Oakridge Independence Day Festival

The fireworks in Oakridge go up from Greenwaters Park at dusk on July 4, right after the National Anthem. On the 2026 program the anthem was set for 9:45 p.m. It was sung by Emily Anderson and Chelsi Cocoran. The festival’s pages describe Anderson as a singer-songwriter and “Mountain Girl” who plays piano in Oakridge. The organizers call the show that follows the longest fireworks show in Lane County. The Lookout Eugene-Springfield repeated that claim in its 2026 holiday roundup. In the same article it gave “Lane County’s largest fireworks show” to the display after the rodeo at the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene.

Saturday at Greenwaters Park

Greenwaters Park lies off Highway 58 beside a fork of the Willamette River. The festival fills a large clearing at the park’s amphitheater, with mountains standing all around it, and it is free for families. On the 2026 festival day, Saturday, July 4, the giant inflatable water slide opened to children at noon. It stood beside the Greenwaters Community Building on the east side of the park, next to the tennis court. Craft vendors set up along the path under the trees to the left of the amphitheater. The festival’s posts told visitors to bring lawn chairs.

The food trucks arrive between noon and 2 p.m., and most stay until dark or until the fireworks are over. The 2026 trucks were:

• Bea’s Cart, a small Lane County ice cream truck selling homemade sweets
• Taste of Paradise, with tacos, burritos, garlic fries, elephant ears and corn dogs
• Flame Crave, with smash burgers
• Boblastic, with bubble drinks, hand-dipped bananas and cheesecakes
• The Herbin’ Crust, with wood-fired pizza, including a Panama Red with pepperoni and a Banana Cream Pie
• Candy Bandits, with cotton candy, lemonade and snow cones
• Good Dog, with hot dogs and premium toppings
• Chef Jeff’s BBQ, with brisket, ribs and pulled pork, at the festival for the first time

The festival’s band page and its Facebook announcements give the 2026 amphitheater lineup this way:

• 1:30 p.m.: the Oakridge Ukulele Group, a community group recently revived
• 2:45 to 6:30 p.m.: Rukkus, an Oakridge local band covering hits for the Fourth
• 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.: the Rogue City Renegades, an Oregon folk and rock band that often plays in Bend

The Renegades mix indie, Southern and Western rock, with long guitar solos and songs about freedom and healing. The festival’s July 4 page gives a different schedule. It lists the ukulele group until 3 p.m., the Portland duo Angelic Noise from 3:30 to 5:30, and Isaac Barrager from 6 to 10.

Friday in the Uptown District

The festival opens the day before in Oakridge’s Uptown District. The Lookout gave the hours on July 3, 2026, as 1 to 11 p.m., with slip and slides for children. Willamette Lanes held its first Red, White & Bowl that day in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday. Starting at noon, shoe rentals and games cost $2.50 each, and visitors could see the alley’s newly remodeled space. The festival also listed a Poker Run at Artistic Customs.

In the evening the ukulele group played in front of City Hall. The festival’s Facebook post put them at 5 p.m., and its website put them at 5:30 to 6:30. The First Friday Art Walk ran from 5 to 7:30 through these stops:

• Sacred Spiral
• 3 Legged Crane
• Dead Mountain Design Studio
• the Oakridge Museum
• Flying Dog Gallery
• Morning Light Coffee House
• Bam & Fam – The Corner Bar

From 7 to 9:30, Angelic Noise played the pub. The duo is Angelic, whose real name it is and who writes the songs, and Trevor, playing acoustic. The songs are about love, lies, family, travel and meditation.

A Pet Parade, the first one, was planned for the grassy lot across from First Tech Credit Union with Totally Pawsome Pet Care & Training. Organizers had promised a shade canopy, kiddie pools and wetted-down sidewalks. On July 2 they canceled it for lack of registrations and asked owners to come back another year with proof of rabies vaccination and their pets “in their patriotic best.”

Two blowers after midnight

The festival’s posts put its yearly cost at more than $10,000, and business sponsors pay most of it. Harry and Mendy Rumer of Dowell Towing & Recovery gave more than $5,000 toward the 2026 fireworks. The festival wrote that without them “fireworks and festival would not be what it is today.” Oakridge Hardware and Stan Clark Construction each gave $1,000. The festival thanked the hardware store for saving residents “the 45-minute drive to the valley.”

The water slides are rented every year at a steep discount from a mom-and-pop family. Sometime after midnight following the 2026 festival, someone stole the two blowers that power them, worth $350 each. In its appeal the festival wrote: “For some children, it’s the only chance they get all year—or even ever—to experience a giant waterslide.” It asked for donations of $5 or $10 by Venmo. Then an anonymous donor paid the full amount, and every Venmo donation was refunded.

A councilor’s festival and a grant from Westfir

Chrissy Hollett started organizing the festival when she was an Oakridge City Councilor. The festival’s vendor page calls it the seventh annual. On June 2, 2025, Hollett went before the Westfir City Council, and the minutes list her as a volunteer lieutenant with the Oakridge Fire Department. She asked for a $2,500 grant from the city’s RTMP fund. She told the council the main event was the fireworks at Greenwaters Park and that the festival brings lodging business to Oakridge, as it could to Westfir. Jara Mouracade, a non-voting participant on the council, asked whether the festival raised money from vendors. Hollett answered that it does have vendors, but most of its funding comes from business sponsorships.

The request was not on the agenda, so Mayor Richard Watson first moved to take it up. Councilor Deretta Huey then moved to approve the grant, with $2,300 paid in the fiscal year then ending and $200 in the next. Councilor Linda M. Love seconded, and the motion carried 4–0.

The festival’s website now urges visitors to stay the night after the finale. It lists four motels on Highway 58 in Oakridge. It also lists the Westfir Lodge & Mountain Market, which has eight rooms at the base of the Alpine Trail, 30 feet from the North Fork River.