Wasco County OKs Harvest Festival permit for Azure Standard Farm with 1,500 attendance cap
August 20, 2025 | Wasco County, Oregon
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The Wasco County Board of Commissioners approved an outdoor mass gathering permit on Aug. 20 for Harvest Festival 2025, a three-day agricultural music and education event planned for Aug. 30–Sept. 1 at Azure Standard Farm in Dufur Valley. The board approved Order 25-055 with conditions after staff and public-safety agencies reviewed the event layout and support plans.
County planning staff recommended approval after coordinating review under Wasco County’s Outdoor Mass Gathering ordinance (Ordinance 22-003) and Oregon Administrative Rule provisions referenced by staff. The permit caps attendance at 1,500 people, including staff and volunteers, and requires the applicant to meet conditions for emergency access, water supply, sanitation and traffic signage.
Dustin Williams, associate planner in the Wasco County planning division, told commissioners the application was processed under Ordinance 22-003 and that the festival would use the western portion of the land for parking, with tents, restroom/handwashing stations, a check-in booth and designated emergency gathering locations on the revised site plan. Williams said the county provided the application to relevant agencies, mailed notices to surrounding landowners and published a hearing notice in the Columbia Gorge News.
Technical reviewers did not oppose the permit when conditions were added. Wasco County Sheriff Lane McGill recommended a designated meeting spot and coordination with local fire for medical response; Dufur (transcribed as “Dufour”) Fire Chief John Kaiser Jr. told staff he had no issues provided the applicant followed the plan. North Central Public Health District asked that food vendors obtain appropriate licensing if they offer regulated services; the applicant stated there would be no pools or spas and that the farm stand had food documentation. Oregon Watermaster Robert Wood noted commercial events typically need up to 5,000 gallons per day without a water right and staff cited OAR guidance that can calculate higher needs; the applicant reported a 60 acre-foot reservoir on site (roughly 19 million gallons) and a borrowed 2,000-gallon water truck plus bottled water from the farm stand.
The applicant, Bethany Stelzer, and event partner Zachary Stelzer, described Harvest Festival as an event that has grown from a small community harvest celebration to a larger program with speakers and hands-on education about food production. The Stelzers said Saturday remains a free “family day” and that they were requiring car permit reservations to manage limited parking.
After hearing no public opposition at the hearing and receiving agency comments indicating concerns were addressed, Commissioner motion and second carried and the board voted unanimously to approve the permit with the conditions described in staff materials.
The county record includes conditions of approval tying emergency-access and traffic control measures to the plan; the board also reserved the option to amend conditions if additional technical information arrives before the event.
The decision closes the public hearing portion of the file; the approved site plan and conditions are on the planning division record and the applicant must implement required signage, traffic control and sanitation measures before the festival.
County planning staff recommended approval after coordinating review under Wasco County’s Outdoor Mass Gathering ordinance (Ordinance 22-003) and Oregon Administrative Rule provisions referenced by staff. The permit caps attendance at 1,500 people, including staff and volunteers, and requires the applicant to meet conditions for emergency access, water supply, sanitation and traffic signage.
Dustin Williams, associate planner in the Wasco County planning division, told commissioners the application was processed under Ordinance 22-003 and that the festival would use the western portion of the land for parking, with tents, restroom/handwashing stations, a check-in booth and designated emergency gathering locations on the revised site plan. Williams said the county provided the application to relevant agencies, mailed notices to surrounding landowners and published a hearing notice in the Columbia Gorge News.
Technical reviewers did not oppose the permit when conditions were added. Wasco County Sheriff Lane McGill recommended a designated meeting spot and coordination with local fire for medical response; Dufur (transcribed as “Dufour”) Fire Chief John Kaiser Jr. told staff he had no issues provided the applicant followed the plan. North Central Public Health District asked that food vendors obtain appropriate licensing if they offer regulated services; the applicant stated there would be no pools or spas and that the farm stand had food documentation. Oregon Watermaster Robert Wood noted commercial events typically need up to 5,000 gallons per day without a water right and staff cited OAR guidance that can calculate higher needs; the applicant reported a 60 acre-foot reservoir on site (roughly 19 million gallons) and a borrowed 2,000-gallon water truck plus bottled water from the farm stand.
The applicant, Bethany Stelzer, and event partner Zachary Stelzer, described Harvest Festival as an event that has grown from a small community harvest celebration to a larger program with speakers and hands-on education about food production. The Stelzers said Saturday remains a free “family day” and that they were requiring car permit reservations to manage limited parking.
After hearing no public opposition at the hearing and receiving agency comments indicating concerns were addressed, Commissioner motion and second carried and the board voted unanimously to approve the permit with the conditions described in staff materials.
The county record includes conditions of approval tying emergency-access and traffic control measures to the plan; the board also reserved the option to amend conditions if additional technical information arrives before the event.
The decision closes the public hearing portion of the file; the approved site plan and conditions are on the planning division record and the applicant must implement required signage, traffic control and sanitation measures before the festival.
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