Putting on a watershed festival
What were
we thinking?
It doesn’t look like much. A big dirt parking
filled with boat trailers. Then the magic starts.
by Sharon Morse
T
his is the eleventh year for Tsalila (sa-Lee-la), the celebration
of salmon and the Umpqua River in southern Oregon. Over
60,000 people have participated in this hands-on learning
experience. Thinking about doing a large educational event in
your area? Here’s how we have grown Tsalila.
Step One: What Does Success Look Like?
Why do you want to put on a festival or major event? What
do you hope to accomplish with it?
Our mission for Tsalila is to provide educational experiences
that share an appreciation of salmon, the watersheds in which we
live, and our cultural heritage, while contributing to the economic
viability of the lower Umpqua River Basin. Using this as our
building block, we started planning around it.

Old-fashioned clothes washing using hand power as part of Tsalila, the
celebration of salmon and the Umpqua River on the southern Oregon coast.
Step Two: More is better Photo: Sharon Morse
Identify the resources in your area and invite them to get
together and start talking. do we locate the first aid station? Does anyone remember where
Like other salmon festivals in the Pacific Northwest, the we stored the signs? – and we figure things out as a group.
work of Tsalila is done through a partnership. None of the agen-
cies, school districts or organizations could do it by themselves,
Step Three: There is No Such Thing
yet all saw how a large program like Tsalila was a benefit to them
and the public they serve.
as a Free Lunch
The Tsalila Partnership includes the local school district Once you have identified what you already have available
(which contributes older students to help teach younger stu- and have selected a location, start building a budget of what it
dents), city government (which provides maintenance crews, the will cost you to put on the event.
location, etc.), as well as the chambers of commerce (which help The budget for Tsalila is currently around $55,000; it was
with advertising and purchasing). The Forest Service has been a much smaller to start with, and has grown over the years as the
big supporter of salmon festivals, and they contribute a fisheries event has grown. The bulk of the funding comes from Forest
person to the team (our main coordinator, handles the on-site Service and Bureau of Land Management grants. Other funding
logistics). The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua comes from the chambers of commerce, donations and sale of
and Siuslaw Indians set up a tribal village and do learning sta- T-shirts and salmon dinners. The funding is used to rent tents,
tions. The Bureau of Land Management team member helps Port-A-Potties, story tellers and special traveling displays, and
with scheduling schools and other logistics. A near by museum, to buy things like straw bales, event insurance, bark dust, and
the Umpqua Discovery Center, provides meeting space and a newspaper ads.
location for the festival. All of the partners contribute things in kind, which is essen-
Every partner brings whatever they have to share to the ta- tial for grant writing and for getting work done on the ground.
ble. It may be as simple as garbage cans to volunteers to getting This includes things such as electricity, staff, gravel, security,
grant money. The Partnership meets once a month for most of exhibits, storage space, a stage, sound equipment, etc. that are so
the year, and then bi-weekly as summer arrives, then every week necessary.
right before the big event. Challenges and hurdles are brought It was hoped that within five years, Tsalila would be self-
up for discussion – What are we going to do about bees? Where sustaining and not needing any more government support, but
Page 24 http://www.clearingmagazine.org Clearing - 2009 Compendium Edition
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