Acid Ball Music Festival
BELLINGHAM, WA | Saturday, AUGUST 1ST
$20 ADVANCE // $25 AT THE DOOR // KIDS UNDER 12 - FREE
Kulshan Brewing is excited to announce the return of the legendary Acid Ball Psych Rock Fest at Trackside Beer Garden for its fifth mind-bending edition!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 1st, 2026, as we transform the beer garden stage into a portal of swirling sound and color with an epic lineup of psychedelic rock.
In Waypoint Park, right across from Trackside, sits the iconic Acid Ball, a relic of Bellingham’s industrial past and the namesake of this unforgettable festival. Expect a full sensory experience with great beer and big sound in one of the city's most unique outdoor venues.
2026 Acid Ball Lineup
Death Valley Girls
For the better part of a decade, LA’s scrappy rock n’ roll mystics Death Valley Girls have used their music as a means of tapping into a communal cosmic energy. On albums like Glow in the Dark (2016), Darkness Rains (2018), Under the Spell of Joy(2020), and Islands in the Sky (2023), the band has challenged the soul-crushing banality of modern life while celebrating “true magical infinite potential” through a collage of scorching proto-punk riffs, earworm melodies, far-out lyrics, and lysergic instrumentation. Now, with their new album on the horizon, Death Valley Girls continue to channel that same ecstatic energy into something even more expansive, communal, and transformative.
Black ends
BLACK ENDS IS GUNK POP
nicolle swims / guitar / vocals
billie paine / drums
ben swanson / bass
Mega Cat
Aaron Benson (drums, percussion, guitar), Kim West (keys), and Ryan Devlin (bass, guitar) started jamming in Aaron's home studio, Mad Val, in 2020. With no direction other than the joy of making music, the trio found themselves combining sounds, genres, and textures in surprising ways. After a horn session with Jason Cressey (trombone), Peter Daniel (sax and flute), and Bill Jones (trumpet), they settled on a name for their genre bending, interstellar instrumental music project: mega cat. Guitarist Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States of America) and percussionist Jacob Whinihan (Special Explosion, Scarves) joined, and mega cat became a fully realized, live band. Catch mega cat playing their semi improvised, punk infused instrumental music at clubs and festivals across the NW this summer!
Denim Genie
Seattle-based Denim Genie crafts face-melting mosh anthems about desert spectres, killer robots, Naloxone, and microbes from mars. With influences ranging from KGLW to David Bowie, Denim Genie lures you into their basement, swallows you whole, and vomits you across the dunes.
Checker Bloom
Checker Bloom is a four-piece band from Bellingham, WA, crafting a sound they call Cinematic Western Rock. Their music is a sun-scorched panorama where modern psychedelia, pop-rock, and lyrical tales of apocalyptic survival converge. Their debut album, Ballads of Mirror Road, showcases a dynamic range—from indie-disco to 80s blockbuster anthems and soaring harmonies. Honed by years on the road and sharing stages with acts like Wine Lips, Petite Amie, and Art d'Ecco, Checker Bloom's live show is a potent experience that scores films for the mind. Get Ready for 2026 Acid Ball Psych Fest!
