The place to BBB
Beach, Bike and Blues brings the party to Waldport
By Leslie O’Donnell
For the TODAY
There’s live music, food and drink, local artisans and their wares, and about as scenic a beachfront setting as you can imagine, all coming together at Waldport’s Beach, Bike and Blues Festival this Saturday, May 4.
The vibrant festival will take place at the Alsea Bay Bridge Center and Museum at the south end of the Alsea Bay Bridge.
“This is a great festival,” said Waldport Mayor Greg Holland, adding that the party begins just as the Oregon Coast Gravel Epic bike races concludes. “There’s lots of blues, food, beer, local merchants and artisans.”
The festival, in its third year, “is a pretty big thing now,” Holland said.
The 12th annual gravel cycling race showcases the Siuslaw National Forest and starts at the Waldport Community Center at 9 am. It includes a 60-mile Abomination and 37-mile Son of Abomination routes. The event is part of the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association State Championships in Gravel.
The race brings hundreds of people to Waldport, and Holland said the community realized the city was not doing anything to give the racers a reason to stay in town. Volunteers set to work in early 2022 to put together a music festival with a ready-made audience, and the Beach, Bike and Blues festival was born.
Keeping true to its origins, the festival focuses on music, with performances that run from noon to 7 pm in downtown Waldport.
In addition to six hours of live blues there will be food from local chefs and craft beer from Beachcrest Brewing Company.
There are plenty of food choices available throughout the afternoon, ranging from fish and chips to giant hot dogs and barbecue ribs.
A Beachcomber Days Kids’ Area, with games and activities, will be run by volunteers who will also have information about the annual Beachcomber Days celebration in Waldport, happening this year on June 15 and 16.
Tom Fullmer, executive director of the Waldport Chamber of Commerce, said the event attracted 700 or 800 people in its first year. That led to a bigger tent in the second year; last year brought in almost 2,000 people.
“So, we expanded the tent size again for this year and we’re projecting 2,500 people,” he said. ”We have people coming from all over — Portland, the Willamette Valley and even Seattle. We offer great music and great food. The Cascade Blues Association of Portland helps bring in a lot of people.”
He emphasized that the festival is appropriate for all ages, is ADA-accessible and dog-friendly. The entire museum building is used, along with all of the rear parking lot and grassy area. And beach access is available from the parking lot steps.
The Waldport chamber presents the festival with its sponsors as a community event to support local businesses. Among its 50 volunteers is a team of students from Angell Job Corps in Yachats, who are instrumental in helping set up the event. Pioneer Connect is the presenting sponsor.
This year’s festival includes five food vendors and about 25 other vendors. The music pavilion will be double the size it was last year, with plenty of room for dancing.
“It’s a real community celebration,” Fullmer said. “It creates a lot of esprit de corps “
And the feedback is positive.
“Everyone loves the venue,” he said. “We’ve heard from one of the musicians that it’s the best venue they’ve ever played.”
Fullmer points out that the event has countywide participation — the fish and chips food truck is from Fishing Rock Eatery in Depoe Bay, and festival visitors can shop for locally roasted coffee from The Thirsty Fisherman in Toledo. Beachcrest Brewing Company is located in Gleneden Beach. Other food vendors are Grocery Outlet with wine, hard seltzer and non-alcoholic beer; tri-tip sandwiches, barbecue ribs and giant hot dogs from Ray’s Market; Pepsi products and bottled water from Bigfoot Beverages; sweet treats from Chubby Lil’ Mermaid in Seal Rock; and ice cream sandwiches from JillyBeanz Ice Cream in Waldport.
“The festival is really music-oriented but we have cold beer and good food and a beautiful beach,” Fullmer said. “It brings lots of people into Waldport and our scenic beachfront setting. And we’re always excited to show off our town.”
Beach, Bike and Blues runs from noon to 7 pm this Saturday, May 4, in downtown Waldport. For more information, go to https://findyourselfinwaldport.com/beach-bike-blues-festival-returns-saturday-may-4-2024/.
Music schedule
12:15 pm – Paul Schuytema, old-time blues
2 pm – Purple Cats tribute with Steve Cook, Curtis Colt, Ethan Bear and Neil Stauphenbeil
3:30 pm – Ronnie Jay Pirrello, blues, rock and folk
5 pm – Sonny Hess, Lisa Mann and Kelly Pierce, Cascade Blues Muddy Award-winning trio