Sweet Home residents have the opportunity to enjoy some juiced-up events from the Oregon Jamboree, which began May 1 and will continue through the Aug. 1-3 country music festival.
“It’s funny,” said Jamboree Festival Director Robert Shamek. “Every Tuesday morning we have a staff meeting and it used to be all-Jamboree” but that’s no longer the case.
Now the organization, event planning as “Sweet Events,” is working on a variety of entertainment functions: the Santiam Smoke Show barbecue competition on May 30-31; a treasure hunt that rewards winners with passes to the Smoke Show and other goodies; Tune It Up Tuesdays, a battle of the bands competition that runs through the month of June on Tuesday nights; and the PNW Stampeders western line dance competition, which also runs through June at locations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Santiam Smoke Show
The Jamboree organization took over the planning and management last year for what was previously the Icebox Cookoff.
The event, founded in 2021 and previously organized by Radiator Supply House, has drawn competitors from across the U.S. and Canada for competitions sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, focusing on Kansas City and steak barbecue, offering $50,000 in prize money last year.
This year the event, scheduled for May 30-31, will be limited to Kansas City barbecue, but that competition will be a “double-header,” Shamek said.
“We’re doing that two days in a row, and that’s why we still have the $50,000 in payoffs because we will do $25,000 each on Day 1 and Day 2.”
According to Internet sources, Kansas City barbecue is unique from three other recognized main regional styles in the U.S.: Carolina (primarily pulled pork, vinegar-based), Memphis (pork ribs, often without sauce and often with dry rubs, natural meat flavor) and Texas (usually beef, especially brisket, cooked low and slow over oak).
Kansas City barbeque competitions feature four meats – chicken, pork ribs, pork and beef brisket – cooked with sweet and tangy sauces.
The Sweet Home competition and concerts will be held on the former Willamette Mill property at the corner of 18th Avenue and Tamarack Street. Access will be through the former mill entrance on Tamarack Street.
Shamek said the date was moved from the July Fourth holiday to late May due to its proximity to the Jamboree. It is also being combined with the Music and Brews mini-festival, which the Jamboree launched in 2022.
“We were also doing Music and Brews and the Icebox was, you know, late, which was really tough to power through that big of an event, especially with the Jamboree coming, and then go right into the Jamboree,” he said.
“So we decided to kind of split the middle and put Music and Brews and Icebox together to make the Santiam Smoke Show, so it was a little rebranding both of them.”
Shamek noted that all of Sweet Events’ activities, other than the Oregon Jamboree, will be held at the former mill site, because of the parking space and the fact that the entire property is paved, with a large roofed structure for the actual performers.
This year’s Santiam Smoke competition will be the Kansas City Barbeque Society’s Oregon state championship event, with winners qualifying for the Jack Daniels Barbecue Championship, scheduled for Oct. 10-11 in Lynchburg, Tenn. The Sweet Home competition is one of some 60 sanctioned qualifiers across the U.S. and Canada. More than 45 teams from as far away as Texas are expected to compete, Shamek said.
In addition to the barbecue, the event will include performances by country music artists Clark Hill (Friday) and Jackson Michelson (Saturday) at 7 p.m. both nights. The country acts will be followed by Jukebox Heroes, a Foreigner tribute band, at 8:30 p.m. Friday and, following a fireworks show next to the water tower on Saturday, Hall & Bros, a tribute band specializing in Hall & Oates and the Doobie Brothers music at 9 p.m. Saturday.
Shamek said Friday’s activities will be open to everyone from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, when it becomes an adults-only event.
“It’s kid-friendly all the way up to that point,” he said. “Then, once the band starts, we’ll shuffle everybody that’s under 21 out.”
Saturday, however, will be open to minors throughout, he said.
“It’s family-friendly all night long because we’re putting on a fireworks show. We’re trying to hopefully hit the people that want to come with their kids.”
The event will also include barbecue demonstrations, a VIP area with limited ticketing on Saturday that will allow participants to taste actual competition meat from six top competitors, and a private-access bar. Cost is $75. Saturday’s events start at 1 p.m.
General admission tickets, which include chef demonstrations and the entertainment, are #22 per day per person. Camping is also available. For more information, contact the Jamboree at (541) 367-8800 or stop in at 410 Main St.
