Raffle features elite instruments

The Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) presents the 2023 JAM (Journey, Adventure, Music) Silent Auction & Raffle Fundraiser with a collection of packages up for bid and the chance to win a custom Breedlove guitar and/or Nechville Atlas banjo.

Proceeds will support SFF's education outreach and programming in Central Oregon. Bidding opens on September 22, 2023 at 10 a.m. Check out all the auction packages, set up your electronic bidding account, and bid by visiting https://sffjam2023.ggo.bid.

Bend company Breedlove Guitars has once again donated a custom Earthsong guitar to SFF to be raffled off. The handcrafted guitar features a myrtlewood top and back, Earthsong burst, brass logo on peghead, custom-inlay mosaic pins with mountain silhouette at the 12th fret in brass, East Indian rosewood binding, black/koa/black purfling, Gotoh 510 Gold tuners with ebony buttons, and LR Baggs Anthem Tru-mic Pickup. The guitar comes with a hardshell case and is valued at $5,000. Only 400 raffle entries will be sold at $25 each.

Nechville Banjos has donated a banjo to be raffled off. The 11-inch Atlas is ultra-light and made from solid black walnut and ebony. The design echoes the historical Ashborn banjos of the 1860s but with Nechville's redesigns for professional playability. The banjo comes with a deluxe gig bag and is valued at $2,859. This raffle also includes a second prize of two weekend passes to Big Ponderoo (June 29-30, 2024) and Sisters Folk Festival (September 27-29, 2024) valued at $800. Entries to this raffle will be limited to 500 and sold at $10 each.

Raffle tickets can be purchased online at https://www.sistersfolkfest.org/ or in person at the Sisters Folk Festival JAM tent (until sold out). The lucky winners will be drawn on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2:55 p.m. from the Sisters Art Works stage and need not be present to win.

If you visit the JAM tent or the online auction site over the Festival weekend, you'll find over 20 unique packages up for bid. This year's auction items include Cal's Guitar, a 1967 Martin guitar that long-time SFF and Sisters community supporter Cal Allen owned; he even took lessons on this beauty from Joan Baez when he was down in Mill Valley, California. Cal's wife, Marsha, donated this pristine guitar in Cal's memory (per his request). The auction also features a romance package donated by FivePine Lodge and Shibui Spa; a cajon made by the one-and-only Tim Shuler; a gorgeous fir bench made by longtime volunteer of the Outlaw Luthier Program and master woodworker Gabrielle Franke; a pair of Adirondack chairs complete with footrests and side table from the Sisters High School woods program; Folk Festival artist swag bags; and much more.

All bidding can be done online via smartphone or other mobile device. Attendees of the upcoming Sisters Folk Festival - and the general public alike - can visit the JAM tent located at Village Green to view the packages and get registered for the auction with the help of volunteers, no wristband required. JAM Tent hours are Friday, September 29 from 5:30 to 11 p.m., Saturday, September 30, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Sunday October 1, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Bidding will close at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1 to allow time for the winners to stop by and pick up their goodies after the music ends and before hitting the road, up until 4:30 p.m. Arrangements can be made to ship items for those who are unable to take them in person.

The Festival will take place at seven venues throughout downtown, including Sisters Art Works, The Belfry, Sisters Depot, The Open Door, Sisters Saloon, Oliver Lemon's, Village Green Park, and a free KidZone at Fir Street Park on Saturday, September 30. Three-day All-Events passes and Saturday single-day tickets are sold out.

A very limited supply of Friday and Sunday tickets are still available for purchase at https://www.sistersfolkfest.org/.