Despite smoke, thousands attend Sisters festival

The smoke from the Pole Creek Fire didn’t stop many residents from attending the final day of the annual Sisters Fall Street Festival on Sunday.

While the smoke hovered around town Sunday morning, by the afternoon the smoke had lifted, and more people were coming out to the annual festival in downtown Sisters.

Organizers say the three-day event has brought more than a couple thousand of people to enjoy the fine arts and crafts.

But with media reports in the Valley warning of heavy smoke in Sisters, organizers say it did have an effect on attendance.

“With everything that is going on, — yeah, there is fire out there, but you know what? The weather was great here Saturday,” said fair organizer Richard Esterman.

“We didn’t have any smoke in town. Today we had a little inversion, but it burned off and people are coming out, all the shops in Sisters and this event, we are open for business.”

The festival had a silent auction, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Sisters High School Art Department.

And for those that missed out on the festival because they were afraid to come out of their house, Esterman says there’s always next year.