festivals Archives - Pacific Northwest Explorer

Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival

The 2023 Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival was held September 23-24 this year. Lincoln City hosts two kite festivals each year, a summer festival in late June or July and a fall festival in late September or October. If you missed the 2023 events, tentative dates for the 2024 events are June 22-23 for the summer festival and September 21-22 for the fall festival. Mark your calendars because these are great events, fun for the whole family.

Kite festivals are always weather dependent, and if you attended this year’s fall kite festival in Lincoln City, you know that the weather this year wasn’t the best. But when the sun shines and the winds cooperate, the Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival is a glorious event and great fun for all. That was certainly the case in 2018. The following is an update of a post from October 2018.

2018 Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival

It had rained all day Friday, but the forecast looked better for Saturday, so my wife and I decided to head to the coast for the Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival on Saturday morning. The rain had stopped by then, and the sun broke through the clouds by the time we got to McMinnville. Luck was with us.

When we got to the coast, the sky was almost cloudless. And we got the last available parking spot at the D River Wayside. Luck really was with us. There was a brisk, but not cold, breeze on the beach – perfect kite flying weather and a pretty near perfect day for just hanging out on the beach.

The festival featured a lot of very big kites, including a 30 foot diameter “soccer ball,” and quite a few performance kite fliers demonstrating their talents. One of the highlights for me was a flier named Spence Watson flying two quad strings kites. Normally it takes two hands to fly a single quad string. Flying one one-handed is a feat in itself, but he was flying one right-handed and one left-handed, and controlling each one perfectly. Pretty amazing.

The other highlight was the final performance – 13 quad string kites being flow at the same time (one by an eleven year old boy) in a pretty well coordinated routine that I think was improvised on the spot. That was also pretty amazing.

Watching the kite flyers was as entertaining as watching the kites. It’s really a very physical dance that they’re doing. Their movements are perfectly coordinated with the music, but everyone’s moves are a little bit different. If you watch long enough you begin to see the different styles of the flyers. It’s really quite interesting.

There’s plenty to do at the festival for the whole family. Kids can take part in kite making classes, get their faces painted, meet a “real live” mermaid, learn about ocean conservation, fly their own kites, and, of course, just play in the sand.

I lived in Lincoln city for most of the 1980s, so we took a mid-day break and walked the five blocks to look at the house I lived in for part of that time. It’s been extensively remodeled and added on to, so it’s nothing like it was when I lived there.

Pier 101, a seafood restaurant, is only half a block from there, so we stopped in for lunch. It hasn’t changed a bit in the last 30 years, making it about 40 years past due for a makeover. But has its own kind of nostalgic charm, and the food was good, maybe not the best in town, but still very edible.

Lincoln City hosts two kite festivals every year, a summer festival in June or July and a fall festival in September or October. There are numerous other kite fests up and down the Oregon and Washington coasts, including the Southern Oregon Kite Festival in Brookings in July, and the Washington State International Kite Festival in Long Beach and the Rockaway Beach Kite and Art Festival, both in August.

If you’re interested in learning more about kites and kite flying, The Kite Company is a good source for kites, supplies, and instructions on the Oregon Coast, with both an online store and a brick and mortar store in Newport. Other good online sources are Into the Wind , Prism Kites , Kitty Hawk Kites, and Pro Kites USA .

The Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival was good fun for all. The weather was perfect. And Mother Nature provided a gorgeous sunset to top off the day. Can’t ask for much more.

Originally posted by Alan K. Lee October 15, 2018. Updated and re-posted October 4, 2023.

All photos © Alan K. Lee

Oregon Country Fair 2023

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 9^th through Sunday July 11^th. 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 23^rd will be mailed to the purchaser. Tickets purchased after June 23^rd 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 11^th 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 30^th Avenue (it will become Amazon Parkway) west then north to West 11^th (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.

Leavenworth, Washington

by Alan K. Lee

In the 1960s Leavenworth, Washington reinvented itself as a Bavarian-themed tourist town, modeled on the Danish-themed town of Solvang, California.

In the early part of the 20th century, Leavenworth was a thriving community, its economy fueled by the railroad and the timber industry. But by the 1950s the timber industry was in decline and the Great Northern Railroad regional office was long gone (to nearby Wenatchee). Even the railroad tracks had been relocated. By then Leavenworth had been losing jobs and population for decades. Leavenworth’s leaders looked for ways to revitalize the town, and tourism seemed to offer the best chance of boost the economy. So, they set about renovating the whole town.

The entire downtown area now resembles a Bavarian village, but the transition went beyond just the architecture of the town. Leavenworth has also adopted Bavarian culture in a variety of ways. Leavenworth’s Mai Fest and Oktoberfest were modeled on their Bavarian counterparts, German cuisine is featured at many of the town’s restaurants, such as Munchen Haus, and Bavarian-style pubs like Gustav’s are scattered throughout the town.

Even if not authentic and a bit kitschy, Leavenworth is still a beautiful, unique (at least in the Northwest), and charming small town that many people adore. Its mimicry of Bavarian culture has been very successful in attracting tourists, and today the town is again thriving. The town is crowded with tourists on summer and fall weekends, and accommodations are often booked up months in advance.

The immensely popular Oktoberfest has been tremendously successful in bringing tourists (and their money) to the town every fall. Its popularity, though, has brought with it alcohol-related and other problems that led the town to consider making changes to the festival. The 2021 festival was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the town leaders rejected the proposal of the festival’s organizers for the 2022 festival. That led the festival organizers to move the 2022 Leavenworth Oktoberfest to nearby Wenatchee. However, the City of Leavenworth decided to retain a smaller, more spread out and more family friendly celebration (being called Oktoberfest 2022) on the same three weekends as the festival in Wenatchee. Confusingly, the two concurrent festivals are being run by different organizations, the Leavenworth Oktoberfest is not taking place in Leavenworth, and the Oktoberfest that is taking place in Leavenworth is not called the Leavenworth Oktoberfest. But that just means we now have a two for one opportunity to experience something akin to an authentic Bavarian festival.

There’s more to Leavenworth than Oktoberfest and all the faux Bavarian trappings, too. Leavenworth is located in a spectacular natural setting, and that by itself is reason enough to visit. Leavenworth has become a year round outdoor recreational mecca. Spring, summer, and fall offer abundant hiking, camping, fishing, rock climbing, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, and wildlife viewing opportunities. Winter brings Nordic and alpine skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, sleigh riding, tubing and sledding, snowmobiling, dog sledding and even ice climbing opportunities for the outdoor enthusiast.

To really experience what Leavenworth is all about, you need to spend more than just a day there. Leavenworth is a little off the beaten path, about 130 miles east of Seattle on US Hwy 2, but it is worth an extended visit, at least once. Many people, though, find themselves returning again and again, my wife and I among them. And if you choose to visit Leavenworth, consider also visiting the fjord-like 50 mile long Lake Chelan about 50 miles north of Leavenworth.

For much more information on Leavenworth, Washington, the Two Wandering Soles Leavenworth blog post has a ton of info on the town and the area’s recreational opportunities. (The site doesn’t appear to have been updated recently, so some of the information may be out of date, but there’s so much there that it’s well worth checking out.)

Originally posted February 18, 2020. Updated and re-posted July 25, 2022.