Sky River Rock Festival & Lighter Than Air Fair

During Labor Day weekend in 1968, Betty Nelson’s raspberry farm along Cedar Ponds Road outside Sultan became the unlikely setting for one of the most significant music events in American counterculture history. The Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair is widely recognized as the first multi-day outdoor music festival in the United States, taking place a full year before Woodstock.

What began as an ambitious gathering quickly became legendary. Major performers including the Grateful Dead, Santana, Country Joe & the Fish, Big Mama Thornton, James Cotton, Richard Pryor, and dozens of other musicians, poets, artists, mimes, and performers descended on the Sky Valley for a weekend unlike anything the region had ever seen.

The event’s opening moments became part of festival folklore when a hot air balloon unexpectedly broke free and floated away untethered before the festival officially began. While authorities had to report the runaway balloon to the FAA, many attendees embraced the moment as a symbolic act of freedom and rebellion, cheering as the balloon drifted into the sky.

Organizers Cyrus Noe and University of Washington instructor John Chambless helped shape the event into a gathering rooted not only in music and art, but also in activism and community support. Festival proceeds were directed toward Native American organizations, and Native performers and voices were intentionally included throughout the experience.

Today, the Sky River Rock Festival remains one of the most unique and surprising chapters in Sky Valley history, placing Sultan and the surrounding communities directly into the story of American music and counterculture history.