The 2025 Watershed Festival Experience | Party at The Gorge

Watershed is one of the biggest musical events in the state of Washington. The three day music festival takes place in George, Washington, featuring various country artists at different stages. This year, there were two stages; the main stage, and the smaller “Next From Nashville” stage. Backed by a breathtaking view of the Gorge, the main stage sets the scene for a magical experience. The “Next From Nashville” stage creates a more personal experience with cozy hay bales and a barn-inspired ambience. Many festival attendees take advantage of the opportunity to camp on-site in either RVs or tents - sleeping under the stars after a day of live country music is a dream come true for many “Shedders,” an endearing term that the festival uses to refer to its audience members.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Watershed main stage for Bailey Zimmerman

We started our Watershed experience on Saturday, which was day two of the festival, watching Sawyer Brown’s performance on the main stage. As some crowd members line danced together, the band’s upbeat-verging-on-pop-country sound engaged the audience. Sawyer Brown’s vocalist shared that this was their first time performing at Watershed, and that they had just celebrated their 40-year anniversary. 

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Sawyer Brown performing at Watershed

On the “Next From Nashville” stage, country singer-songwriter Ashley Cooke drew an enthusiastic crowd while performing her pop-country music. Cooke’s voice was impressive - as was her ability to maintain great stage chemistry with the band playing her music. With an all-red outfit and entertaining choreography, Cooke’s performance stood out visually.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Ashley Cooke performs at Watershed on Next From Nashville stage

Zach Top, an artist who blends bluegrass and country into his music, drew the largest fanbase of Watershed. Enthusiastic fans were spotted wearing t-shirts and other merch throughout the festival, and his performance drew quite the crowd to the main stage. Top’s audience engagement made the fan favorite’s performance stand out.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Zach Top electrifies the crowd at Watershed

Watershed offered an extensive selection of concessions and merchandise with multiple sponsored promotional areas. Among rows of food vendors, alcohol and beverage stands, body painting booths, and clothing retailers, Celsius, a sponsor of Watershed, offered free cans of their popular energy drinks to Shedders. T-Moblie, another Watershed sponsor, offered a free “Redneck Waterpark” experience, featuring a slip-n-slide complete with blow-up donuts to slide on - perfect to beat the heat.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Teagen Holmquist poses with her free Celsius’

We interviewed several attendees, which gave unique insight into the festival and the Shedders who make Watershed what it is. The interviewees were randomly selected and not asked to identify themselves, each answer represents a different person.

Q: What was your favorite part of the weekend?

A: Seeing all the live music and seeing all the really cool bands.

Q:Who was your favorite artist?

A1: Zach top. 

A2: Definitely Zach Top, yeah, he was the best.

A3: Dierks Bentley. One hundred percent. 

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Shedders having fun in the pit at Main Stage

Q: What brings you to Watershed?

A: This is our first year here, so we came for all the entertainment.

Q: What has made it worth it for you to be here?

A: The music’s been really great, the people are really great, it’s been a lot of fun. 

Q:What was your favorite part about the festival culture?

A1: I don’t know, I think just how friendly everybody is, like your neighbors [referring to camping neighbors], like our neighbors just offered to cook us dinner one night and made us some steaks. We were hanging out with our other neighbors, so I just think the community is really nice, really close - everybody’s super friendly.

A2: I feel like, for the most part, people are very happy to be here and just - it spreads. People like to be around other people and it’s all just a good time.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Shedder slips down the slip and slide at Watershed

Austin Snell was the first artist to play the main stage on Sunday, drawing a small crowd as it was still early in the day. As Snell’s rock-country sound drew more listeners, many audience members were spotted singing along. Heavy bass and drums along with Snell’s impressive vocal range made this performance one to remember - and that’s before we take into account Snell’s mid-set curveball featuring an R&B song to switch up the vibe. 

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Austin Snell performs at Watershed

Shaylen, a country artist from Chattanooga, TN, played on the “Next From Nashville” stage. Shaylen was excited to see an audience member holding up a t-shirt that she then dubbed, “original merch.” After promising to sign the shirt, Shaylen began an engaging performance featuring her confident, raspy voice. Many in the crowd knew the words to Shaylen’s songs, and she continuously engaged with audience members in this cozied-up small stage setting. Shaylen chatted about her dating life to give background to her songs, even stating that she had once dated an FBI agent. 

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Shaylen performs at Watershed

On the main stage, country artist Drew Baldridge gave the audience a country music test, encouraging the crowd to sing along to well known country songs such as Tim McGraw’s “I Like It I Love It,” and Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy.” This engaged the audience, as they sang along to the “country music test” songs as well as Baldridge’s original songs. Baldridge’s snakeskin boots and high-energy stage presence combined with his classic country sound felt right at home on the final day of the Watershed festival.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Drew Baldridge takes the main stage at Watershed

Tyler Hubbard played during sunset over the Gorge on Sunday, starting things off with a smoke machine and a light show. Hubbard spoke to his large audience about missing the times before cell phones and the internet before humorously stating, “just kidding, I always had the internet,” as an introduction to his song, “Back Then Right Now.” Hubbard, who is half of the musical duo, Florida-Georgia Line, played a few of the duo’s classics as well as many of his original songs that came out after Florida-Georgia Line’s 2021 hiatus. Members of the crowd danced and sang along, responding well to his performance.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: former Florida Georgia Line Artist Tyler Hubbard wows the crowd at Watershed

Bailey Zimmerman’s set, being the last performance of the festival, drew Sunday’s largest crowd. Before the country artist’s set, the crowd tossed a beach ball around and seemed to be high energy. Starting off with pyrotechnics and a great light show, Zimmerman created great visuals with his staging and engaged the crowd with a high-energy performance - even managing to keep energy up on his slower songs.

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Bailey Zimmerman headlines Watershed Festival

The exhilaration of the crowd was palpable as audience members danced and sang while the stage crew threw water on the front rows. Zimmerman was able to take the energy down for a moment to discuss mental health - and its importance in his music - before going on to perform his song, “Waiting,” which he dedicated to a friend who passed away due to mental health challenges. 

Chris Alvarado/Twoworldmedia: Fan rides the crowd during Zach Top at Watershed

Overall, the community in attendance seemed enthusiastic and happy to be there. The artists performing brought great energy that seemed to infect the crowd and vice-versa. Watershed created a unique experience, its remote location made it easy to connect with the overall genre and immerse ourselves in this community. If you love country, we highly recommend making the trip out to George, WA, for Watershed 2026.