Feature

SUMMER EVENTS? NOPE. But are we planting the seeds for a festival-filled fall? We checked in with event organizers to find out.

Sisters Folk Fest Moves Toward a Small August Event

By Nicole Vulcan

Like so many things in the age of COVID-19, the plans the Sisters Folk Festival team is making are only tentative and preliminary; not set in stone until they are. Last month, SFF announced the cancellation of its main event: the mid-September folk fest that takes over the town of Sisters. Still, SFF is making plans to offer some smaller musical events before that date, and during the regular festival weekend.

“At this point, we are cautiously optimistic that we can plan a day of music on the lawn of our building on August 1,” Christa Munro, executive director of SFF, told the Source. On that date, SFF has tentative plans to hold an event where people can buy a ticket for a “circle,” that includes about six to eight people. (According to guidance from the Oregon Health Authority for event and venue operators, parties of 10 or more people congregating together are not allowed.) People inside that circle wouldn’t get to mingle with people inside other circles, and there would be a cap of no more than 250 people for the day of music, in keeping with current event guidelines.

“When we sell that circle, we will have to grab the names of those people to comply with contact tracing,” Munro explained. “We were originally thinking we could do maybe four or five concerts for the summer—but once we saw all the requirements, we just decided to see how August 1 goes first.” Nicole Vulcan

The Hamiltones perform at the 2019 Sisters Folk Festival.

All is Fair in... Well, Nevermind

By Cayla Clark

The Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo hangs up its 10-gallon cowboy hat for the summer

So long, funnel cake. We love you and we’ll see you next year.

“The majority of the events through August have been canceled or rescheduled,” confirmed Geoff Hinds, Fair and Expo Center director. “Postponements and cancellations are continuing to evolve as restrictions continue to develop. The Fair & Rodeo, the biggest of all our events, will be completely canceled this year. Right now, we’re still working to see what will happen. Some of our partners are interested in postponing, while others have canceled completely. Now, having entered Phase Two which has expanded the restriction to gatherings of 250 people or fewer, more doors are being opened for certain events to occur. Still, we don’t have any large events that are planned for the near future—none through September.”

The much-anticipated Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo, slated to take place at the end of July, has been postponed until July 28, 2021. The largest and longest-running event in all of Central Oregon, boasting 100 consecutive years as of 2019, has been officially knocked out by COVID-19—however temporarily. The Deschutes County Fairgrounds and Expo Center website reads, “Come experience jam-packed fun at the largest county fair in the state of Oregon, attracting over 290,000 folks each year.” An attractive offer, but one that could be considered the social distancer’s nightmare. Jam-packed? No thanks. 290,000? Maybe in Phase Three.

“So far, our lost revenue to date is estimated at a bit over $600,000. As of now, the total estimated loss of gross revenue will most likely exceed $2.5 million. This could increase, depending on how long event restrictions remain in place. A significant portion of that is due to the cancellation of the annual Fair & Rodeo.”

Provided all goes well and their plan is approved by local health authorities and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, Munro said they hope to tap a few venues in Sisters during the regular festival weekend Sept. 12 and 13. But unlike other years, people would only be able to see music at that venue instead of moving around the town.

With this year’s offerings expected to be so limited, Munro said her team made the decision to let people who had bought tickets for this year’s festival use them next year instead, rather than using them for a far more limited lineup. Ticket holders can also donate this year’s tickets to SFF.

“It was the fairest thing we could do for our ticket holders and gave us the opportunity to do something completely brand new,” Munro said.

Sisters Folk Festival SFF organizers plan to stage an Aug. 1 concert and see how it goes.

Some of the canceled events include the Oregon Equestrian Team State Championship, the Father’s Day Demolition Derby, the Cascadian Spring Series Horse Show, the Fourth of July Celebration, the Mayhem Fitness Festival, the

Roses & Rust Vintage Market and the 2020 Oregon High Desert Swap Meet & Car Show.

“We’re working hard to make the livestock show and auction a success,” concluded Hinds. “We’ll see what happens.” Pixabay

BendFilm Opens New Doors

Using the digital world to its advantage, this year’s BendFilm Festival could be bigger than ever

By Isaac Biehl

Now that Deschutes County is in Phase Two, some theaters have been able to open up in a limited capacity and others might be joining soon, depending on studio releases.

BendFilm, which now owns the Tin Pan Theater, has looked in a new direction the last few months and unveiled its own digital service to rent and watch movies, with a wide selection of independent films. Because of the access digital streamed movies offer, the organization looks to bring that same innovation to the BendFilm festival in October.

