The Waterfront Blues Festival arrives in downtown Portland on Thursday ready to beat the heat, with a new cooling center and other additions geared to keeping music lovers safe from expected high temperatures.
The festival — which runs from July 4 to July 7 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park — comes as Portland braces for an especially hot July 4 weekend. Saturday could surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with Sunday projected to be even hotter. The National Weather Service has placed Portland under an excessive heat warning from Thursday afternoon through Sunday night.
Summer temperatures aren’t a new concern for the Waterfront Blues Festival. A Portland staple since the late 1980s, festival organizers for years have offered ways to help attendees stay cool, such as water-filling stations and water-misting stations, said festival director Christina Fuller.
“A lot of these things are standard practice,” Fuller said.
New this year is a “chill center” on the second floor of the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront hotel. Located just across the street from the festival, the center will be open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. with air conditioning and games like cornhole, festival spokesperson Frances Dyer said.
Festival attendees with a one-day ticket can ask for a special wristband at exit gates that will allow them to re-enter the festival once they return from the chill center, according to organizers’ press release. Multi-day tickets already include re-entry.
Participants can enter the chill center as many times as they need during the festival, Dyer said.
The festival also will allow small, hand-held umbrellas that open to no more than 62 inches in width.
“Historically, no umbrellas were allowed,” Dyer said. But this year, the festival expects around 50,000 attendees — some 7,000 more than last year — and organizers updated the policy so guests could get more shade, she added.
Guests can bring in factory-sealed water bottles and empty refillable bottles, according to the press release.
Group-sized and patio umbrellas remain prohibited. That’s to save space and to make sure everyone has a clear line of sight while at the festival, Fuller said.
For any heat-related medical concerns, festival goers can go to an on-site first-aid tent staffed by medics trained to deal with heat and crowds, Dyer said. Organizers will provide performers with special tented spaces to stay cool, cold beverages and golf carts to help with transport in the hot weather.
Staff and volunteers at the festival have been trained to recognize symptoms of heat exhaustion and plan to look out for each other as the temperatures amp up, Fuller added.
Dyer urged festival goers to stay hydrated and take full advantage of the Marriott cooling room and onsite medics as they enjoy this weekend’s blues lineup.
“We have all the resources available if someone starts to feel signs of heat-related issues,” Dyer said. “We’re here to help them.”
— Sujena Soumyanath is a reporter on The Oregonian/OregonLive’s public safety team. You can reach her at 503-221-4309 or ssoumyanath@oregonian.com.
Stories about the July Fourth heat wave
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- Some school summer programming paused in Portland area due to lack of air conditioning