you can’t make it down to PDX for MFNW, a number of the artists are playing Seattle shows the same weekend and a few from the line-up are playing Bumbershoot. But we recommend making a weekend of it and road-tripping south.

PDX Pop Now 2010 (July 30th - August 1st / Buy the Compilation HERE )

Aan, AgesAndAges, AndAndAnd, Asss, Atriarch, AU, Autistic Youth, Ben Darwish, Billygoat, Blue Cranes, Blue Horns, Brainstorm, Cloudy October, Da’Rel Junior, Defect Defect, Eternal Tapestry, Fear No Music, Get Hustle, Grey Anne, Guantanamo Baywatch, Hockey, Hosannas, I Can Lick Any Son of A Bitch In The House, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Joey Casio, Joggers, Krebsic Orkestar, Kung Pao Chickens, Kusikia, Lewi Longmire, Luck One, Michael The Blind, Operative, Parenthetical Girls, Please Step Out of The Vehicle, Reporter, Rollerball, Shoeshine Blue, Skeletron, Soup Purse, SubArachnoid Space, Tiny Knives, Tu Fawning, The Tumblers, Typhoon, Wampire, Why I Must Be Careful, and Ylang Ylang. And more to be announced shortly.

Music Fest NW (September 9th - 12th / Tickets HERE)

The Decemberists / The National / Panda Bear / Okkervil River / Major Lazer / Sleep performing Holy Mountain / Menomena / The Thermals / Wiz Khalifa / Ra Ra Riot / The Walkmen / Ted Leo & The Pharmacists / The Helio Sequence / Justin Townes Earle / Baroness / David Bazan / The Tallest Man on Earth / The Gories / No Means No / Man Man / Laura Veirs / Bobby Bare Jr. / Titus Andronicus / Surfer Blood / Akron/Family / Crooked Fingers / Shonen Knife / Japandroids / People Under the Stairs / Cold Cave / Frank Turner / The Builders and the Butchers / Phantogram/ Washed Out / Black Prairie / Thee Oh Sees / Abe Vigoda / Big Freedia / MEN / Laser Sword / From Ashes Rise / Devin Phillips / The Suckers / Trash Talk / Scott Kelly / Rocky Votolato / Blue Giant / The Minus / Dan Mangan / Jeff the Brotherhood / Marc Olson / Red Fang / The Zeros / Let’s Wrestle / Pierced Arrows / The Bellrays / WEINLAND / Portland Cello Project / The Magic Kids / DJ Beyonda / Richmond Fontaine / Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside / Tu Fawning / Death by Stereo / Princeton / Kisses / White Hinterland / BOAT / Damion Suomi / Typhoon / Y La Bamba