Central Point, Ore. — The final countdown has begun, as we’re exactly two weeks away from southern Oregon’s largest music festival. Thousands of people are expected to hit the Rogue Valley to see headline artists like Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, and Keith Urban. All the visitors mean big business for local hotels.
Available rooms in the valley are selling out fast. That means, if you know someone who still needs a place to stay, they need to start looking now. But – if they’re looking for a place to park, we may have found a spot.
“We are going to open up our parking lot to anyone who is interested,” said Robert Deates, pastor at Path Church – conveniently located within walking distance of the Jackson County Fairgrounds.
“I know it’ll be a lot easier than dealing with all the shuttles and stuff like that,” Deates said.
Path Church is charging $50 each car for the whole weekend – as long as you reserve before the festival for early registration pricing.
“That’ll give you right to a parking spot within our church,” Deates said.
He said the pass will also give you in and out privileges from the lot. With a cheaper price point than some of the other parking options in the area, Deates is urging people to choose their location over others, because the profit all goes to a good cause.
“Any money that we use throughout the year, it is fully raised by fundraising by us,” Deates said.
That money goes to a variety of causes within church. A big one coming up is camps and youth conferences within the ministry. Camps can cost up to $200 per child. The church also has a youth conference coming up in Anaheim, California and that can set back a family $1,000 each person. Path Church also said it raises money to help out struggling families – which is especially important in the summer as kids are getting ready for a new school year and need to purchase school supplies.
“Everything that you spend is going to stay here locally and within the community in Central Point,” Deates said.
NBC5 News reached out to several hotels in the Rogue Valley. They say a lot of the rooms were booked a year in advance. If you’re still looking for a hotel – try calling directly. There may be availability you won’t see online.
If you’re interested in parking at Path Church, you can reserve at pathchurch.com. The church said it plans to fill all 150 parking spots on the property – but if there’s demand for it, the church said it may be able to make additional spaces as well.
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