Britt is a non-profit performing arts

Performing arts

The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 festival located in Jacksonville, Oregon

Jacksonville, Oregon

Jacksonville is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, a few miles west of Medford. It was named for Jackson Creek, which runs through the community and was the site of one of the first placer gold claims in the area. It includes Jacksonville Historic District which was designated a U.S....

. Since its creation it has been among the premier performing arts festivals in the Northwest, and has managed to attract high-profile and local acts in music for decades. Britt also sponsors a number of educational programs through its educational arm The Britt Institute. Its main mission is, "to invite audiences and artists to celebrate the joy of live performance, the power of community and the magic of the Britt Experience."

History

The idea for Britt originated in 1963, when Portland conductor John Trudeau

John Trudeau

S. John Trudeau was an American musician who expanded the music department at Portland State University and helped co-found the outdoor Britt Festival of performing arts in Jacksonville, Oregon, the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.In 1951, Trudeau came to Portland, Oregon to join the...

 and several friends visiting southern Oregon in search of a place to start a summer music festival. The former hillside estate of Jacksonville pioneer Peter Britt was perfect, with its natural acoustics and scenic views of the valley in the distance. The beauty of the valley

Rogue Valley

The Rogue Valley is a farming and timber-producing region in southwestern Oregon in the United States. Located along the middle Rogue River and its tributaries in Josephine and Jackson counties, the valley forms the cultural and economic heart of Southern Oregon near the California border. The...

 further motivated them to start something, and that summer a plywood

Plywood

Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...

 stage was built. A local orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 provided the only music until 1978, when the current pavilion was constructed. From there the festival continued to grow to include more seats and attract national attention, with high-profile artists frequently performing.

Performances take place in the Britt Park, which is owned by county

Jackson County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument* Crater Lake National Park * Klamath National Forest * Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest * Umpqua National Forest -Demographics:...

, but under long-term lease with Britt. http://www.brittfest.org/ourhistory.htm

Location

Most Britt Festivals' performances take place in Jacksonville, in southern Oregon. Other performances occasionally take place at the Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors

Lithia Motors, Inc. is automotive dealership network headquartered in Medford, Oregon, primarily serving the western United States. It is the seventh largest automotive retailer in the United States, and ranks as number 615 on the Fortune 1000 list of the largest companies in the U.S. for 2007...

 Amphitheater, at the Jackson County Expo Park in Central Point, Oregon

Central Point, Oregon

Central Point is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,165 as of July 1, 2009 The city shares its southern border with Medford and is a part of the Medford metropolitan area...

.