Preparations for Salem RiverFest began nearly two years ago as evangelist Reid Saunders and his team approached church leaders throughout Salem proposing the idea of a city-wide festival. The faith community began to seriously consider and pray about the opportunity to unite together in order to bring Great Music! Good News! Family Fun! to Salem in the form of a festival. In October of 2006, nearly 200 church leaders from multiple denominations met for a luncheon and officially extended an invitation to Saunders and his team to partner together for Salem RiverFest.
The festival continued to gain momentum over the next months as an executive team met and decided on a date and venue. Our executive team is comprised of many well-respected leaders from our community including Dick and Gayle Withnell, Mike DeRochier, Gladys Blum, and Sheriff Raul Ramirez.
The Salem RiverFest prayer team has been working for many months organizing prayer meetings and communicating with hundreds of people throughout the greater Salem area. Dozens of churches throughout greater Salem are praying weekly for the festival (and have been for months now)!
There are currently over 100 churches and organizations in the mid-Willamette valley that are participating in the festival. The festival Church Relations team has provided Friendship Evangelism training events, youth events, and is currently preparing for Counselor Training which will be offered in several churches July through September.
Our major advertising campaign gets fully underway later this summer. Already, the festival office has received calls from groups all over Oregon and even a group from Nevada who heard about Salem RiverFest and is planning to come! This summer, Salem RiverFest will be impossible to miss as ads will appear in Statesman Journal, Salem Monthly, Salem Business Journal, Keizer Times, La Prensa de Oregon, Your Kids, Christian News NW, JC Town Reporter, and more! You’ll also see ads on billboards around the city and on cable TV commercials. What’s more, the grassroots effort of banners, yard signs, and a major print run will supply local church members with the tools they need to effectively invite neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family to join them at the park on September 22-23 for Great Music! Good News! Family Fun!
idea of a city-wide festival. The faith community began to seriously consider and pray about the opportunity to unite together in order to bring Great Music! Good News! Family Fun! to Salem in the form of a festival. In October of 2006, nearly 200 church leaders from multiple denominations met for a luncheon and officially extended an invitation to Saunders and his team to partner together for Salem RiverFest.