Obnoxiously loud music from a festival

Question

There's a local annual festival that plays their music really loudly. I can hear it from three and a half miles away, and it's really annoying. There are houses just a few hundred feet away; I'm sure it's far worse for them. Is that illegal? I don't plan to take legal action, but I'm curious if it would be possible.

Answer 1

It is not illegal to make sound, but there may be limits on what sound you can make, when and where. At the state level, in Oregon, you can see what the general limitations on "noise" are here. State law is basically irrelevant, you have to consult local law. Let's say that the event is in Cannon Beach, then here are the restrictions. Between 10pm and 7am, the amplitude limit is 50 dB. Note however that exceptions are allowed, for example:

Sounds caused by organized athletic or other group activities, when such activities are conducted on property generally used for such purposes, including parks, schools, churches, athletic fields and waterways; provided, however, that said exception shall not impair the city’s power to declare such events or activities otherwise to violate other laws, ordinances or regulations

and one can apply for a variance, which upon due consideration by the chief of police can allow e.g. a music festival. But that's only Cannon Beach. Unincorporated areas are only subject to county-wide restrictions, which tend to also be quite minimal (owing to the fact that farms are typically "out in the county", and county governments tend not to ticket farmers when their cows are noisy).

The first step would be to determine whether the event was in (prima facie) violation of the local noise ordinance, if any. The second would be to determine whether – assuming a variance had been granted – the person granting the ordinance had abused their discretion.