News from Britt Hill – October 2023

Well. I think we all experienced it: the end of August was a real doozy.

I think by now, everyone has heard that Britt canceled four shows due to smoke. What a heartbreaker! We had a gorgeous season, but those four shows constituted 10% of our total programming. Like all of us living in Southern Oregon, we know that smoke is a risk. But I think it’s important now to acknowledge that it’s also a likely reality in August, and one that we need to plan for.

Recently, I met with a couple other organizations that present outdoor performances and events, and we shared information about smoke protocols and how we make decisions. It’s tricky! A lot of the technology around smoke measurements and predictions is new, and the modeling of what’s likely to happen doesn’t have enough data behind it to be completely reliable. We discovered a couple of resources from NOAA and the National Weather Service that give us excellent projections for the next 12-48 hours, and those resources proved invaluable to us this summer. But we recognize that we need to have more proactive plans moving forward, and we are working on it.

As I look ahead, I believe that acknowledging that we live in a changed climate is going to be essential to Britt’s ongoing success. Britt was founded 63 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. How do we continue to bring our mission to life, while also keeping our staff, volunteers, performers, and audiences safe? How do we serve a community that is also impacted by smoke? How do we ensure that our local business and hotel community, which often relies on Britt-related customers in the summer months, is also protected from smoke liabilities?

This isn’t an issue I’m going to solve overnight, but we’ve begun the process. I’m committed to partnering with the city and other arts organizations as we explore this together. If you have insights, I’m all ears! I’m also committed to sharing what we learn with the broader community of arts presenters; while we’ve been feeling the impact for several years, I think we can see that the rest of the country (and, indeed, the world) will also be facing similar issues in the future. Smoke gets in your eyes, yes, but I think it’s essential that our vision stay clear when it comes to finding the path forward.

Let’s all hope for a clear-aired autumn and thank you again for supporting Britt. You mean the world to us!

All best, Abby