Remote Surveillance Trailer in Newberg, OR

The Newberg Old Fashioned Festival has deep roots in the community and is known for bringing the fun. This year’s event will be no different, with the theme “Then and Now.”

The free festival is set for July 23-26 with fireworks, a 5K run, live entertainment, vendors and the addition of an inflatable zone despite the loss of the carnival and one of the performance stages.

Festivities are on tap 4-9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23; 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 24; 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 25; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 26. Vendors, music and more will descend on Renne Park, 699 S. School St., and Memorial Park, 411 S. Howard St. in Newberg.

Perhaps the biggest draws this year are the Saturday night fireworks display at Renne Field, Thursday’s children’s parade and Saturday’s grand parade. The annual fete also welcomes a new Inflatable Zone from 4-9 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Day passes for the zone will be available on site for $25 cash or $27 with a credit card.

Food and marketplace vendors will be open from 4 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23, and continue from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Memorial Park. The much-loved Rotary Pancake Breakfast will be served 6 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 25, and 7 a.m. to noon Sunday, July 26, also at Memorial Park.

Thursday, July 23:

• Chalk Party from 10 a.m. to noon at the Chehalem Cultural Center, 415 E. Sheridan St., Newberg.

• Nap’s Thriftway Children’s Parade starting at 6 p.m. will begin on East Sixth Street, travel up South Howard Street, across East Fourth Street, down South Meridian Street and return to East Sixth Street.

• Summer school talent show from 6-7 p.m. at Renne Field.

• Royal court coronation from 7-7:30 p.m. at Memorial Park Main Stage.

• Dog costume contest from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Renne Field.

• Double DT Band will play from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Memorial Park Main Stage.

Friday, July 24:

Memorial Park Main Stage:

• 2-4 p.m. The Bird Man

• 4-4:30 p.m. Ballet Folklorico

• 5-5:30 p.m. Chehalem Valley Dance Academy

• 8-10 p.m. Dance Hall Days

Renne Field:

• 2-3 p.m. Olivia Dance Group

• 4-5 p.m. Salsa dancing with DJ

• 5:30-7 p.m. Pure Vida Orchestra

• 8-10 p.m. Ben Rice and PDX Hustle

Saturday, July 25:

The grand parade of community groups, local organizations, performers and creative floats will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, starting at Renne Field. The parade will go along South Blaine Street, past Memorial Park, turn left onto East Third Street, cross East Second Street and continue down South Meridian Street back to Renne Field.

The night will end with a 10 p.m. firework display also at Renne Field.

Other events Saturday:

Memorial Park Main Stage:

• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Pie eating contest

• 1:30-2:30 p.m. Youth Creative Choir

• 6-7:15 p.m. New Old Trick

• 8-9:30 p.m. Ty Curtis

Renne Field:

• 2-3 p.m. Royal court storytime

• 7-10 p.m. Infamous Soul

Sunday, July 26:

The annual 5K run or walk begins at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 26, at Fifth and Blaine streets. Day-of registration opens at 7:45 a.m. for $25 per participant, which includes a ticket to the pancake breakfast for Sunday. To register in advance online, visit runsignup.com.

Sunday continues with a Cruise-in Car show from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on East Sixth Street and a cruise out to Archer Vineyard from 2:30-7 p.m. The Newberg Community Band Concert will perform from 1-2:45 p.m., and the day will close with the Newberg Community Hymn Sing from 3-4 p.m. at Memorial Park Main Stage.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit newbergoldfashionedfestival.org.

The committee that organizes the event was forced to cancel the popular festival carnival and nix the cultural stage this year because the carnival vendor had booked a different event and the stage was an additional expense that sat idle for much of the four-day event, according to committee President and Chair Bob Woodruff.

He also says the loss means less funds dedicated to future festivals, but the committee will attempt to backfill the revenue shortfall from the carnival’s cancellation through sponsorships from local businesses, vendor fees and half of the registration fees for the car show.

If you were to stand in the intersection of College and First streets in downtown Newberg and look due east, you would have a tough time making out Parrett Mountain. Looking north toward the Chehalem Mountains would yield the same effect.

It’s not a hazy shade of winter out there, but rather the sooty and potentially unhealthy grime of summer.

What’s to blame? Predominantly the dozens of wildfires raging in central Oregon, exacerbated by catastrophic fires in two of Canada’s western provinces — British Columbia and Alberta.

The resulting smoke from the wildfires has blanketed northwest Oregon in a haze that raised Newberg’s air quality index (AQI) to the mid-60 as of noon Wednesday, July 22. AQI stations at George Fox University and College Park showed 69 and 65, respectively, and IQAir rated the city’s AQI moderate at 68.

In addition, the Newberg area had a PM2.5 (floating particulate matter in the air measuring 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less) of 17.7 as of noon Wednesday, according to IQAir, a provider of air quality products.

PM2.5 sources typically come from power plants, smoke/soot from wildfires and waste burning, vehicular emissions and combustion from motors, industrial processes involving chemical reactions between gases.

When the index is high IQAir recommends people with respiratory issues or heart and lung disease reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion. The general public should see little or no risk undertaking outdoor activities, a release said.

The good news is that the air quality index in Newberg is expected to peak at 85 at 7 p.m. Wednesday, then begin declining into the 60s on Thursday, 50s on Friday and 40s starting Saturday.

The highest real-time AQI levels in the region are primarily in central and eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. Ada County in Idaho had the region’s worst air quality at 186 Wednesday, with cities in central Oregon ranging from 185 at Black Butte Ranch to 155 in Bend.