Welcome to Festival of Friends - 2026!
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A Message From Tom:
Hello Friends & Happy New Year! From the bottom of my heart, I'd like to THANK ALL OF YOU for making 2025 another AMAZING and UNFORGETTABLE year of community music making! So many great performances this past year, by so many talented Festival of Friends community musicians! We showed once again in 2025 that the best music is the music we make together with last year's programming and live performances another shining example of that musical spirit in community action. You're all amazing!! Not only were there so many musical highlights but the true spirit of the community came through again and again including so many wonderful and generous gear donations and financial contributions to help get the new FoF studio space off the ground back in April. So much gratitude for making the new studio space so fantastic. Thank you community! So, without further ado, I am super-stoked to announce this year's Festival of Friends community programming line-up and calendar of events for 2026! Below you'll find the current lineup for 2026 and available opportunities to band together beginning early spring. Let's Band Together!
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Tom Tafelsky / FoF Founder & Community Programming Director
2026 Programming Overview
This year's community music-making formats will center on Bandmixers Discography and Bandmixers Roulette programming with some additional programming surprises to be announced later this year as well as our annual Summer Songmixers event in August!
Musically speaking, there is again an eclectic mix of eras and styles represented in FoF's 2026 Bandmixers Discography programming including: The Offspring, Garbage, Cheap Trick, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Pretty Reckless, Cheap Trick, Talking Heads, The Black Crowes, Bon Jovi, Radiohead, Iggy & The Stooges, and many more! I'm excited to build on the momentum of this past year and look forward to bringing the community together again in 2026, musically and socially, and welcoming those of you who may be new as well. Thank you for all your continued support and musical inspirations. 2026 promises to be another very special year of community friendship, music-making and live performance. Here's to a fabulous 2026 friends! Much love, -Tom |
2026 Festival of Friends Community
Series Programming & Events
Series Programming & Events
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February 21, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 21 / The Central Saloon
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
Programming note: The 2/21 Bandmixers series below and related event were pre-planned late last year to accommodate early group organization and related preparation for the early 2026 event date. |
March 7, 2026 / Bandmixers Roulette Vol. 4 / Skylark West Seattle
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Bandmixers Roulette format is simple: Community member musicians, a mix of instrumentalists and vocalists sign up, in advance, for a "Bandmixers Roulette" musician pool (there's no fee to enter the pool) with 20 to 25 of you matched-up to participate in a game of musical chance by randomly participating in one of 4 Bandmixers Roulette bands at an upcoming, pre-scheduled event.
Programming note: The 3/7 Bandmixers Roulette series below and related event were pre-announced late last year to accommodate early group organization and related preparation for the early 2026 event date. |
April 12, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 22 / The Central Saloon
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
See individual series pages for registration details and related rehearsal and event information. |
May 1, 2026 // Herstory - Women in Rock Vol. 1 / Location TBA
Location: TBA / Format: Bandmixers Discography Series / Venue: TBA
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Herstory - Women in Rock: Bandmixers / Discography Series: special spotlight sets featuring two FoF community member bands showcasing material from two very diverse yet influential women-fronted bands and artists including the quiet words of resistance and introspective storytelling of Tracy Chapman and the fearless edge and grittiness of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
These spotlight showcase series are open to any and all community member musicians and trace a small piece of rock’s Herstory—songs by women who don't just perform, but have shaped the language of the music and who've used their voices in very different ways: to tell the truth, to question the world, and to tear up the rules. SERIES REGISTRATIONS TBA // SIGN UP BELOW TO BE NOTIFIED
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May 15, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 23 / Aurora Borealis
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
See individual series pages for registration details and related rehearsal and event information. |
May 30, 2026 // Bandmixers Roulette Vol. 5 / Venue TBA
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Bandmixers Roulette format is simple: Community member musicians, a mix of instrumentalists and vocalists sign up, in advance, for a "Bandmixers Roulette" musician pool (there's no fee to enter the pool) with 20 to 25 of you matched-up to participate in a game of musical chance by randomly participating in one of 4 Bandmixers Roulette bands at an upcoming, pre-scheduled event.
MUSICIAN POOL OPENS 2/1/26 FOR 5/30/26 EVENT
STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION |
June 27, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 24 / Aurora Borealis
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
See individual series pages for registration details and related rehearsal and event information. |
August 22, 2026 // Songmixers Series Vol. 21 / Seattle, WA.
Location: Seattle / Theme: TBA / Venue: Aurora Borealis
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22 song set performed by a rotating roster of up to 30 different FoF community member musicians who've registered in advance. No prior rehearsals. Songmixers Events are Plug 'N Play entertainment. See FAQ or event link below for details.
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EVENT REGISTRATION TBA
September 25, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 25 / VENUE TBA
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
See individual series pages for registration details and related rehearsal and event information. |
October 16, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 26 / Aurora Borealis (TBD)
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
See individual series pages for registration details and related rehearsal and event information. |
November 21, 2026 / Bandmixers Discography Vol. 27 / The Central Saloon (TBD)
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Bandmixers / Discography Series: Featuring 4 FoF community-member bands performing 4 curated mini-sets, showcasing select-tracks from a band or artist's original studio album or compilation release.
See individual series pages for registration details and related rehearsal and event information. |
December 19, 2026 / Bandmixers Roulette Vol. 6 / Venue TBA
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Bandmixers Roulette format is simple: Community member musicians, a mix of instrumentalists and vocalists sign up, in advance, for a "Bandmixers Roulette" musician pool (there's no fee to enter the pool) with 20 to 25 of you matched-up to participate in a game of musical chance by randomly participating in one of 4 Bandmixers Roulette bands at an upcoming, pre-scheduled event.
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Festival of Friends Events. All Rights Reserved. 2026