The Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair, one of the first outdoor U.S. music festivals, was hosted at a raspberry farm south of Sultan beginning August 30, 1968. The three-day festival, organized by radio station KRAB and the "Helix" newspaper, attracted an estimated 20,000 hippies, of whom 13,000 had paid tickets, and was considered to be a forerunner for later festivals like Woodstock. Musical acts at the festival included Santana, the Grateful Dead, Country Joe McDonald, Muddy Waters, Buffy St. Marie, and John Fahey, among others. The Sultan city government declined to allow the festival to return the following year due to the traffic and logistical issues that were experienced, including the venue running out of drinking water. The event was largely forgotten by local residents, but was revived for a one-time festival in 2017.