Though Saturday’s temperature was hot enough to break records, Pete Condon of Eugene stood in the blazing sun, dancing feverishly with a hula hoop.
“Anytime there’s live music, it’s great,” he said excitedly. “You just can’t beat that.”
This weekend, there were two full days of it at the UO Cultural Forum’s annual Willamette Valley Music Festival, which featured nearly 40 live musical acts in Alton Baker Park’s Cuthbert Amphitheater.
Formerly known as the Willamette Valley Folk Festival, the festival took place on the lawn behind the EMU for more than three decades. Because the University has limited space and frequent construction, the event was moved to Alton Baker Park three years ago.
“This is definitely a venue that we can grow the festival in,” said WVMF coordinator Sandy Innes, a University graduate student.
Many people said that while they had fun, they preferred the University setting.
Art Expo
| In a tent just outside the main gate at Alton Baker Park’s Cuthbert Amphitheater, site of the Willamette Valley Music Festival, 12 University art students hosted their annual art expo. There was no theme. A collection of work from throughout the school year, the expo included paintings, prints, photography, sculptures and metalsmithing, all of which were for sale. “(We’re) all these crazy kids who are trying to sell their homework,” said University student Christina Alexander. Alexander’s pieces featured gold leaf silhouettes of famous nudes throughout art history. Other items for sale included elaborate dangling earrings, a series of photographs capturing people admiring nature and a rainboot print titled “Pacific Northwest.” |
“It was just a different vibe, more community, I think,” Condon said. “(The Cuthbert Amphitheater) is a little sterile, all cement and benches where at the EMU, it was the open meadow with the trees.”
Eugene resident Pete Rose agreed. “On campus, it felt real tight,” he said. “I love this amphitheater for big concerts, but I feel embarrassed for the musicians.”
Because there was so much space, he noted that people could spread out enough that the area looked empty. For much of Saturday afternoon, the amphitheater was nearly empty. With record-breaking temperatures in the 90s, hundreds of people chose not to attend until later in the day.
Skyler Stonestreet, a pop singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, had a great time playing at WVMF, even though she played for a small audience during her 3 p.m. set.
“It’s a great venue,” Stonestreet said. “Everyone’s super responsive and nice, and paying attention. It’s hot, but everyone’s out. It’s awesome.”
Just outside the amphitheater area were the vendors – food on-site included Vijay’s Little India, Maty’s Peruvian Food and ice cream from Larsen’s Fine Candies – who were expected to use compostable foodware; beer was also served in compostable cups. Styrofoam was banned at WVMF, an event committed to zero waste recovery.
Rose said the best thing about the festival was its variety.
He was looking forward to The Traceys, a local blues band with “good harmony, catchy music.”
Condon’s favorite performers were Jamaican reggae singer Norma Fraser and Andrew Heringer, a violin-playing indie folk rocker from Sacramento, Calif.
Other artists include David Jacobs-Strain, the local blues guitarist who “couldn’t possibly get any better,” according to the Cascade Blues Association; Washington folk band Deadwood Revival; Hawaiian-style Sweet Aloha; and Debra Arlyn.
Named the Portland Music Awards’ best female artist of the year, Arlyn was Innes’ favorite performer.
“(Arlyn) has a good stage presence and has a really mature voice,” she said.
An employee of Kesey Enterprises, the group that manages the amphitheater, Roxanne Young spent several hours working security at the festival. Though she was unfamiliar with most of the performers, she said, “There’s a really diverse group. I’m sure there are a lot of folks I’ll want to see when I’m off duty.
“Music is a universal language and it brings people together from all walks of life – all generations, all ages,” Young said. “That’s always represented at these wonderful venues.”
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