“There’s no way it will be exactly normal. Unless there’s some miracle drug or vaccine, or no more government restrictions,” said Executive Director Todd Looby. “We’re proceeding with what is the most likely scenario, with theaters that can open, and hopefully we’ll be in Phase Three by then. As many in-person showings, and as big as we can, for the festival. We also will be introducing a virtual aspect.”

This will be the first time BendFilm has introduced virtual elements to its festival, which is something Looby says will open more doors for what the festival can accomplish.

For example, Looby says some high-profile filmmakers who can’t always make the trip might be able to hold workshops online right from home. They don’t have to skip out on the festival entirely, and it’s cheaper for both parties. BendFilm is using these next few months to really fine tune the process and layout for virtual offerings.

“It’ll never replace all the joys and wonders of in-person screen events, but it’s going to be something we hope to have as permanent for people who can’t attend in person,” says Looby.

Along with open venues, BendFilm plans to have two drive-in locations for screenings of films as part of the festival. So no, it won’t look exactly like it has in year’s past, but these changes

By Nicole Vulcan

BendFilm is rolling with the COVID-19 punches and looks to improve.

Small, Niche Festivals May be the Name of the Game

With the Oregon Health Authority guidelines limiting gatherings for events to 250 people or fewer in Phase Two, putting on events on the scale of tens of thousands—as SummerFest and Fall Festival usually do—isn’t really an option. So, like other event companies, Lay It Out has been looking to some of its smaller, niche events, like The Little Woody barrel-aged beer fest. While the company is not yet sure what the Little Woody will look like when it comes around at the end of the

First it was the Bite of Bend—canceled. Then it was SummerFest and Theatre in the Park. Then, Fall Festival. For Lay It Out Events, the producer of some of the region’s largest gatherings, seeing one festival after the other hit the cutting room floor due to COVID-19 restrictions, has been a challenging experience.

summer, organizers are moving ahead with some type of offering.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to still produce a version of The Little Woody this year. With the current regulations around large gatherings, it makes sense to partner with businesses and breweries to spread people around and yet still offer a unique wood-casked beer, cider, and whiskey experience,” said Luke Larson, event director. “Beer lovers will have to wait until we work out the final details but the Festival must go on! Expect to see a full list of participating breweries and businesses on our website in the coming weeks.” (Disclosure: Lay It Out Events is the sister company of the Source Weekly.)

Cultural Conundrum

might make BendFilm Festival bigger and more accessible than ever. “We think it’s going to be extremely cool. And we’ll be able to do things we have never done before.” Courtesy BendFilm

By Laurel Brauns

Music and arts events round out Bend’s outdoor tourism economy, but pandemic precautions forced most beloved events off the books this year.

In 2019, the fund awarded a total of $200,000, divided among BendFilm, the High Desert Museum, Oregon WinterFest, Out Central Oregon (Winter PrideFest), ScaleHouse (Bend Design talks and workshops), Sunriver Music Festival, Tower Theatre Foundation, World Muse, Bend Photo Tours and the Central Oregon Film Office.

The BCTF is funded using 7.5% of Visit Bend’s total annual public funding it receives from the City of Bend through transient room tax collections. Bend voters passed Ballot Measure 9-94 in 2013 which increased TRT collections. Visit Bend promised to use the extra money for cultural marketing initiatives such as BendFilm, which has attracted droves of overnight guests to Bend every October for the last 17 years.

Visit Bend announced in early April that it was putting future Bend Cultural Tourism Fund grants on hold. With transient room tax collections at an all-time low, and state orders forbidding large gatherings, the news came as just one more foreboding loss caused by the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.

“These funds are still there [in the bank] waiting to be reinvested,” said Kevney Dugan, CEO of Visit Bend.

Dugan estimates that VB will have about $70,000 less to grant this fiscal Courtesy Visit Bend year than it originally estimated, and $100,000 less next year.

Little Woody Barrel-Aged Brew Fest thelittlewoody.com

Dugan explained that under state law, ORS 320, all TRT must go to promoting things that specifically drive visitors to the area, thus it can’t give the grant money to cultural organizations for their operations, even though that could be exactly what they need right now to stay afloat.

He said while BCTF's marketing grants are the most common awards, it also has a Catalyst grant that supports “bold ideas that aren’t fully developed,” according to VB’s website. Dugan pointed to OUT Central Oregon as an excellent example of the synergistic potential of this grant to benefit both the tourism economy while contributing to the cultural richness of the community. The organization used the grant it won in 2019 to expand Winter PrideFest and attract visitors from throughout the Pacific Northwest to Bend and Mt. Bachelor.

www.bend.delivery