Jesse Cimon, left, Ryan Edvalson, center, and Chris Jennings pause for a portrait Friday, April 23, 2021, at the performing arts venue HQ in La Grande. The Eastern Oregon Film Festival organizers are prepared to manage the 2021 festival in the safest way possible.

UNION COUNTY — In what felt like a somewhat normal summer, many local events returned to Northeastern Oregon after being canceled in 2020. However, as Union and Wallowa counties experienced record high COVID-19 cases in August, many late-summer and early-fall events have been canceled or modified.

The current state of the pandemic has organizers unsure about future events as the delta variant surges across the country.

“We’re going to lean on the cautionary side, always,” said Eastern Oregon Film Festival Director Chris Jennings.

Jennings also co-owns HQ on Depot Street, which hosted a number of concerts and events throughout the summer when COVID-19 cases were low. With the recent spike, the venue announced on Aug. 11 that open mic nights and concerts would be put on hold until further notice.

“We definitely had an interest in the open mic,” he said. “People were really enjoying that opportunity, and we’re certainly hopeful to bring that back as soon as we can.”

HQ hosted concerts on Saturdays for most of the summer, with open mic nights taking place during the week. Jennings noted that the plan was to continue hosting shows throughout the fall and winter months, but the spike in COVID-19 made things difficult from a monetary standpoint. HQ was operating on a limited capacity during the summer and there are no concerts planned for the future, but the venue is still available for musicians and others to rent out as a creative space.

“When it comes down to it, we have to get enough bodies in here to make a buck, so it’s more cost effective right now to not have shows,” he said. “I think it’s a win-win right now, in terms of giving ourselves some chances to plan for the future as well.”

Jennings is referring to the Eastern Oregon Film Festival, which is held in La Grande from Oct. 21 through Oct. 23. The current plan is to limit in-person access to official festival members and visiting artists, as announced on Wednesday, Sept. 1., and to offer the festival online. The festival organizers held the festival virtually last year, which Jennings thinks will lead to a smooth operation this time around.

“That’s the saving grace, that we got thrust through that last year,” Jennings said. “In terms of technical setup and investment into the infrastructure, that’s all done and we’ve run through that gauntlet.”

According to Jennings, he is dedicated to having an in-person festival this year with artists and filmmakers attending the event. The festival will be showing more films than ever after receiving a record amount of submissions. The films are slated to be shown at the Liberty Theatre, Eastern Oregon University’s campus and The Lodge at Hot Lake Springs, while HQ is the festival headquarters.

With the uncertainty regarding future COVID-19 numbers, Jennings is taking it day-by-day in the planning of the festival. He stated that the organizers hope to open day-of box office tickets for films being aired during the festival if COVID-19 cases are lower in October. This would allow for non-members to attend the in-person events — otherwise they can access the event virtually.

“Depending on where we’re at in October will dictate how many at-the-door tickets for each event we might have,” the EOFF director said. “It’s a juggle all the way up to the end.”

Modifying previous traditions

On the plus side of the event equation, the 26th annual Celebrate La Grande End of Summer Block Party is set to run from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9. It will be conducted as a drive-thru food offering at the Union County Fairgrounds.

People coming to the event will receive free hot dogs, chips, soda and ice cream. In addition, all children coming to Celebrate La Grande will receive free items for a coloring contest from the Union County Board of Realtors. Prizes donated by local businesses will later be awarded to the contest’s high placers.

Celebrate La Grande is held each September and traditionally was an event where people gather on Adams Avenue in the Max Square area to enjoy a free meal together with music and other entertainment. In 2020 the celebration was moved to the Union County Fairgrounds because of the pandemic and was made into a drive-thru event.

The Sept. 9 event will be similar to the drive thru at the fairgrounds in 2020, said Jeff Crews, a member of the Celebrate La Grande Committee.

Wallowa County impacted by COVID-19 spike

Wallowa County also has felt the spike of COVID-19, recording 180 positive cases in August. The rise in cases prompted event organizers to cancel three of the county’s popular late-summer events. Oregon’s Alpenfest, Juniper Jam Music Festival and Hells Canyon Mule Days were all canceled this year due to COVID-19.

Hells Canyon Mule Days celebrates mules and mule skinners on Labor Day weekend, but was canceled due to the spread of the virus. The event traditionally takes place at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds in Enterprise.

According to a press release, Hells Canyon Mule Days President Sondra Lozier had plans in place to bring the event back with shows, vendors, exhibitors and many other activities. The 2021 Hells Canyon Mule Days would have been the 41st annual gathering, and the plan is to bring the event back in September 2022.

“This is incredibly disappointing,” Lozier said. “And I assure everyone that this decision was not made lightly. Our board was unanimous that it was the only option. As disappointing as this is, we look forward to welcoming everyone back to Enterprise in 2022 when we plan to celebrate the 41st (again) Annual Hells Canyon Mule Days event.”

Juniper Jam, a music festival in Enterprise, canceled its 2021 rendition and is planning on rescheduling to Sept. 3, 2022. In a statement from the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance, the organization expressed its disappointment in having to cancel the event and urged the community to get vaccinated to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Wallowa Lake typically closes its tourist season with Oregon’s Alpenfest, a four-day celebration of Alpine culture. The event is the only Swiss-Bavarian festival in the Western U.S. Alpenfest typically involves polka bands, dance lessons, yodeling, local artisan brews and more. Alpenfest announced that the event was canceled in order to avoid risking the health of guests, volunteers and performers. The next Oregon’s Alpenfest is scheduled for Sept. 22, 2022.

The annual Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts, held at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture in Joseph, is still scheduled to begin on Sept. 17 but has been modified. The event is three days long and is the largest fine art exhibition in Eastern Oregon. The festival announced that there will be adjustments this year to accommodate for the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

According to Executive Director Cheryl Coughlan, any gatherings at art displays or other events will be limited and patrons will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing. The food and live music portion of the festival was canceled for the opening night, and a virtual element will be available. There will still be live music on Sept. 18, and art viewings and auctions will still take place. The festival is looking to sell the nearly 100 pieces of artwork submitted by more than 50 artists.

“We wanted to add a virtual element so that if people are uncomfortable attending, they can still take part,” Coughlan said.