Sun comes out Saturday for Waldport’s 70th Beachcomber Festival, filling downtown community with people, cars, food — and fun

WALDPORT – The Waldport Beachcomber Festival filled city’s downtown Saturday with shiny classic cars, music, food, and a long parade filled with big trucks, horses, floats, balloons and lots of candy being tossed to crowds that lined the highways through town.

Festivities continue Sunday with a pancake breakfast at the Waldport Moose Lodge followed by music, the second day of the vendor’s fair and then capped off in the afternoon with the Chuck Hill Memorial Bed Races in front of Cafe Chill.

Here are some scenes from Saturday.

Saturday, June 20

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Car show (Presented by 1st Security Bank & Skosh)

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Vendor fair (Community center parking lot)

10 a.m.: Free strawberry shortcake while supplies last (St. Anthony’s Catholic Church)

Noon: Grand Parade (Louis Southworth Park to Highway 34 then south on U.S. Highway 101)

1-6 p.m.: Kid Zone & Puddle Pirate Party Bounce House (Louis Southworth Park)

1-6 p.m.: Slug races (Throughout the afternoon, no registration required)

1-10 p.m.: Beer garden and main stage entertainment featuring Weird Science, Strange Brew Band, Typsy Chicks, and Fire Dancers (Moose Lodge)

Sunday, June 21

8:30-11 a.m.: Pancake Breakfast (Moose Lodge)

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Vendor faire (Community center parking lot)

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Kids Zone (Louis Southworth Park)

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Music on the Main Stage: Grey Wails (Moose Lodge)

1-3 p.m.: The Chuck Hill Memorial Bed Races (Cafe Chill)

This week’s advance story on the 70th Waldport Beachcomber Festival

By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle

WALDPORT – Prepare your racing slug, ready your bed for maximum velocity and join the kids on adult-sized bouncing horses at the 70^th annual Waldport Beachcomber Festival this weekend.

Waldport’s biggest family-oriented bash returns to its full, three-day glory Friday through Sunday, June 19-21, with its ever-popular parade and car show and the return of some historic favorites – proving that after 70 years of practice and pride this coastal community still knows how to throw the biggest little block party wedged between the forest and the sea.

Under the theme “70 years in the Making,” the festival kicks off at 2:45 p.m. Friday with a proclamation by Grand Marshal Donna McCrea at city hall, quickly followed by the kids parade at Louis Southworth Park.

This year’s event marks a new chapter in the event, with a new name and a new organizing committee.

“We’re bringing back things that happened many, many years ago,” said festival board members Annie Watson and Sheila Dunn. “Our goal is to act as a bridge because this is such a beloved and local event. And we had requests from people for the good old days.”

A couple of nostalgic events resurrected from years past are slug races slated for Saturday and the Chuck Hill Memorial Bed Races on Sunday.

For the slug races, participants are invited to enter their own gastropod – “people do bring their own” – or rent one from the “slug garage” and then watch the slow-motion action unfold in slime trails on a custom table divided into tiny lanes.

If racing mollusks isn’t high-octane enough, the bed races are making a roaring comeback, although at this point only two beds have entered the fray and organizers are pressing for more to bolster the roster.

With the motto “Build a bed. Gather your crew. Race for bragging rights” Watson and Dunn urged the Waldport city council during their meeting last week to form a team and face off with a team from public works. And they added, if public works is not up for the challenge, maybe the group looking to recall the council will be willing to step up to the starting line.

Movie night also returns by popular demand with an outdoor screening of The Goonies playing across the east wall of the old gymnasium at 10 p.m. Friday. Bring your own chairs and blankets and feel free to sneak in your own candy in case you don’t want to partake of the concession stand.

This year’s car show rolls out from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and boasts 52 vehicles with enough polished-shine to require sunglasses no matter the weather.

Other weekend events include: a “business crawl” complete with passport books for prize drawings; a bevy of vendors offering merchandise and food Saturday and Sunday; a cadre of musical acts which kick off Friday with music ministry at Waldport Community Presbyterian Church before leading into Saturday’s lineup at the main stage in front of the Moose Lodge where a beer garden will help loosen dancers’ hinges. Performers include Weird Science, Typsy Chicks, Strange Brew Band and fire dancers. The Gray Wails will take the stage mid-day Sunday.

The three-day Festival is free to attend but some attractions like the Puddle Pirate Bounce houses in the Kid zone will require a $12 all-day wristband. The Kid Zone will feature free carnival games with prizes and those adult-sized bouncy horses to indulge parents’ inner child. There will also be popcorn and snow cones for sale.

The grand parade will roll out at noon Saturday, starting at Louis Southworth Park before making its way down Highway 34 and then south on U.S. Highway 101.

Because the new committee is “starting out at ground zero,” Watson said any money raised this year will cover the costs of the live music, staging and an assortment of odds and ends with any leftover proceeds directly funding next year’s event and eventually establishing student scholarships.

With just 15 volunteers currently running the whole shebang, organizers welcome all the helping hands they can get.

“Beachcombers has always been about community,” Watson said. “Please join us. Let’s have some fun and make new memories.”

For more information about this year’s event, including sponsors, visit Waldport Chamber of Commerce; follow Waldport Beachcomber Festival on Facebook or email [email protected].

The schedule

Friday, June 19

2:45 p.m.: Proclamation by Grand Marshal Donna McCrea (Waldport city hall)

3 p.m.: Kids Parade (Louis Southworth Park track)

3-7 p.m.: Kids Zone (Louis Southworth Park)

5-7 p.m.: Live Music: Buzz Kill (Main Stage, Moose Lodge)

6 p.m.: Sponsor dinner and Royal Court Reception (La Baia Restaurant, invitation only)

7:30-8:30 p.m.: Music Ministry (Waldport Community Presbyterian Church)

10 p.m.: Movie Night: Goonies (Louis Southworth Park east wall)

Saturday, June 20

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Car show (Presented by 1st Security Bank & Skosh)

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Vendor fair (Community center parking lot)

10 a.m.: Free strawberry shortcake while supplies last (St. Anthony’s Catholic Church)

Noon: Grand Parade (Louis Southworth Park to Highway 34 then south on U.S. Highway 101)

1-6 p.m.: Kid Zone & Puddle Pirate Party Bounce House (Louis Southworth Park)

1-6 p.m.: Slug races (Throughout the afternoon, no registration required)

1-10 p.m.: Beer garden and main stage entertainment featuring Weird Science, Strange Brew Band, Typsy Chicks, and Fire Dancers (Moose Lodge)

Sunday, June 21

8:30-11 a.m.: Pancake Breakfast (Moose Lodge)

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Vendor faire (Community center parking lot)

11a.m. to 3 p.m.: Kids Zone (Louis Southworth Park)

11a.m. to 1 p.m.: Music on the Main Stage: Grey Wails (Moose Lodge)

1-3 p.m.: The Chuck Hill Memorial Bed Races (Cafe Chill)

• Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]