Scavenger Hunt
To help boost public participation in the Santiam Smoke Show, Sweet Events is putting on a “Find and Seek” scavenger hunt that awards prizes to participants who follow the Santiam Smoke Show on social media. Prizes – single-day tickets to the Smoke Show, are announced at various locations throughout the county such as Albany, Brownsville and Lebanon, though the majority are in Sweet Home.
“We just post it every day on social media platforms,” Shamek said.
“Every day in May, leading up to the Santiam Smoke Show – we’ll be doing it all the way up to the 30th of May.”
Tune It Up Tuesdays
Following the barbecue competition, starting June 3, Tune It Up Tuesdays returns to the Old Mill Property with free performances each Tuesday night through the month of June, starting at 5:30 p.m.
The event, as has been the case in recent years, some of the performers will be competing for a chance to play at this year’s Oregon Jamboree.
“It’s our battle of the bands every Tuesday,” Shamek said.
The June 3 opening event will feature a competitor for the Jamboree performance slot and a headliner “that everybody knows,” he said. The next two Tuesdays, June 10 and 17, will each feature two battle of the bands competitors, and then the final Tuesday, June 24, will again feature a competitor and a headliner who’s not in the competition.
Also, each evening will have a vehicle theme.
“It’ll be a lot of fun,” Shamek said, adding that each Tuesday will include a themed vehicle rally – Jeeps and Broncos (June 3), motorcycles (June 10), the All American Camaro and Firebird Club (June 17) and big rigs (June 24). Also, there will be appearances during the month by the Sportsman’s Holiday Court and Junior Court members. Some of those details are still being worked out, he said.
The event also includes “mostly local” vendors selling food and drinks, including the high school Booster Club. “All that money goes right back to the school – we don’t take any of it, it goes right back to the clubs.”
He said the traditional circle of antique and classic cars will continue, but the rally vehicles will add to the attraction. Details for participation are available at oregonjamboree.com/tuesday.
He said he’s hoping participation in the event will grow.
The event, which debuted in 2021 in the parking lot behind the Rio Theater, moved to 13th Avenue the next year, then to the Old Mill Property.
“The last Tuesday we had last year, we had almost 700 people show up,” he said. “Considering the first one we did, when we partnered with the city before we took it over, there was, like, six people. Six to over 600. Yeah, it’s just a ton of fun.”
Jamboree Kickoff Party
Shamek said one of his biggest emphases this year is the pre-Jamboree Kickoff Party, which is open to the public and will be held this year at Sankey Park on Thursday, July 31.
The Kickoff Party started in the Safeway parking lot in 2011, then moved to the Jamboree’s front gate area, then to 18th Avenue.
“We’re going to move it to Sankey Park,” Shamek said. “All the vendors that are in Sankey Park will be 100% open. It’s going to be free.”
He said attendees need to be aware “that we’re going to treat it like you were a Jamboree patron, so when you come in, there’s no outside food, no outside drink, no weapons.”
Attendees will be “checked in” by security personnel, like patrons are at the Jamboree.
“That’s something that we haven’t necessarily done for the street party, but not only are patrons getting off that hot asphalt, it’s 150 degrees out there, but hopefully it’ll help our vendors out.”
Local residents who may not otherwise attend the Jamboree can browse in the Artisan Alley, which will feature crafts and creations by local artisans, as well as enjoy music and food, he said.
“They’ll just be able to experience a little bit more for the Jamboree than they would out on the street,” he said. “It’s just going to be a big party in Sankey Park on Thursday night.”
PNW Dance Competition
Back for its fourth season, the PNW Stompede Line Dance & Country Swing Competition is a circuit of dance competitions in which line and country swing dancers promote the Oregon Jamboree at various venues throughout the Pacific Northwest and compete for prizes, ultimately, the chance to perform at the Jamboree.
The winners of each competition will win a three-day general-admission pass to the festival and will have the chance to compete on stage at the Oregon Jamboree.
The competition started last month in Vancouver, Wash., and continues through June 27, where it will have its finale at the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo, after 14 stops in Montana, California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Competition venues are listed at www.thejumpmt.com.
The semifinal rounds of the competition will be hosted by the Jamboree on Friday, Aug. 1, followed by the final rounds on Aug. 2.