News Release  

 2009 Waterfront Blues Festival July 4 fireworks
largest display in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 4, 2009) – PORTLAND, Ore. (June 4, 2009) – The 2009 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union, will celebrate July 4th with a spectacular, display of fireworks, the largest display in Oregon. The Wildhorse Casino and Resort Fireworks Show starts at 10:05 p.m., after the evening’s final performance and the National Anthem, sung by Linda Hornbuckle.

Entry to the 2009 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, including the fireworks show, is a suggested donation of $10 and two cans of nonperishable food.  If you enjoy the fireworks at locations outside the festival site, you can donate online at www.oregonfoodbank.org.

Oregon Food Bank produces the blues festival, including the fireworks display, to raise food and funds for people who are hungry in Oregon and Clark County, Wash. Due to the recession, distribution of emergency food has reached record levels. Every $10 dollar donation enables Oregon Food Bank to collect and distribute enough food to fill an emergency food box.

Watch the fireworks in 3-D fashion with 3-D glasses provided by PacificSource Health Plans.

Western Display Fireworks will fire the 2009 firework display from a barge on the Willamette River. Western Display choreographs the show to the tempo of a soundtrack produced and simulcast by KINK.fm.

As long as the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival has had fireworks, Western Display Fireworks has produced the display with Bob Gobet, company owner, as the lead pyrotechnician. The three-generation company, located in Canby, Ore., originated in 1948 and has been producing fireworks shows for 59 years in the Northwest and around the United States. On July 4, 2009, the company will supply more than 250 fireworks displays throughout the country.

About Oregon Food Bank: Oregon Food Bank is a nonprofit, charitable organization. It is the hub of a the Oregon Food Bank Network, a statewide network of 20 regional food banks and 915 hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash.

About festival sponsors: The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union.  

Major sponsors include FedEx Corporation, iQ Credit Union, The Oregonian A&E, KINK.fm, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Wildhorse Resort and Casino and Travel Portland.

Supporting sponsors include Mission Foods, Deschutes Brewery, Henry’s, Beringer Wine, Snapple, Earth2o Water, Pepsi, Frito Lay Snacks, Yoshida Sauce, Dave’s Killer Bread, Eggland’s Best, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Burt’s Bees, NW Natural, The Boeing Company, PacificSource Health Plans, OregonLive.com, Blues Revue, Music Millennium, True Tone Audio, Karolyn March, Lions Foundation, Cascade Blues Association, Oregon State Fair, Winthrop Music Association, Oregon Potters Association, Cascade Zydeco Association, Delta Music Experience, University Place Hotel, Marriott Hotel, RiverPlace Hotel, Hotel Fifty, travelportland.com.