In 2008, I attended the third annual Bend Roots Revival, a grassroots celebration of local music then held in and around the Victorian Cafe and Parrilla Grill on Bend’s west side.

Back then, I wrote this in GO! Magazine:

“On Friday night, I stood in the middle of Galveston Avenue in Bend, music blaring at me from the north and the south, and thought to myself, ‘Something is happening here.’”

And a few paragraphs later, I wrote this: “I think this thing is on a fast track to becoming one of Bend’s coolest cultural events.”

On both counts, I was right. Something was happening, and Roots, as it is affectionately known, long ago evolved into one of the best things in town, music-wise.

Its path to that status has not been particularly straight or smooth. The festival lasted a few years at Parrilla and the Vic before its growth prompted a move to the Century Center. Then, it spent a year at an old junkyard on the east side called Pakit Liquidators before landing at the Deschutes Brewery area along Southwest Shevlin Hixon Drive for several years.

In 2020 and 2021, Roots organizers adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic by spreading their events out to venues across town to keep crowds small. In 2022, they consolidated again at the Box Factory area between Arizona Avenue and Bond Street, and last year the festival moved to what co-founder Mark Ransom — who started Roots in 2006 with his friend and bandmate Patrick Pearsall — calls “the midtown corridor,” with stages at Deschutes Brewery, Bunk + Brew and Silver Moon Brewing, plus after-parties at the Domino Room. It’ll be there again this year.

Along the way, Roots has not just survived, it has overcome an improbable number of obstacles, from concerns about capacity and uncertainty around permits to construction projects and threats from neighbors, not to mention a global pandemic. Despite it all, the festival has found a way forward and stuck to its main missions: Celebrating Central Oregon’s arts scene, supporting music education in area schools and providing a place for local bands and musicians to play.

“We wanted to be at the center of our own little universe,” Ransom told me last year as he reflected on the origins of the Bend Roots Revival.

Eighteen years later, that universe shines as bright as ever. Roots ‘24 will feature scores of artists performing rock, pop, folk, funk, hip-hop, jazz, blues, bluegrass and beyond on 10 stages: Three at Deschutes, three at Bunk + Brew, three at Silver Moon and the one inside the Domino Room. (Expect a “more even distribution of acts” this year, Ransom said.) Scattered about the proceedings will be fun stuff for all ages, including arts, crafts, food, drinks, dancing, more dancing and even more dancing.

And did I mention the whole darn thing is free — just as it has been since day one? Therein lies the beauty of this beloved event: It’s for anyone, and it’s accessible to everyone. It’s a celebration not only of Central Oregon music, but Central Oregon itself. It’s about community first, and pretty much everything else comes after that.

Turns out Ransom, Pearsall and others built the Bend Roots Revival on a rock-solid foundation all those years ago — thank goodness, because it has weathered its share of challenges and is still standing strong.

If You Go

What: Bend Roots Revival

When: Friday, Sept. 13 through Sunday, Sept. 15

Where: Deschutes Brewery, Bunk + Brew, Silver Moon Brewing and the Domino Room in Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: Find schedules and more info at bendroots.net.