A4 The BulleTin • Sunday, March 21, 2021
COVID-19 | Summer events in the Pendleton area
Organizers take a wait-and-see approach
vertising a July 10 concert, but
co-founder Doug Corey said
he’s still waiting on word from
the state.
“We’re full steam ahead — if
they let us go,” he said.
Corey said Whisky Fest is
reliant on ticket sales to make
the concert financially feasi-
ble, and if attendance is capped
at a level too far below the
Round-Up arena’s capacity, or-
ganizers might not be able to
stage the event.
Corey said large event or-
ganizers are supposed to meet
with the governor’s office
by the end of March, and he
hopes Whisky Fest will have
more clarity on 2021 following
the meeting.
BY ANTONIO SIERRA
AND JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
For some Umatilla County
event organizers, there’s a sense
of deja vu.
In 2020, organizers cycled
from confidence that their
summer events would go on
as scheduled despite the onset
of the COVID-19 pandemic to
uncertainty as the virus spread
rapidly throughout the county
to resignation that they would
have to cancel their events
once it became clear the state
wouldn’t lift its rules on mass
gatherings.
A year later, Umatilla
County, like other places in Or-
egon and the United States, is
experiencing declining corona-
virus case numbers and is con-
tinuing to distribute vaccines.
But organizers remain non-
committal as they await word
from the state about what kind
of rules they’ll have to contend
with this summer.
Pendleton Round-Up
studying safety plans
Umatilla County’s largest
event has been fairly quiet on
its 2021 plans.
When the Round-Up can-
celed the rodeo for the first
time since World War II, orga-
nizing quickly committed to a
2021 event.
The Round-Up website’s
homepage features a counter
that measures the days before
Sept. 11, and a short message:
“Planning is well underway for
a safe and healthy 2021 Pendle-
ton Round-Up.”
Clicking on the message
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian file
A member of the Seattle Cossacks Motorcycle Stunt and Drill Team rides his Harley Davidson in a circle pivot-
ing about his foot during a performance at the 2019 Pendleton Bike Week.
links to a page that explains
why the Round-Up canceled
the 2020 rodeo and Let ‘Er
Buck Cares, a charity fund set
up by the Round-Up to assist
businesses and organizations
affected by the rodeo’s cancel-
ation.
Round-Up Publicity Direc-
tor Pat Reay didn’t respond to
a voicemail requesting com-
ment, but at a joint meeting
between the Pendleton City
Council and the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation Board of Trustees,
Pendleton Mayor John Turner,
an ex-officio member of the
Round-Up Board of Direc-
tors, gave a short update on the
Round-Up’s planning process.
Turner said the Round-Up
board is studying the safety
plans of other large outdoor
rodeos, like Cheyenne Frontier
Days, as they try to formulate
their own. Turner said early
discussions include logistics
like a temperature checkpoint
and whether attendees need to
wear masks.
Tribal participation is
also a significant part of the
Round-Up and Boots Pond, an
at-large member of the Board
of Trustees, said he’s on a sub-
committee with other tribal
members that is working with
the rodeo on what that partici-
pation will look like.
Pond said the subcommittee
is expecting to receive a draft
plan from the Round-Up in
April, and after input from the
subcommittee’s members, a fi-
nal draft in July.
Kat Brigham, the chair of
the Board of Trustees, said
the tribal government is look-
ing to coordinate more with
Round-Up ahead of the next
rodeo.
Whisky fest ‘full steam ahead’
Last year was supposed to
rival 2018 for the Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest’s biggest
year, but it wasn’t to be.
When Whisky Fest canceled
its 2020 event, it retained head-
liners Eric Church and Mack-
lemore for a rescheduled 2021
concert. Whisky Fest is still ad-
Rodeo moving forward
On the west side of the
county, Farm-City Pro Rodeo
board member Dennis Barnett
said the rodeo will go on in
Hermiston in August.
“There will be a rodeo, we
just don’t know if there will be
no fans, or some fans or 100%,”
he said.
Barnett said there have al-
ready been other rodeo events
held at the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center with-
out fans present since the pan-
demic began, establishing a
precedent for using the arena.
So the board is making three
plans — one for an event with
no spectators, one for partial
capacity, and one for an event
that looks like years past.
“We owe it to the cowboys,
we owe it to the contractors,
because they need to make a
living too,” he said.
Barnett said the Farm-City
Pro Rodeo has not received
any government money to
support the event, despite its
complete cancelation last year.
So if event organizers can’t sell
any tickets this year or half the
usual amount, it will fall to
sponsors to make up the dif-
ference.
Fortunately, he said, spon-
sors he has met with so far
have all been very supportive.
The rodeo takes place each
year in tandem with the Uma-
tilla County Fair, held on the
same dates, also at the event
center.
Fair Manager Angie Mc-
Nalley has said the fair board
is also moving forward with
plans on the assumption that
there will be a “fair that looks
like a fair” in August, even if
there are some regulations in
place regarding social distanc-
ing, capacity, sanitation and
other safety measures.
Bike Week: Unsure
Pendleton Bike Week is in a
similar boat to Whisky Fest.
Under new ownership,
the 2020 bike week was sup-
posed to shift from the Pend-
leton Convention Center to
the Round-Up Grounds and
feature more affordable entry
prices.
But bike week owner Stu-
art Rice had to cancel the 2020
event and he’s not sure about
the 2021 event either.
Pendleton Bike Week is still
advertising July 15-18 event
dates, but Rice said he wants
to wait until he hears from the
governor before proceeding.