DONALD, OR — The stage roof erected for the Donald Hazelnut Festival collapsed as the first of three scheduled bands was performing mid-day on July 11, 2015. The performer, Rob Rainwater, and a sound technician were hospitalized after being pinned by the structure. Others onstage did not require hospitalization.
Rainwater, who was released that night, was able to keep plans for a July 15 performance date as part of the Aurora, OR City Park’s summer concert series while still recuperating his injuries, using borrowed instruments to replace guitars damaged and destroyed by the collapse.
The sound technician, with Aurora, OR-based Backbeat Productions, reportedly escaped any broken bones, spinal or head injuries, but nevertheless required a longer hospital stay and faces “a long road to recovery,” according to Backbeat Productions’ Butch Kent.
The festival lineup was originally slated to include Rainwater (11:30 a.m.), the Oregon Trail Pitchpipers (2 p.m.) and Trainwrek (3:30 p.m.). All main stage performances were canceled after the collapse.
Along with ambulance crews, emergency responders included dozens of festivalgoers who rushed to the scene and lifted the staging roof structure off of the victims.
“I want to publicly thank those 50 plus men and women who rushed to the stage, lifted the roof and held it stable while the emergency crews risked their safety and went under the wreckage to tend to my hurt friends,” noted Backbeat’s Kent, in a comment posted on the Woodburn Independent website.
“I also want to thank God that this was not a bigger disaster. The outpouring of emails and messages for my guys that were hurt have been amazing. There is a long road to recovery, please continue to pray for them.”
