Alternative music festival returns to Oak Harbor

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 23, 2026

Starting a music festival is no small feat. Three current and former Wildcats craving a different sound in Oak Harbor proved it is possible.

Will Gray, Ethan Tang and Josiah Villano created System Crash, an alternative music festival returning for its second iteration June 27 at Windjammer Park. Fourteen bands and artists are set to play from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and attendees can peruse offerings from nine vendors and three food trucks.

Admission is free, but any money raised will be donated to Oak Harbor High School’s Band Boosters. System Crash raised $400 for the Band Boosters last year, Gray said.

Heavy alt-rock band The Hobby is headlining the festival, and several new bands and artists from Oak Harbor — including Elliot Tercero, Seraphic and Pale Season — have been added to the lineup.

Gray, Tang and Villano made a point to bring different talent to the festival, adding that they had to be selective in choosing artists. Enough bands and artists showed interest in performing that they considered adding a second day to the festival.

“It was kind of hard to figure out what we wanted to do when we had a lot of people asking to play,” Gray said. “We only have so many spots.”

That interest is a good indicator of the state of the local music scene.

“There’s not an audition process or anything,” Tang explained. “It’s more so just giving everyone a shot to perform, ‘cause that’s why we developed System Crash — to give a lot of those artists, and a lot of the newer artists, a spot to give them some time in the limelight.”

System Crash was organized in just six weeks last year, whereas preparation for this year’s festival began four months in advance. That gave them more time to develop branding, find artists and vendors and acquire partners, like Kombucha Town, a Kombucha brewery in Bellingham, and Subjam, an app which will livestream and record some performances, Gray said.

Bellingham Helps Access Music, a nonprofit, is helping with advertising and providing free gear rentals as well, he added.

“With all of those, we’re able to make it a better experience for the bands and the people coming,” Gray said. “It’s going to be a little bigger this year.”

Gray, Tang and Villano are optimistic about this year’s festival.

Showcasing the diversity of music tastes in Oak Harbor is the goal, which they believe is poorly reflected in the lineups of longer-running local music festivals. That is how System Crash got its name — from a desire to disrupt the status quo of the music scene in the city.

Villano added that they want to show people that there is plenty of fun to be had locally.

“It’s just fun, and just explaining or making it clear that there’s cool stuff to do in your little hometown,” Villano said. “You can get together and make a cool event with your friends.”