Every summer, Sweet Home’s population doubles for three days in July.

Pickup trucks crowd parking lots; American flags flutter from the tailgates while foot traffic stomps the little town of 9,000 awake, country music in the air.

The Oregon Jamboree brings tourists from around the state and country to watch country music acts, crowding thousands of people into an area sharing food, sanitation services and dancing shoulder-to-shoulder — all of which is currently prohibited under state orders put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“They’ll most definitely be an impact,” said Sweet Home Economic Development Manager Blair Larsen. “It’s really unclear exactly what effect this will have. We don’t know what the impact will be but we’re certain there will be one given so many businesses have a large part of their revenue come from this time.”

Gov. Kate Brown approved Linn County’s entry into Phase 1, allowing restaurants and certain retailers to open with social distancing measures in place. And while Phase 1 allows for groups of up to 25 to gather, large gatherings such as sports crowds, festivals and fairs won’t return to the state, Brown said, until at least September.

It means small businesses already impacted by the initial COVID-19 closures won’t be able to recoup lost revenue during the three-day Jamboree boon. And in Sweet Home, business wasn’t exactly booming before the pandemic.

“There’s hardly any stores downtown now,” said Nancy Patton, owner of Trash to Treasure. Patton moved her business from Main Street further up Highway 20 a few months ago–a move that would have slowed her Jamboree business anyway.

“It was going to impact me some by not being downtown but I know a lot of people camp and ride the bus and would have passed my store,” she said. “I’ve had people tell me they come back to my store every year. Some have bought furniture and I’ve held it for them until the Jamboree was over and they’d load it in their RV. Our business tripled.”

It’s a familiar story in Sweet Home: the Jamboree comes to town and business increases. It’s commonplace for residents to get in on the action as well, renting their yards, holding yard sales and selling food and water–oftentimes making enough to pay for a new roof, a mortgage payment or summer camp.

Without the Jamboree bringing in thousands of customers, both residents and businesses will have to contend with the loss–on top of the crippling impact of COVID-19.

“The Jamboree is typically our busiest time of the year,” said Janice Jackola, owner of Sweet Vibes Donut Co. which has locations in Sweet Home and Lebanon. “But it’s just one weekend. The COVID thing has been a bigger impact.”

Sugar Vibes opened its dine-in option as Linn County entered Phase 1 but business hasn’t quite come back yet.

“Some people are coming into sit but it’s not like normal,” Jackola said, noting that her take out service is still doing well.

Thrift businesses like Patton’s are also contending with the impact of the coronavirus even as the county opens again.

“I have to be able to shop, as a thrift business, I have to shop too to be able to sell things,” Patton said. “Our main item is clothing and that has been hard because we can’t have people trying things on.”

Larsen’s office is working on helping businesses weather the COVID-19 storm and its aftershocks like continued social distancing and the cancellation of fairs and festivals.

“Were doing whatever we can to help businesses whether it’s the Jamboree or having to do with the pandemic in general,” he said. “We’re connecting them with federal and state programs and trying to support them.”

Support is what a lot of businesses were looking for this summer–a boost from the Jamboree traffic but some say that the effects of COVID-19 have been so great, the weekend won’t make much of a difference.

“It’s really helpful, the Jamboree,” Jackola said. “But it is just one weekend so hopefully not having the effect won’t effect us too much.”