‘The mother of all tribute festivals’ opens in Canby with lasers and a very believable Tom Petty
Harefest 2025 in Canby on Thursday, July 17.
If you missed out on seeing Tom Petty play a show when he was alive, Thursday night at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby, on the opening night of Harefest, you could have experienced the second-best thing: Petty Fever, a Tom Petty tribute band with the lead man doing a compelling Petty impression and a band that knows every note to hit.
Harefest 2025 in Canby on Thursday, July 17.
Petty Fever brought the house, or in this case, “hippie hollow” at the fairgrounds, down with a set comprised solely of hits that leaned heavily into the upbeat Petty songs and ended with a laser light show.
And, since this was a tribute show, no one glared at anyone who was singing along at the top of their lungs. And basically everyone was singing along.
Harefest is a festival in Canby featuring mostly classic rock tribute bands, though this year it will feature a few more recent rock tribute bands like Fighting Foos, a Foo Fighters tribute band and Grand Royale, a Beastie Boys tribute band.
Harefest 2025 in Canby on Thursday, July 17.
It is one of the few music festivals around that actually expects to grow this summer.
The festival caters to Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials, who have a little money to spend and grew up going to shows.
“Going out to gather in large groups and do things like this is not necessarily as baked into the DNA of the younger generation,” Fellman said. “We’re essentially targeting people who were doing this when they were 20.”
Tickets are still available for Friday and Saturday or both days, starting at $105 for Friday and up to $200 for the rest of the weekend.
While you will have missed Hall & Bros, the Doobie Brothers/Hall and Oates tribute band, there is still time to see Taken by the Sky, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, Lucky Town, a Bruce Springsteen tribute and Band After Dark, an Abba tribute band.
But if you go, be forewarned: There will be a lot of singing along.
– Lizzy Acker covers life and culture and writes the advice column Why Tho? Reach her at 503-221-8052, [email protected].
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
