Last-minute ticket sales drove attendance upward to some 39,000 for the three-day 2009 Oregon Jamboree, the highest total attendance to date, according to an early estimate from Event Manager Peter LaPonte.
“It went really well from the operational point of view,” he said. Thunderstorm warnings were in effect, and event officials were watching those closely throughout the weekend, but those storms left Sweet Home alone as temperatures dropped from more than 100 earlier in the week to the mid-90s, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers records.
The Oregon Jamboree is an annual three-day country music and camping festival created to raise funds for local economic development activities. The concert is held on School District 55 fields south of the high school, 1641 Long St. Camping is provided on open grounds across the city.
The biggest act of the weekend, Tim McGraw, drew some 14,000 fans, while LeAnn Rimes drew almost that many again Saturday night. And Montgomery Gentry drew around 11,000 Sunday evening.
LaPonte bases his estimate on the peak attendance, when the venue is at its fullest, combined with what he knows about ticket sales, he said.
Because concertgoers enter and exit the grounds all day, it complicates estimating total attendance at the shows, he said.
Although attendance was expected to be the highest ever going into the weekend, LaPonte was unsure about the bottom line financially because expenses were higher this year on talent.
He hasn’t seen numbers from the concessions yet, but based on what he saw in the beer garden, LaPonte is optimistic.
Beer garden sales were up dramatically this year, not just 10 percent or so, he said.
The big hit of the weekend, in his opinion, was Tim McGraw, LaPonte said, although he acknowledged he may look at it a little differently from others.
“Every song he played was a number-one hit,” LaPonte said. “Not one person was leaving the venue till Tim McGraw played his last song. I’ve never seen that. Friday night, nobody left. Nobody went out the main gate till he finished his last song.
That’s how I make my judgment.”
The Jamboree had big surprises this year too, Oregon’s own Kristy Lee Cook was a hit, he said, and so were Heidi Newfield, Phil Vassar, Jake Owen and Montgomery Gentry.
“David Ball was great, with the more traditional sound,” LaPonte said.
He said LeAnn Rimes, Mel Tillis, Joey + Rory and Tracy Lawrence turned in great performances worth watching as well.
Local Oregon acts Coyote Creek and Cloverdayle opened the festival Friday.
Fans seemed generally upbeat despite the heat. Festival organizers set up a mist tent near the entrance, to which fans flocked in droves.
“It’s been hot and sticky but it’s been fun,” concertgoer Ashley Garrett said.
As the fans streamed out the exit after the final performance by Montgomery Gentry on Sunday night, one woman told a reporter as she walked past: “You guys have to keep doing this. I’ve never had a better time at a festival like this.”
LaPonte was surprised by late ticket sales and the dramatic uptick in beer garden sales, he said. “A great year, surprisingly good for the heat and economy €“ it’ll be our best year ever.”
Cameron Vasseur and Scott Swanson contributed to this story.