New one-day music festival featuring 20 acts comes to downtown Spokane in 2026
A new music festival will bring 20 artists to four stages at ONE Spokane Stadium, the Podium and surrounding areas on July 11.
The Blessing in Disguise Music Festival, announced Tuesday by the Spokane Public Facilities District, will represent genres such as rock, alt-rock and pop rock as well as regional bands. The lineup will be announced next year.
SPFD Director of Entertainment Matt Meyer said that when the Gorge Amphitheater’s multiday music festival, Sasquatch, was canceled in 2018, it “left a massive hole in the Northwest.” Instead of competing with country festivals like Watershed, Blessing in Disguise will offer a different sound for attendees .
“It will be a celebration of music, food, art and, of course, the culture in our community,” Meyer said at a Tuesday news conference.
The event will host up to 20,000 people, Meyer said, with estimates that 30-35% of those ticketholders will be from outside a 50-mile radius of Spokane. The festival is estimated to gross $4-$5 million in economic impact.
Blessing in Disguise will feature local vendors, food options and a stage specifically set aside for regional artists. Locally and globally celebrated R&B artist Allen Stone will serve as an official ambassador for the festival.
Down to the name itself, the event celebrates Spokane’s historic sense of grit. Although the Great Fire of 1889 decimated much of downtown and the city’s commercial district, many individuals worked to revitalize Spokane, leading all the way up to Expo ‘74 and becoming one of the smallest cities to host the World’s Fair.
“To this day, our fearless leaders here in town … have helped by taking on those unparalleled risks, changing the skyline and the landscape of our downtown community,” Meyer said.
When Blessing in Disguise takes place next summer, it will be the culmination of years of preparation from Meyer and his team.
While an event such as this has been on Meyer’s mind for about a decade, it wasn’t until the construction of ONE Spokane Stadium that Blessing in Disguise began to take shape. For over two years, the district has been working with Live Nation Entertainment to mold the festival.
Meyer has also spent a number of years working in conjunction with the Gleason Foundation, a national nonprofit founded by Spokane native and former NFL player Steve Gleason in order to empower those with ALS. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Gleason Fest ceased operations.
“It left a massive hole for Team Gleason here within the community, and it also left a hole within the festival community in town as well,” Meyer said.
A portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will benefit the organization.
“It’s making up, and more, for what we used to make on average every year with Gleason Fest,” Meyer said.
Limited early-bird tickets for the festival will go on sale at noon Friday for $75 plus fees through the festival website at bidmusicfest.com. Prices will increase to $95 plus fees when the artist lineup is announced in early 2026.
VIP packages will also be available during the early-bird period.