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New Roof And Rigging Ready For Northwest Art & Air Festival Concert
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By Albany Tribune -- (August 19, 2011)
Crews preparing the Oregon Amphitheater for the headline concert at the 2011 ATI Wah Chang Northwest Art & Air Festival will erect a new roof and improved rigging on the main stage.
Oregon Stage Lighting & Sound, Northwest Events and Marketing, and Albany Parks & Recreation are taking additional measures to ensure the safety of the audience at the free concert by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on Saturday, August 27, 2011. Concert-goers at outdoor venues were shaken earlier this month when 60 miles-per-hour winds toppled part of a stage in Indiana, killing five people and injuring many more.
Oregon Stage Lighting & Sound will use a new chain motor-driven roof system mounted on four truss towers that raise the roof to 25 feet above the amphitheater stage, which is set on a concrete pad in Timber-Linn Lake, separated from the audience by about 20 feet of lake water.
Also, western Oregon typically does not have high winds in late August. “That said, we have changed the type of staging and upgraded in order to proactively ensure the safety of our audience,” said Katie Nooshazar, Recreation Programs Manager for Albany Parks & Recreation.
The stage production company has used the system multiple times this summer. The roof will be erected at Timber-Linn Memorial Park on Friday the 26th afternoon. The concert begins at 8:00 p.m., Saturday the 27th.
The 12th annual Northwest Art & Air Festival opens at 4:00 p.m., Friday, August 26, and closes at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, August 28, at Timber-Linn Memorial Park and the adjacent Albany Municipal Airport. The event features a juried art show and sale with more than six dozen participating artists; artist demonstrations; hot-air balloon launches at dawn each morning; a balloon Night Glow and laser light show Friday night; kids’ hands-on art activities, art show and sale; a geocaching event; classic car shows Saturday and Sunday; live music all weekend; Northwest wines and microbrews; Young Eagles airplane rides for kids; helicopter and bi-plane rides; and displays of local and vintage aircraft.
The Festival is presented by Albany Parks & Recreation and the Albany Visitors Association. ATI Wah Chang is the title sponsor.