WALDPORT — There will be no community fireworks in Waldport this year.
The Waldport Chamber of Commerce board decided Wednesday to cancel its fireworks display either on July 3 or Aug. 29 because of state prohibitions against large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
“For us, it’s hard to make places, spend time and money on things and not be able to follow through,” chamber director Laura Furgurson said Thursday. “Fundraising is tough.”
The chamber usually spends $15,000 on the fireworks display.
The business group had hoped to move the fireworks to Labor Day weekend, but Gov. Kate Brown announced last week that she will prohibit large gatherings possibly through the end of September. That prompted another wave of major events like the Oregon State Fair in Salem, the Oregon Country Fair in Veneta, the Beloved Festival near Alsea, and the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
The Gravel Epic – a mountain bike race through the hills east of Waldport – is still scheduled for a new date of Aug. 29 but will change its procedures to discourage crowds of people, Furgurson said.
A new chamber event, Explore the Outdoors, that was to coincide with the Gravel Epic will be postponed until next year, Furgurson said.
Waldport’s Beachcomber Days, which was revived last year and was making plans for a bigger event in June, announced Saturday that it will not hold the event in June but hopes to in October if the governor relaxes restrictions on large gatherings.
Fireworks scheduled July 4 in Yachats have already been postponed to possibly sometime in the fall.
