Those of us who travel up and down Oregon may realize that the South Coast, and more specifically Brookings, is often hosting some sort of festival or special event.
Local festivals go a long way toward engaging community members, bringing in day-trippers and tourists, and helping local businesses through vending and tabling opportunities. That goes without mentioning that the proceeds from many festivals go directly to local charities and non-profit organizations.
To find out more about Brookings’ festivals and how they can help the city move forward, the Pilot spoke with Crissy Cooper, Creative Director for Insider of Southern Oregon Events. Raised an Oregonian, Cooper has had a major hand in the planning of some of Brookings’ biggest festivals and is one of the main voices behind the push to make Brookings ‘Festival City USA’.
“I feel like our city is doing so many great things. So many different groups are coming out of the woodwork to revive festivals. They’re putting in the work to build new ones,” said Cooper. “It’s really interesting that you start your tourism season here around Memorial Day with the Azalea Festival, put on by the City of Brookings. And it just keeps going through Christmas time with Nature’s Coastal Holiday. What people usually say is there’s always something to do when you come over to Brookings.”
Some of those highlights from this year saw new festivals put in strong second years, and many older festivals returning after hiatus, often due to pauses during the pandemic in 2019.
Back in July, The Slam’n Salmon Ocean Derby returned with a splash. The fishing celebration brought attention to one of Brooking’s biggest and most important pastimes and industries. Community partners contributed prizes for a huge raffle, with all proceeds going to the Brookings-Harbor High School Angling Club.
The Wild Rivers Film Fest returned for a second year in August, bringing movie buffs and filmmakers from around the world together to celebrate their hard work here in Brookings. The four-day fest saw arthouse indies, romping b-horror, insightful docs, and foreign films grace the screens at the Redwood Theatre and Chetco Playhouse.
“For the Film Festival, growing it to more days is in discussion, but we’re really trying to solidify our team first and make sure we know what we’re doing, especially given it was just our second year this year. But I think its just getting better and better,” said Cooper.
Improving the festivals comes with frank discussion about what is working and what needs reconsidered. The recent Brookings-Harbor Docktoberfest, while a fun event as always, missed the mark in terms of truly celebrating German culture. So, the organizers are taking a look at how to reinterpret the annual September celebration.
“I don’t know that our community can support a German-themed festival. I think we should go back to the drawing board on that one. We do have an Oompah band out of Crescent City, but we have a lot of Rock n’ Roll people here, who like to dance and rock out. It’s just finding those German vendors, I think its one where we can see some growth,” said Cooper.
With next year’s festival schedule set for announcement in November, there are even more festivals coming back to Brookings.
“We’ve got Brookings Kites bringing back the Southern Oregon Kite Festival. It’ll be a really different kind of festival. That team is going to be amazing because many of them aren’t just impassioned by kites, but they were also on the original committee that ran the classic festival for 27 years. I know Insider of Southern Oregon were trying to do a Bootleg Festival and were trying to bring back the Crab and Wine Festival, which happens at the end of January,” said Cooper.
“Those are just a couple that are emerging and the ideas are growing as long as we can get sponsors and vendors behind it. Not all of these things make a lot of money, if any at all in the first several years, but it’s really about building our community partnerships, and about what people want to see. If we can start the thought process that there’s something to do here every weekend when it’s a bajillion degrees over in the valley, when everyone’s faces are melting off, they can come to the coast and we have live music and our community has a pretty decent nightlife.”
Capitalizing on that excitement and bringing energy into the community can only serve as a boon if organized well. Frequent fests will bring micro-tourism into the community, will help fill business through increasing visitors and sponsorship opportunities, and will encourage younger folks to view Brookings as a happening place to live.
“Festivals are a lot of work. You’re popping up a whole scene for the weekend and then tearing it down. It’s a lot of work but when you have the right team its awesome. So ‘Festival City USA’ will have to be a full circle between the City of Brookings, the Port of Brookings-Harbor, Travel Curry Coast, and then of course the vendors,” said Cooper.
In October, the Chetco Pelican Players are putting on the 21st annual Haunted House. Plans for this year are bigger than ever before, and they are still seeking volunteers and actors to do their part in scaring the thrill seekers of Brookings.
Following will be the annual Christmas Bazaar and the popular Nature’s Coastal Holiday, for which preparation are already underway.
“Anybody who’s available to volunteer! That a message we always need put out there. Just show up, man, just show up, everybody has a blast doing these festivals. And it gets us through, what I call, the winter funk, gives us something to look forward to,” said Cooper.
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