We would like to formally invite JOCO to participate in the 2022 Oregon Festival of Cars on September 17 in Bend, Oregon.
The Festival has been the favorite car event of the year for many of its participants for over 25 years. It welcomes any interesting car of any marque and vintage. The only requirement is that the car be something that an automotive enthusiast would enjoy. Your club members’ cars would be enthusiastically welcomed, and everyone would love to see them.
The Festival is held on the grounds of the Deschutes Historical Museum in Bend, and the net proceeds from the event go to the museum. It’s a beautiful site with the old building amid mature trees, very similar to the site of the Forest Grove Concours.
We do not judge the cars, so there is no pressure to spend days on detailing the car. The Festival atmosphere is festive, with a good part of that attributable to the jazz sounds of the Festival band, the Dan Balmer Trio. But the biggest contributor is the willingness of the participants to get to know each other and their cars. It is likely the friendliest car show you will experience.
As great as the show is, it’s not the entire event – we make a full weekend of it. We start Friday morning at Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo for some beginning of the day nourishment before we set off on a group drive to Bend. We always select a nice route, stopping along the way for a no host lunch.
Once in Bend, head to the host hotel, The Residence Inn, to get the road dust off your car at the Festival Beer Wash. The free beer is for you – we have a full range of cleaning supplies for the car.
We do a reception during registration, and then you are on your own for dinner.
After the show on Saturday, we follow with the Festival Banquet. It’s not your usual rubber chicken affair, as the menu is selected by foodies. Dinner is followed by an always entertaining program, although the content is usually hard to predict.
We finish the weekend on Sunday morning with the Sunday Dash, a two-hour or so drive through the beautiful Central Oregon countryside that ends at a grand finale lunch. Then, you’re on your own to get back home.
You can register for the whole weekend, or just the parts you want to select. Complete details and registration can be found on the Festival website, www.oregonfestivalofcars.com
We really look forward to having your club join us. It’s a great time.
Registration is (finally) open
Registration for the Oregon Festival of Cars is officially open at oregonfestivalofcars.com. Please log in and register – we really look forward to having you join the event.
We were totally surprised by the troubles we would encounter in the post-COVID-lockdown era. It is simply unbelievable how many events are being scheduled for this year, and Bend is going to busier than we could imagine this September.
Our Festival venue, The Deschutes Historical Museum, has been great to work with. However, finding a caterer for the Saturday evening Festival Banquet was close to impossible. Every caterer we contacted was either already booked up or, get this, no longer works on weekends. How could that be? Fortunately, we were just rescued by the Oxford Suites Hotel, which was happy to accommodate us in their banquet room.
So, here’s the schedule:
Friday September 16… starts again at Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo in Wilsonville for a group drive to Bend. The host hotel is once again the Residence Inn (more on that below), where we will have the traditional Beer Wash. Registration will be in the Residence Inn bar area. We are welcome to monopolize the no-host bar. Dinner is on your own.
Saturday September 17… features the Festival car show at the Deschutes Historical Museum, with event-perfect jazz music by the Dan Balmer Trio. The Saturday Banquet will be at the Oxford Suites Hotel in downtown Bend.
Sunday September 18… is the traditional Sunday Dash, once again organized by German Master Tech. The Festival ends with a group lunch at a location yet to be determined.
Now here’s the rush:
Bend hotels are extremely busy, and they have all raised their rates. We have a modest-sized room block at the Residence Inn, with rooms available at the super attractive rate of $259 per night. But once our block is sold, the rate will be higher, and we have no idea what the availability will be. You better hurry and get your room reserved by contacting the Residence Inn at (541) 382-5001, and be sure to mention the Festival to get the group rate.
Please join us
Click here to link to motorsportreg.com and our online registration page. If Motorsport Reg is too awkward to navigate (or you are late in registering), you can download the registration form from our website and fax it in, or just call Barbara Grayson at (503) 246-8477 and she will get you registered.
