NEWBERG, Ore. — The Newberg Old Fashioned Festival’s trademark fireworks will light up the sky again this summer, but not without other changes.
After years of planning around the assumption that a major reconstruction of Renne Field would eliminate the festival’s fireworks show, a delay in that project has given NOFF one more year on its traditional home turf.
The reprieve comes alongside a different set of challenges: the departure of the festival’s carnival, the closure of its cultural stage, and growing uncertainty about where fireworks will go in 2027 and beyond.
“I really see this as a transition year,” said Bob Woodruff, president of the NOFF committee.
The Renne Field Delay
The grass expanse near Edwards Elementary, where NOFF stages its fireworks show each year, has been poised for reconstruction since 2024. Plans to rebuild the facility with a synthetic track, multi-purpose turf field, lighting, restrooms, ADA improvements, and pickleball courts have been in the works, and last summer was widely expected to be NOFF’s last with fireworks.
“It was a surprise to us all,” Woodruff said. “A welcome surprise, but still a surprise.”
The project has been pushed to 2027, according to Chehalem Parks and Recreation District Special Services Supervisor Julie Petersen, who confirmed no construction equipment will be on site during the festival’s traditional dates in late July. The project’s timeline was adjusted after CPRD hired consultants AKS Engineering and Tarkett Sports to assist with the project. The consultants informed CPRD the timeline was too aggressive and needed to be pushed back.
“We hadn’t anticipated quite as much time as it was going to take,” said CPRD Superintendent Clay Downing. “Once we got that consultant team on board, they helped get that expectation in place. That happens sometimes.”
The project is now slated to start in summer 2027.
The delay caught festival organizers off guard. Woodruff said the committee had already begun planning around a fireworks-free event before the news arrived in early January — and that the turnaround was a genuine surprise.
“We had started to recalibrate our budget — all our plans were focused around not having fireworks,” he said. “Beginning of January, as soon as they knew, they let us know, which was wonderful.”
Shooting fireworks off an artificial turf field isn’t an option — the fireworks company won’t operate near synthetic turf — and alternative sites present logistical and financial complications. Organizers have explored locations including a parcel near Rogers Landing and the Portland Community College Newberg Center campus, but shooting fireworks from a greater distance requires fireworks to shoot higher, and that increases costs.
No alternative has been finalized, and the committee has acknowledged it will need to solve this before 2027.
No Carnival, Lower Revenue
The fireworks news was welcome. Less so was a call the committee received around the same time.
NOFF’s longtime carnival vendor informed organizers it had accepted a contract with a larger event and would not be returning to Newberg for the festival. The carnival had been one of the festival’s most reliable revenue drivers — organizers had anticipated roughly $15,000 from carnival proceeds this year alone, which goes toward the festival’s operating budget.
“That threw our budget into a lot of flux,” Woodruff said.
To compensate, the committee is adding features such as bounce houses, launching a cornhole tournament, and developing a beer garden concept. The NOFF 5K is also returning this year, organized by former Jem 100 co-owner Tom Vondrachek, who helps organize the Gobble ‘n’ Scoop 5K and fun run in Newberg each Thanksgiving morning.
Organizers also plan to move approximately 20 vendors from Memorial Park to Renne Field to help draw foot traffic between the two areas — a shift prompted by construction of a new public safety parking lot in Memorial Park that is already underway. Additionally, the city has approved a stretch of Sixth Street between Blaine and Howard for extra food trucks throughout the festival.
The committee is also seeking additional sponsors and leaning on in-kind donations from local businesses to bridge the gap.
“The more we can raise from the community, the better show we can put on,” said Evelyn Horning, NOFF committee member and organizer of the annual Cruise-In Car Show. “A lot of people contribute during or after the festival, but there are far more up-front costs and deposits, so early support goes a long way.”
NOFF operates as a 501(c)(4) community-based nonprofit and is entirely volunteer-run. The annual four-day event carries roughly $100,000 in operating costs.
The Cultural Stage Goes Dark
For more than a decade, NOFF has hosted a dedicated cultural stage — a fixture of the festival’s Friday and Saturday programming that showcased the Chehalem Valley’s Latino community and drew strong attendance and vendor participation. This year, the cultural stage will not return.
The decision, made by the NOFF board, stems from two converging pressures: the loss of the carnival’s revenue made a three-stage lineup financially difficult to sustain, and committee members grew concerned that a concentrated, high-profile cultural event could draw unwanted attention during a period of heightened immigration enforcement activity.
“With everything that is going on with the immigration and ICE in our communities, we took the hard decision not to focus on the cultural stage — just to not put our community on the target,” said Miriam Sangabriel, a committee member who had taken over coordination of the cultural stage.
NOFF is dropping from three stages to two. Cultural performances, food, and vendors that previously anchored the cultural stage will be dispersed throughout the festival rather than concentrated in a dedicated area.
Sangabriel said the Hispanic community has long looked forward to and supported the cultural stage, and she has been hesitant to share the news publicly. Vendors who typically participate in that space have already reached out, hoping to be involved — she has been telling them quietly, without a formal announcement.
“I know the Hispanic community is expecting the cultural stage to be up and running,” she said. “That’s something that is also going to be shocking for them.”
But she said the decision feels like the right one — for the safety of the community, and for the festival itself.
“We’re still celebrating cultures, but not being in a specific area,” Sangabriel said. “We want everybody to enjoy at the same time. My major worry is, of course, the immigration situation. I don’t want this to be a target. I don’t want people to be scared of going out.”
What to Expect in 2026
The parade, children’s parade, and Sunday Cruise-In car show are all returning. The main stage at Memorial Park will feature multiple acts, including Dance Hall Days on Friday night and Infamous Soul on Saturday. The fireworks stage at Renne Field will host Ben Rice and the Hustle on Friday and Ty Curtis on Saturday. Additional entertainment is still being booked pending sponsorships.
This year’s Grand Parade Marshal is longtime City of Newberg employee Russ Thomas, who retired in March after a 40-year career as a city laborer, rising to the position of Public Works Director.
Festival organizers are also planning a community survey during the event to gather feedback on future direction as the festival navigates its changing footprint.
For the committee, the goal is straightforward even if the path isn’t: keep the festival free, keep it rooted in Newberg, and keep it growing — even when everything around it is shifting.
“This festival has been operating essentially the same way for a very long time — at least 30 years,” Horning said. “Now we’re just trying to help build that foundation a bit more and evolve it smartly, as everything around us is evolving.”
The Newberg Old Fashioned Festival runs the last full weekend in July. They are seeking sponsors to support the festival and volunteers for their committee and day-of activities. To donate to this year’s festival, follow THIS LINK. For more information, visit the festival’s website.
