Newberg’s Annual Camellia Festival Returns With In-Person Activities

By: Aurora Biggers

NEWBERG, Ore.—It’s officially spring and Newberg’s annual Camellia Festival is just around the corner. While the festival’s in-person activities were cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, it’s back in (almost) full force for 2021, some virtual activities included. The festival will take place in multiple locations throughout Newberg on April 10.

  “We are sad to not be able to put on a full on festival, but we are so grateful to be still able to bring the community together to celebrate in the ways that we can,” says Madeline Sorenson, the marketing coordinator for the Chehalem Cultural Center (CCC), which runs the festival each year. 

  The festival, which began in 2009 to celebrate the city’s official flower, brings together “Newberg pride …  and parts of Asian and Pacific Island culture—where the camellia flower originated from,” Sorenson says, and is a regular hit (the festival attracted over 4,000 people in 2019). Typically, live-music performances take place throughout the day, featuring groups such as Unit Souzou Taiko, Lee’s Lion and Dragon Dancers, and the Minidoka Swing Band, and vendors sell food, crafts, and other locally made products. CCC is determined to keep the festival popular and make COVID-19 friendly features available to the public.

Sorenson says the festival will still have the annual Camellia Run/Walk, the plant sale, and the bloom show in-person. “I think the bloom show would be an awesome thing for GFU students to check out,” Sorenson says, “If you're an artist, a scientist, a botanist, a photographer, or if you just love flowers, it's definitely fun to see all the different varieties of camellias.” 

The bloom show—Oregon’s Camellia Society’s 80th annual statewide bloom show—features camellia blooms in nearly every possible variety of the flower. Students can submit their own bloom at the festival (the Parish Gallery between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the day of), or they can stop by and peruse the submissions throughout the day. Don’t miss the plant sale in CCC’s grand ballroom. Additionally, “While you're at the center, you can get a FREE bag of chalk to draw with on the forecourt too!” Sorenson says, “That could be a great fun thing to do outside with a group of friends.”