Portland rapper Aminé's inaugural music festival aims to become a summer staple
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After Portland native and rapper Aminé performed in nearly every major venue in the city, he and his team wondered what was next for his local fans. Now, the multi-platinum recording artist is headlining his first-ever music festival in his home state.
With less than 50 days away from the inaugural The Best Day Ever Fest, Aminé — born as Adam Aminé Daniel — told KOIN 6 he recently returned from Paris Fashion Week and is already in Los Angeles recording his next album.
Regardless of his travels, the Benson Polytechnic High School alumnus always shows love to his roots. That’s why introducing a new music festival in the Portland metro area was a no-brainer.
“I just really wanted to bring something… for kids to get excited about every summer and just, you know, be able to bring all my favorite artists into my hometown and let them experience all my favorite food like Kee’s Loaded Kitchen, Eem and all these places,” Aminé said.
The Grammy-nominated rapper admitted he didn’t realize how difficult arranging a festival would be until the midst of the planning process. Still, organizers have secured a small but mighty lineup for the inaugural event.
Aminé will headline alongside DJ and producer Kaytranada. Last year, the musicians formed the duo “Kaytraminé” and performed songs from their joint album at McMenamins Edgefield — which is also hosting the festival.
Other performers include rising hip-hop artist Karrahbooo, R&B singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae and Portland rapper 3Way Heff.
Outside of music, the event will feature food vendors and a merch surprise that Aminé asserted will be “really, really, really really special for the city.”
The Best Day Ever Fest is slated for Saturday, Aug. 10 and Sunday, Aug. 11, with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. The rapper encourages early arrival so attendees can enjoy each of the highlighted artists.
In the future, organizers hope the festival expands into an annual, major summer event that boosts the Portland economy.
“Our main goal is just making sure this first year is really really fun and done perfectly and, yeah, people get more surprises in the years to come and hopefully we can even move to a bigger location and make it something that everyone around the world wants to come to Portland, Oregon [for],” Aminé said.
The Best Day Ever Fest tickets
General admission tickets for the two-day festival start at $200.