Newberg’s Family Reunion: Old memories meet new at Old Fashioned Festival

Published 2:34 pm Friday, July 25, 2025

Annual rite kicks off Thursday evening with kids parade, coronation, vendors and lots of music

It’s mid-summer in the Willamette Valley and the evening sun’s heat is laying thick on the county of Yamhill.

Newberg’s Old Fashioned Festival made its return Thursday, July 24, and continues through the weekend from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 26, and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 27, at Memorial Park.

After a long day at work, the people of Newberg are greeted by the sounds of the children’s parade, with kids laughing as they ride their bikes in a circular route ending at the school district’s headquarters on Sixth Street, tossing loose candy to young couples and senior military veterans alike.

Closer to Memorial Park, the smell of grilled beef and chicken wafts as live music drifts through the air. In the midst of it all, the summer air starts to feel less like the burning heat of a long day and more like the warmth of friends, family and neighbors.

Hank Fristoe is a Yamhill County resident who has been selling his brand of tie-dye clothing at the festival for more than 30 years.

“I made my first (tie-dye shirt) in 1987; I sold my first one in ‘93,” Fristoe said. “It’s a happy scene, you know? People get happy when they see tie-dye.”

Fristoe’s has a front row view of the main stage — something he is proud of, not only as a testament to his time at the festival, but also as a lover of music and rock and roll.

While some may have been attending the festival for decades, with countless memories to regale, others are just beginning to make their own. In between the legs of parents catching up with old friends, toddlers pick at bugs and sticky candy that lie in blades of grass.

Down the rows of vendors and in the lines for sour lemonade, teenagers horse around with their buddies. One such teenager making his first set of memories is Peter Aguado, 16, who is working his first job at the register for a fried chicken stand.

“It’s pretty awesome seeing everyone come out (for the festival),” he said. “Taking down orders and dealing with customers is challenging but in a good way.”

It’s a tight community at the midway at Memorial Park, where vendors look out for one another and the locals always make sure to greet each other with a passing smile and a wave hello.

From 6 a.m. to noon Saturday and 7 a.m. to noon Sunday, a local Rotary club will hold its popular pancake breakfast. 

Saturday will also see the advent of  grand  parade from 10 a.m. to noon and an all-day carnival at Renne Field, with local live performances and music throughout the day, finishing off with a fireworks display at 10 p.m. at Renne Field.

Sunday will host the Cruise-In Car Show from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on East Sixth Street and live band performances from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Memorial Park.

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