The Seshen headlines Dark Night of the Soul Festival

Published 1:30 am Thursday, January 30, 2020

Musician Elijah Goodall of This Island Earth and City Thrift owner Kevin Wright wanted to do something about the increase in suicide rates in teenagers, especially as the issue came home when two Central Oregon teenagers killed themselves in December 2017.

“There’s been a huge spike I think over the last five to six years of high-school age, teenager kids that have chosen suicide as an option,” Goodall said. “It’s a thing that’s rattled our community a lot, especially our high schoolers.”

Goodall and Wright started the Dark Night of the Soul Festival as a one-night event at Spoken Moto last year, and the festival will return for two days of events Friday and Saturday, culminating in a concert headlined by electronic/dance band The Seshen at Oregon Spirit Distillers on Saturday.

Oregon Spirit Distillers will also feature an art installation that will be free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. A fundraising dinner to cover the festival’s costs is planned at the same venue Friday night, as well as after-parties at Velvet Lounge on Friday and at River Pig Saloon on Saturday.

The goal of all this is to “create greater cultural acknowledgment of the shared experience regarding suicide, depression and their associated struggles,” according to the website, darknightofthesoulfest.com. In the future, Goodall and Wright hope to raise funds to help create a program in partnership with local high schools to help students struggling with depression. But the event will also be a “celebration of the life that we have,” Goodall said.

Dark Night of the Soul Festival with The Seshen, Waterstrider, This Island Earth, Lakecube, Tang, Heavy Light: 5 p.m. Saturday; $12 in advance or at the door; Oregon Spirit Distillers, 740 NE First St., Bend; darknightofthesoulfest.com or 541-977-1525.