The SICC Forest Festival Is Back in June, and It’s Way Bigger Than You Think

By Justin Andress, Active Media

On June 5-7, Trajectory will invite all comers to the 4th Annual Sandy International Chainsaw Competition and Forest Festival (SICC). Get ready for a celebration of forest culture, environmental education, and a whole lot of crazy-big machines at this year’s SICC.

Eleven months out of the year, Austin Ernesti works as the CEO and founder of Trajectory, a nonprofit that nurtures the relationship between conservation and production efforts. He aspires to introduce young people to the ongoing work (and job opportunities) that arise as a result of living in a unique natural wonderland like the Pacific Northwest.

“Our regular work throughout the year is about integrating professionals that work in and around the forest into educational spaces,” says Ernesti. “Sometimes that's water quality testing with kindergartners or planting trees with 3rd graders, and a lot of times it's working with high schoolers and putting them out on a job site to see what it's actually like. Our whole network is really excited about the Forestry CTE Program Launching in Estacada next fall.”

Once a year, Ernesti invites the public to check out Trajectory’s progress. Fortunately for everyone involved, that showcase takes the form of SICC, a sprawling three-day event that’s a peek inside the good work being done by Trajectory and the many people who work in local forests.

“The first year, man, it was like we got to throw something. And so Ant Farm let us use their farmer's market square. We called up some local people and had a chainsaw carving festival.”

The first event was humble. Eight carvers and 650 spectators showed up for the event. One of those attendees was Chris Foltz, a world-champion carver vacationing nearby with his family.

Ernesti laughs as he recalls, "He was like, yeah, I can come down for a day and make $2,000 and easily win this thing.”

When Foltz arrived, however, he wasn’t greeted by the typical carving event. There was no beer tent, no raucous crowd members. Instead, the Sandy Historical Society and OSU’s Forestry department set up booths to talk about our gorgeous natural surroundings and how we are all connected. Kids were being actively incorporated into the fun. 

From those humble beginnings, the SICC Forest Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. They partnered with Dick Hannah, who happily offered up a large expanse of land for the festival itself. They also grew the number of exhibitors, vendors, and carvers who attend each year. 

“We have two dozen wood carvers coming this year,” says Ernesti. “But [the competition] is kind of a lure to celebrate the culture, art, and historic work ethic of the area.”

In addition to a growing number of educational booths and vendors, Ernesti is expanding the list of scheduled events. “We’ve added timber sports,” he says. “Wayne Stone Logging and PGE built a timber field for Sandy.”

That’s not the only important expansion for the 2026 SICC Forest Festival. Throughout the weekend, shuttles will run from the event to nearby Tickle Creek Trail where industry professionals will guide volunteers in a part clean-up, part tree ascension program. In partnership with Ant Farm and the City of Sandy, Ernesti says, “We’re going to have public volunteers come down, remove extra fuel loads, pull invasives, and do really cool work for Sandy.”

Ernesti and Trajectory are hosting several schools at the event on Friday for an opportunity to get up close and personal with the exhibits.

On Saturday, the timber sports professionals roll in to ply their trade and wow the crowds. If you’re interested in competing for money, that’s the day to show up.

On Sunday, SICC opens up everything and interactivity is the name of the game.

“You can go in and use a 6-foot double buck saw or climb a pole,” explains Ernesti. There will also be harvesters and excavators on hand for attendees to try out. “Getting to run an excavator turns everybody into a kid,” says Ernesti. “It’s the wildest thing. And, yes, your seven year old can take a turn, too!”

Best of all, Ernesti says, “It’s free to the public. It doesn’t cost anything to come in.”

Ernesti calls the SICC Forest Festival “the middle point between where we were and where we are going. We are part of nature ourselves. And we need to figure out not a way to conquer it, not a way to stay out of it, but to actually live harmoniously with it. Which means we have to combine traditional ecological knowledge with modern scientific principles and good old-fashioned logger gumption. All that stuff's got to come together in order for us to go to where we're going next.”

Bring the whole family to the festival, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. June 5th-7th.