A deep dive into the 2023 Pendleton Whisky Music Fest
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, July 18th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The city’s population doubled during the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest this past weekend. Founders Doug Corey and Andy McAnally credit the more than 900 people who work behind the scenes to make it a success.
“It was an exciting show with Dylan Schneider, Maddy and Tae, and Niko Moon kicking it off,” Corey said. “(That was) followed by an outstanding and very energetic performance by Flo Rida. When he went offstage and into the crowd he was enjoying himself and the crowd enjoyed seeing him up close.”
Corey said that Flo Rida was one of the best support groups the event has ever had.
“Our headliner, Kane Brown, put on another wonderful show,” Corey said. He did a superb job. Instead of any encore he signed autographs on shirts, hats, shoes, and whatever anyone threw up on the stage, and took selfies of himself and people in the crowd. It was a hit.”
The Friday night party on Main Street was also a success. Called the Party in Pendleton, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people partied on Main Street with two bands and a disc jockey.
Behind the scenes
McAnally and Corey credit their sponsors with supporting them over the past seven years.
“Our sponsors are like family to us,” McAnally said. “We could not do this event without them.”
Pendleton Whisky is the title sponsor, but there’s a long list of other supporters of the festival. They are Hill Meat Company, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, McCormack Construction, Legacy Jeep, Bud Light, Old West Federal Credit Union, Coca Cola ®, Wheatland Insurance Center, Hodgen Distributing, CHI/St. Anthony Hospital, Guild Mortgage, Sysco, Pioneer Title, Gordon’s Electric, Pape Machinery, 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Oxford Suites, Farm Equipment Headquarters, First Student, and The Outlying Perspective.
That’s not the only support that makes the two-day celebration possible though. Both founders stress that those who play vital roles in putting the show on are not volunteers. They are either paid or the group they represent receives a donation.
“It takes a lot of manpower,” Corey said. “For example, selling water to benefit local youth baseball, having the Pendleton High School baseball team clean the chairs and grandstand, the Weston-McEwen football team laying sod on Friday morning, and then back on Sunday to pick it all up. Then we give it away to anyone that wants sod after the show. Parents from Weston-McEwen help set up big tents and another group of Weston-McEwen parents put seat tags on chairs and zip tie chairs together. Young Life takes on the duties of parking RVs. These are just a few of the examples of the help we have.”
A list of those who benefit while helping to make Whisky Fest possible also includes Pendleton Rotary, the Pilot Rock Trap Team, Altrusa of Pendleton, Pendleton on Wheels, Knights of Columbus, Pendleton High School Girls Basketball, Rhythmic Mode, Jr. Jam, Black Sox baseball, Pilot Rock Senior Parents, Pilot Rock Athletics, Milton Freewater Wrestling, the Kiwanis Club, and the Main Street Cowboys, to name a few.
There are also those groups selling concessions inside the Round-Up Grounds. For example, Randy Thomas for the Pendleton Assembly of God concession booth said the seventh Pendleton Whisky Music Fest was a success.
“Our best year yet,” Thomas reported. “We raised a lot of money for our Celebrate Recovery to serve our community. We really appreciate the opportunity provided by the hard work that goes into this event.”
Safety comes first
“We have about 160 security people on the grounds to make this as safe an environment as possible,” Corey said. “We use mag scanners to check people as they enter the grounds. This year we had a bomb-sniffing dog brought in by the Oregon State Police to check things out before opening the gates.”
Feeling comfortable is also important to feeling safe. With temperatures reaching the triple digits, Corey said they scattered misting stations around the grounds and established water refill stations as well as putting out large, water-cooled fans.
“We wanted people to stay cool and drink a lot of water,” Corey said. “If any medical issues were to arise, we have two medical rooms available and staffed and there are medics stationed all around the grounds.”
Organizers take care of the campers as well. Corey said a crew circulates through the RV and tent camping sites, filling swimming pools and delivering ice.
“We have also provided a free shuttle service from the campsites to Main Street,” Corey said. “We want people to avoid driving if they have had anything to drink. All of our staff work extremely hard to make their stays in Pendleton memorable.”
Photos from Pendleton Whisky Music Fest. Main photo is the concert Saturday. Second photo is from Party in Pendleton on Main Street Friday night.
