Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival

03/25/2025

SONGWRITERS: This year's songwriting contest is open! Help increase the number of maritime songs by/about the PNW! There's a theme ("Tales Both Tall and True"), a Deadline (June 2), Prizes for the top 3 songs, and a few other details on the contest website...

Each year, Maritime Folknet holds a songwriting competition to encourage more songs to be written about maritime life in the Northwest, past and present. The contest is open to all, free to enter, and is dedicated to the memory of Bob Kotta, an important part of the Northwest maritime music story. W...

08/04/2024

Who doesn't love the dulcet tones of Hank Cramer as he mesmerizes audiences with songs of the sea? We're thrilled to welcome him back to the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival next weekend! We hope you'll be there too. Drop your favorite of his songs in the comments below ⬇️

07/31/2024

Curlew’s Call is a Celtic and Maritime band based in Olympia, WA. They play rollicking songs and tunes at Irish pubs, festivals, and private events around the Northwest. We're excited to hear them perform at the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival on August 10th.

07/31/2024

In the line up for the 2024 Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival, coming up on August 10th, we're pleased to welcome Tim Fast to the stage! Tim's song "Cast Me Lines" won first place in the 2023 Robert Kotta Memorial Song Contest but he was a little too far away to join us last year, so he's coming to play a set this year! We can't wait!

07/31/2024

We're thrilled to showcase more local maritime music as we welcome a brass quintet from the Navy Band Northwest to the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival on August 10th. We hope you'll join us for this treat! They will be kicking off the festival at 12:10pm, after an introduction and welcome from our emcees.

07/31/2024

Send a message to learn more

05/15/2024

Just a couple weeks left before the Kotta Contest's June 4th deadline. Will you enter a song?

Each year, Maritime Folknet holds a songwriting competition to encourage more songs to be written about maritime life in the Northwest, past and present. The contest is open to all, free to enter, and is dedicated to the memory of Bob Kotta, an important part of the Northwest maritime music story. W...

02/21/2024

Each year, Maritime Folknet holds a songwriting competition to encourage more songs to be written about maritime life in the Northwest, past and present. The contest is open to all, free to enter, and is dedicated to the memory of Bob Kotta, an important part of the Northwest maritime music story. W...

01/18/2024

The 2024 Festival will be August 10th, in Port Gamble!

(More info coming in February)

08/17/2023

We'd love to see YOUR photos of the festival!

08/15/2023

What a beautiful day of music and fun!! THANK YOU to the great audience, performers, volunteers, and supporters who helped make the 2023 Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival such a success!!!

08/12/2023

Whether you get there by land or sea, by ferry, car, bicycle, kayak, or canoe, we'll see you in Port Gamble TODAY (12-5pm) for the Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival!

www.portgamblemaritimemusic.com

08/11/2023

"Only 1 more day, me Johnnies, 1 more day" See you Saturday for this year's Port Gamble Maritime Music Festival!

We present the cream of the Northwest maritime music community, plus some more far-flung guests, in the historic town of Port Gamble, Washington. The festival promotes the living legacy of maritime music from all corners of the globe, as played by the many local and national artists who live here in...

07/26/2023

First Place in the 2023 Bob Kotta Songwriting Contest goes to: TIM FAST for his song, "Cast Me Lines"

"The two most important days of our lives are the day we are born and the day we find out why! Native Minnesotan Tim Fast has been blessed to find an understanding of these days early in his life. Now credited with three award-winning albums, this nationally touring artist hangs his hat with some of the best American singer songwriters today! His love for adventure has given him a catalog of great original songs that have touched audiences from coast to coast!"

Find Tim online: www.timfast.com & [email protected]

2023 Contest details: http://portgamblemaritimemusic.com/contest.html

07/26/2023

Second Place in the 2023 Bob Kotta Songwriting Contest goes to: FAE WIEDENHOEFT for her song, "Outward Bound"

"Originally from Chicago, Fae's musical beginnings include singing John Denver songs with her sister, Cathy, on a half sized guitar and giving concerts to the squirrels in her backyard, using a broom as her microphone. She moved to the west coast of Canada where she performed Celtic music professionally for 6 years, and after 5 international CD releases, she moved stateside and produced over a dozen of CDs with original content. Fae is an award winning songwriter and a voting member of the Grammy Association. She teaches voice, guitar, uke, Celtic Studies, and songwriting lessons in her studio, Syren's Voice."

Find Fae online:
www.patreon.com/faewiedenhoeft
www.seastar1.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/faesings
www.instagram.com/faesings

2023 Contest details: http://portgamblemaritimemusic.com/contest.html

07/26/2023

Third Place in the 2023 Bob Kotta Songwriting Contest goes to: PETER ROTHBART for his song, "The Adak Liquor Store"

"Peter - also known as The Poem Adept - has built a reputation as one of folk music’s rising young stars. His original albums have been praised by reviewers from SPIN Magazine, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post. Rothbart’s songs weave redemptive tales of love, loss, and longing. With the open road as a backdrop, he writes resonantly of seeking – and ultimately finding – one’s way. Also an editor at the innovative and acclaimed magazine, FOUND, Rothbart draws inspiration from discarded notes and letters sent in by readers worldwide."

Find Peter online:
http://www.poemadept.com/
https://www.youtube.com/

2023 Contest details: http://portgamblemaritimemusic.com/contest.html