Strive Roots performs on the El Sancho Stage during the Bend Roots Revival in September 2019.

If ever there was a music festival built to withstand the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s the Bend Roots Revival. This is, after all, a grassroots, community-driven event that has happened at a number of different locations around Bend since its inception in 2006. For its first four years, Roots was held at Parrilla Grill and The Victorian Cafe on Bend’s west side. Once it outgrew that space, it moved to the Century Center on 14th Street, where it lasted two years.

In 2013, the festival took over the former Pakit Liquidators, a longtime junkyard along SE Ninth Street. That would’ve been a nice forever home, but the property was sold shortly thereafter, and Roots moved to the Deschutes Brewery warehouse area near the Les Schwab Amphitheater.

This year, the festival will operate as it did last year: At a half-dozen sites across town, with most performances livestreamed online. Venues this year include Avid Cider Co., Silver Moon Brewing, Bunk & Brew, The Brown Owl, Worthy Brewing and Spoken Moto. Music will run from Friday afternoon through Sunday, with right around 100 bands set to perform (see “If you go”).

Despite all the moves and changes, the core mission of the Bend Roots Revival hasn’t changed much, said founder Mark Ransom.

“Initially, I just wanted to make sure locals had an opportunity to perform, and this is still why Roots is special. It’s a grand celebration of local music,” he said. “But it wasn’t until many years later that I realized the bigger community picture. I think that has come into focus for me … as (the event) has grown.”

The festival “has a life and soul of its own now,” Ransom said, and it’s an annual reminder that community doesn’t exist without a variety of voices, styles and perspectives.

“Our differences bring us together at this event, and so Roots has become a ritual that models and cultivates an attitude we can take into the world,” he said. “I think there’s part of us that enjoys being reminded of that. Especially right now.”

This year, the music is as eclectic as ever, with rock, pop, folk, funk, blues, bluegrass and beyond represented on its stages. New energy is coming in through partnerships with local brewery Boneyard Beer, community radio station KPOV and local nonprofit record label Fuzz Phonic, all of which aim to support Bend Roots’ aim since day one, Ransom said.

“If you think of a tree, the branches and leaves reach out as far as the roots grow deep,” he said. “Since 2006, Bend Roots has grown in the spirit of music education, supporting the arts and cultivating the soul of our community. That’s been the goal from the beginning, and it’s as important today as it’s ever been.”

Find more information, including a full schedule and a livestream, at bendroots.net