Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge ending after 17 years

SEATTLE -- The founder of Sasquatch! says the popular music festival is no more.

"Today we take a bow and bid a fond farewell to Sasquatch!" founder Adam Zacks said in a news release Thursday.

"The Festival began 17 years ago on a hunch, greenlit on nothing more than a name and instinct there was space for something with a uniquely Northwest flavor, on Memorial Day weekend, at one of the most beautiful locations on Earth -- The Gorge," he said.

Zacks added that "17 years is a long time to do anything. The Beatles lasted a mere 8 years, a fact so astonishing it is difficult to believe. While we didn’t accomplish anything as indelible as 'Hey Jude', the Festival left a lasting mark and proudly represented an independent spirit."

Thousands of people would make the trek to the Gorge Amphitheatre each Memorial Day weekend to sit and dance in the sun while performers played a wide range of music -- everything from indie rock to hip-hop.

Sacks said, "Sasquatch! will forever remain a tapestry of the people who worked with us, the artists who inspired us, and the varied experiences of the fans who attended it … of friendships made, engagements, hilltop weddings, permanent tattoos, once in a lifetime collaborations, weather events both treacherous and magnificent, at least one very public conception, and, of course, hundreds of awe inspiring performances. My humblest gratitude to all of you. May the spirit that made Sasquatch! so special live on.

"Onward to the next adventure," he concluded.