HALFWAY — The 10th anniversary of the Pine Fest musical festival at the Pine Valley Fairgrounds brought crowds to eastern Baker County, with several vendors and attendees estimating the turnout at about twice last year’s numbers.

“I couldn’t be prouder to have big music in our small town,” said Halfway Mayor Nora McKim, who displayed her own wire-wrap accessories in a small corner booth with her family during the Sept. 8-9 festival.

Eric and Mimi Kauffman started Pine Fest in 2013. The event has happened each year since except 2020, when it was canceled due to the pandemic.

Center stage starting Friday afternoon, Sept. 8, were bands Ben Burdick & Nicole Christensen, Fox & Bones, then Bread & Circus. The fuller Saturday schedule featured the Bad Penny Pleasuremakers, the Sean Hatton Band, Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters and Bag of Hammers to close the night.

A small local band called District 541, composed of Pine Eagle High School students, performed several classic rock favorites, delivering a rousing performance of Heart’s “Barracuda” before turning the stage over to Ashleigh Flynn.

“Attendance at Pine Fest was up this year after a down cycle last year, at least partially due to extremely smoky air quality and people still getting used to being out in crowds after the pandemic-driven slowdown of the previous couple years,” said Steve Backstrom, member of the festival’s organizing group, the Cornucopia Arts Council. “The weather gods really smiled on us this year, with summery conditions and crystal clear air quality, so people were ready to get out and have some fun.”

In addition to the music, vendors offered emblazoned woodwork, handcrafted art and some Pine Fest event merchandise as music thundered into the fairgrounds complex.

Drinks on tap were handled by the local VFW chapter, and palettes were accommodated from staple burgers and fries to treats and confections. Hells Canyon Inn ran the main cook stand, and several trailer vendors were on site to serve this year’s unusual swell of patrons.

Backstrom thanked Brian and Corrine Vegter, owners of Churchill School in Baker City, for supporting Pine Fest with a fundraiser in May.

“Absent that, we would have been on very shaky financial ground going into this year’s event,” Backstrom said. “As far as gratitude goes, Brian and Corrine Vegter and their crew at Churchill School are Pine Fest’s superheroes this year. Should also mention the dozens of volunteers who show up each year and do whatever is necessary to keep the event going — admissions, hospitality, camping, merchandise sales, set-up, clean up, etc.”

As for the future, Backstrom said the Arts Council will strive to keep Pine Fest going despite what are likely to be financial challenges.

“Just trying to keep it going is the main thing,” he said. “We anticipate some of our fixed expenses will go up substantially in the years to come, so keeping our heads above water will be an accomplishment in itself. We have an excellent planning committee after years of relatively rapid turnover in that group, so if we keep this group together I think we can keep Pine Fest going.”

“The weather gods really smiled on us this year, with summery conditions and crystal clear air quality, so people were ready to get out and have some fun.”

— Steve Backstrom, member of Cornucopia Arts Council, which puts on the Pine Fest music festival in Halfway