Tunes on Tuesday concert series is returning to downtown Newberg on July 11 with new leadership and a renewed focus on quality over quantity.
The number of concerts has been reduced from eight to four, and they will occur on July 11, July 18, August 8, and August 15 at the Chehalem Cultural Center Plaza.
Update: The concert line up has been released! See the four Tunes on Tuesday bands at the bottom of this article.
The Young Professionals of Yamhill County handed event management to the collective efforts of Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce, Taste Newberg, the City of Newberg, and the Newberg Downtown Coalition.
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Shannon Eoff, former co-chair of the event and current band coordinator, said the event grew too large for Young Professionals of Yamhill County to manage.
“[The new management collective] has given the event a new energy,” said Eoff. “With more support from the organizations and a full year of experience, we’re really looking forward to this upcoming season.”
In its first year back since a two-year hiatus (except for one week during 2021), the 2022 Tunes on Tuesday concert series featured eight concerts over eight weeks. While attendance was strong, organizers said the event didn’t always run smoothly.
“Last year it took about all we had to keep it running,” said Tunes on Tuesday Vendor Coordinator and Honey Pie Pizza Co-Founder Bubba King. “We took a lot of notes and developed some guidelines and we’re excited to apply them this year.”
The most notable change for 2023 is reduction of events, which lightens the strain on the organizers and volunteers and shifts the focus from quantity to quality.
“We’re going to take the four total events and make each of them amazing,” said Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Scott Parker. “We’ll run for two weeks, learn everything we can, and then come back to finish strong.”
Parker also said the gap will help address a potential challenge the event faced last year: heatwaves.
According to Weather Underground‘s historical data, five of the eight Tuesdays in July and August experienced high temperatures over 90°F. Tuesday, July 26, 2022, experienced high temperatures of 102°F.
“You’ll notice our two-week break is when the heatwave occurred last year,” Parker added. “That’s very much intentional.”
Tunes on Tuesday’s organizing committee is currently focused on shoring up volunteer and sponsor support. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Eoff said volunteers have been harder to come by than they were prior to the pandemic.
“Post-COVID has been tough for us trying to get volunteers,” Eoff said. “When you have a robust volunteer pool, you bring that community, neighborly feel to an event that you can’t get otherwise.”
Parker said volunteer and sponsor enrichment is paramount to the event’s success.
“Over the years, I’ve found that an event’s success hinges on the happiness and fulfillment of the volunteers and sponsors,” he said. “When volunteers and sponsors are happy, the attendees are happy. That’s what we’re shooting for.”
Tunes on Tuesday Line Up
July 11: Hit Machine
July 18: Dance Hall Days
August 8: The Boondock Boys
August 15: Pura Vida Orquesta
“I think Newberg needs this event,” said King. “Especially now because of the fractured state of our town. This is an opportunity to put everything aside and come together as one community to support local business and listen to some great music.”
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