Sisters welcomes thousands for weekend

On any given summer Saturday or Sunday some 500 to 1,000 tourists make their way to Sisters. Last weekend that number swelled to 2,000-3,000 as visitors feasted on four events. Precise estimates are not available but even an untrained observer could see packed streets, galleries, studios, and tents.

Saturday began with the Giddy Up 5k/5Miler Ranch Run through picturesque Pole Creek Ranch. About 150 ran or walked, with another hundred or so cheering them on. The event included yard games and a country band.

In the heart of town, the Glory Daze Car Show brought over a hundred cars and at least 1,500 onlookers. All before noon. Glory Daze gave way to the Fresh Hop Festival over at Three Creeks Brewing, where another nearly 1,000 dropped in and out for the good times throughout the afternoon.

All the while the 2023 Artist Studio Tour feted hundreds of art lovers at no less than 19 studios or galleries, an event extended into Sunday, the same day when Sisters Farmers Market welcomed a few hundred as it ended its summer season.

This unordinary ordinary weekend in Sisters included three weddings, one packing a ranch, and another with nearly 200 guests as the bride and groom - active-duty U.S. Navy personnel - tied the knot at Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration. The formal affair was complete with a crossed-swords military honor guard.

Of course there was the usual entourage of regular tourists just dropping in and delighting in the serendipity of the extracurricular happenings. The good times continue next week with the sold-out Sisters Folk Festival.

It has been said often that Sisters punches above its weight class, and last weekend proved just that.

Click here to see Glory Daze Car Show story.

Click here to see Fresh Hop Festival story.

Click here to read more about the Artist Studio Tour.