The Oregon Country Fair started in 1969 as a benefit for an alternative school. Originally called the Renaissance Fair, it was essentially a bunch of hippies getting together to sing, dance, smoke pot, party, and raise money for a school. And to some extent it still is, except that today it is strictly a drug and alcohol-free event. I had not been to the fair in many years, but returned in 2018, curious to see what it had become.
So, just what is the Oregon Country Fair today? Well, it’s a three-day festival and gathering held every July near the town of Veneta, Oregon, about 15 miles west of Eugene. It’s run by a non-profit organization that supports a variety of other non-profits providing medical, housing, and educational services, and also provides support for the arts and the environment. According to its website, the OCF “has a rich and varied history of alternative arts and performance promotion, educational opportunities, land stewardship and philanthropy,” and “creates events and experiences that nourish the spirit, explore living artfully and authentically on earth, and transform culture in magical, joyous and healthy ways.” You can make what you will of that. But at its heart it’s still a party. A huge three-day party.
The OCF is a remnant of the 1960s counterculture, for sure, but it is anything but stuck in the 60s. Over its 54-year history the Oregon Country Fair has not only survived but grown and thrived. It’s hard to describe just how big this thing has become. The schedule of events for the 2018 fair listed 120 performances on the first day, spread over 19 stages. There are dozens of musical acts, dancers, comedy acts, vaudeville, circus acts, and more than a dozen groups of performers that wander the miles of paths of the fairgrounds. And that’s just the entertainment.
There are also more than 300 artisans selling hand crafted goods – pottery, jewelry, leatherworks, glassworks, furniture and other woodworks, sculptures, paintings, photography, clothing, and you name it. There are also dozens of workshops, classes, and “gatherings,” and almost ninety food booths. There is a childcare center, three first aid stations, a cell phone charging station, drinking water bottle filling stations, showers, and five ATMs.
Every year, the Oregon Country Fair draws tens of thousands of people from all over the Northwest and beyond (I saw one car in the parking lot with Maine license plates). On my last visit, the paid attendance for the day was 15,000. Add in the hundreds of OCF staff, and all the artisans, performers, food booth staffers, and other workers, and you have a not so small city.
This is just a colossal event, one that is worth attending at least once in your life just to take in the sheer magnitude of it. In 2018 my wife had other commitments and couldn’t come, but I enjoyed the fair enough to return the following year and bring her with me. We both enjoyed the 2019 event, but the Covid-19 pandemic derailed the fair in 2020 and 2021. It resumed in 2022 as a slightly smaller event but for 2023 it looks to be back to what it was before the pandemic, and my wife and I may be back again this year to take in the energy and inspired lunacy of this thing one more time.
The 2023 Oregon Country Fair will be held from Friday July 9th through Sunday July 11th. Tickets to this year’s fair can be purchased through the OCF website. Single day tickets cost $45 for Friday and Saturday and $40 for Sunday. Seniors (65+) and the alter-abled receive a $5 discount. Children under 13 are free.
Tickets purchased prior to June 23rd will be mailed to the purchaser. Tickets purchased after June 23rd can be picked up at the Will Call tent near the fair entrance. Day of event ticket purchases can be made at McDonalds Theater in downtown Eugene or at the northwest parking lot of Valley River Center. Tickets will not be sold at the fairgrounds. Three-day tickets are already sold out.
To get to the fairgrounds from Eugene, take Ore Hwy 126 (West 11th St) west through Veneta. The entrance to the fairgrounds is on Hwy 126 1.6 miles west of Territorial Highway in Veneta. Coming from north of Eugene, take Interstate 5 or US Hwy 99 south to the Randy Pape Beltline Hwy (exit 195 off I-5), then west to Hwy 126. Follow Hwy 126 west through Veneta. From the south take I-5 north to exit 189, then follow 30th Avenue (it will become Amazon Parkway) west then north to West 11th (Hwy 126) and proceed as above.
Parking is $15 per day per vehicle and can be purchased when buying tickets. Free shuttle buses from either downtown Eugene or Valley River Center will be available but service may be limited by post-pandemic staffing shortages. Check the Lane Transit District website for more information.
Originally posted July 17, 2018 by Alan K. Lee. Edited and updated by the author June 8, 2023.
All photos © Alan K. Lee