Oregon Alpenfest 2024Joseph, Oregon

Wallowa Lake just outside Joseph

I took a road trip to "Oregon's Alps" this fall, to visit a long-running but new-to-me music festival. Joseph, Oregon is a pretty little town tucked against the base of the Wallowa mountains in northeast Oregon. One look at the area tells you why the Nez Perces chose to live there (and why the white settlers wanted it for themselves, 150 years ago.)

The dance floor at Alpenfest

Alpenfest is a small event, and everyone who attends and participates seems to already know everyone else. You'll stick out like a sore thumb if you're the one not wearing Dirndl or Lederhosen. There's a street fair with vendors, and in the evenings, live entertainment. This year there were three groups: a live polka band, Tyrolean dancers (dancing to recorded music), and a pair of alphornists, all imported from the I-5 corridor.

There's an open dance floor when the polka band is playing, and if you come an hour early, there's a class to teach you the steps of the polka, the schottische, and the waltz.

If, on the other hand, you think just dancing is too easy to be interesting, you can try doing it on roller skates. The leader of the Tyrolean dance troupe did, almost the entire evening... and no, he never fell or had to claw at his partner for balance. He wore the skates while teaching the dance lesson, too, which made us beginners really feel like we didn't know what we were doing.

The polka on roller skates

Alphornists in action

One of the highlights for me was getting to try blowing on an alphorn for the first time. (Yes, I actually got sound out of it, 2 or 3 different notes!) I had a nice chat with the visiting alphorn duo, Phil and Gayle Neuman, and if I get some spare time for composing this winter, I'm going to have some new music for alphorn ensembles to add to the sheet music section of this site.

Will I be ready to go back next year as a vendor with an assortment of steirische Harmonikas in tow? Stay tuned! I'll be talking to a couple of the Austrian manufacturers on my next trip to Europe.

More pictures from the 2024 Oregon Alpenfest:

Entrance to the Alpenfest street fair (overlapping with a weekly farmer's market)

Cardboard cutouts to turn any dog into a wiener dog

There's also a "who can hold up a beer stein the longest?" contest. Water cups for the junior division.

Dancing to the music of the Polkatones

Another view of the Tyrolean dancer on skates

Sculpture celebrating the area's Nez Perce heritage

Very nice campground at Wallowa State Park

Wallowa River canyon, about 20 miles downstream from Joseph