The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is an annual three-day fair held in Veneta, Oregon

Veneta, Oregon

Veneta is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,561.-History:Veneta was established in 1912 by Edmund Eugene Hunter, who named the settlement after his five-year-old daughter. Veneta post office was established in 1914. Veneta Orilla Hunter...

, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...

, the site is about 15 miles (24 km) west of Eugene

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

 along the Long Tom River

Long Tom River

The Long Tom River is a tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area at the south end of the Willamette Valley between Eugene and Corvallis....

. Annual attendance is approximately 45,000, and the fair has around 350 booths each year. The event is known as an outgrowth of the counter-culture movement, including an emphasis on using environmentally friendly practices during the fair.

The Oregon Country Fair begins on the Friday of the second weekend in July every year.

History

The first fair was held in Eugene, on November 1 and November 2, 1969, and had as a tag-line, "come in costume".
The fair began as a barter

Barter

Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...

 and craft

Craft

A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...

 fair to raise funds for an alternative school, the Children's Community School.
The event moved to its current location in Veneta, about 14 miles west of Eugene, for the fall fair in October, 1970, after having had a May Fair the same year on Crow Road, about halfway between Eugene and Veneta.

In August 1972, the OCF site was used for the first of what was supposed to be a series of concerts held every ten years by the Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

. Known as "Field Trips", that first concert was held as a benefit for the Springfield Creamery, which is owned by members of Ken Kesey

Ken Kesey

Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...

's family.

Until 1977, the fair was known as the Oregon Renaissance Faire.

Entertainment

During open hours (11 am to 7 pm) there are 18 stages

Stage (theatre)

In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

 featuring a wide variety of musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

, comedic, theatrical, juggling

Juggling

Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...

, daredevil

Stunt performer

A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...

, and vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 performances.

The stages are: Main Stage, Daredevil Palace, Shady Grove Stage, Kesey Stage, Gypsy Stage, W.C. Fields Stage, Spirit Tower, Rabbit Hole, Front Porch, Blue Moon Stage, Stage Left, Chez Ray's Next Stage, Monkey Palace, Might Tiny Puppet Stage, Hoarse Chorale, Morningwood Odditorium, Community Village, and Youth Stage.

Musical acts incorporate many styles, including: folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

, Latin

Latin American music

Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...

, slam poetry

Slam poetry

A poetry slam is a competition at which poets read or recite original work. These performances are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected members of the audience.-History:...

 and spoken word

Spoken word

Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

.

There are many path-side venues, parades, and walking performers throughout the entire fair site, including a marching band

Marching band

Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

, giant puppets, and stilt walkers.

There is also a drum circle at the Drum Tower which is open to all willing participants who bring their musical instruments.

Tickets and transportation

Tickets and passes are required to attend the Oregon Country Fair. All tickets sold to the public are sold in advance at TicketsWest outlets and other retail centers throughout the Northwest. All tickets must be purchased off-site; no tickets will be sold at the fair site at any time. Discount tickets are available for people who qualify for disability or senior discounts. There is no fee for children who are under the age of ten, and come with a paying adult. Public transportation, in the form of bus shuttle, is added in order to park and ride between Eugene and the OCF grounds non-stop throughout the days of the fair.

Culture

The fair is a family event with face painting, puppet

Puppet

A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....

 shows, and music for children. Full nudity is not allowed during public hours in public areas—genitals must be covered at these times. No alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 is allowed and smoking

Tobacco smoking

Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...

 is limited to designated areas. The fair has its own water and communications systems, recycling

Recycling

Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

 service, emergency medical team, traffic control, and security team. Many drugs were once sold openly at the fair, but since 1998 there has been a strong effort to make it a drug free event.

Infrastructure

The fair is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is governed by an elected twelve-member Board of Directors. There are seven staff positions within the organization.

Alter-Abled Access is available at the Oregon Country Fair, including: wheelchairs (there is a battery re-charging station for electric wheelchairs), helpers, sign language interpreters, folding chairs, rest areas, maps, and other information. To obtain these services, or more information about them, event participants can go to the following locations on the event site: the Alter-Abled Access Advocates(4A)Center (located near Admissions as well as at the Bus Stop), Community Village, Solutions, and all Information booths.

From June 1 through August 31 there are no dogs allowed on the event site. The exception is for service dogs.

Publications

The Oregon Country Fair publishes a newsletter, the Fair Family News, eleven times a year. As well as an event paper, the Peach Pit, once a year for the three-day event.

Volunteer crews

The Oregon Country Fair has a large volunteer network. This volunteer network is the base for all operational needs of the event. The different volunteer crews are:

Admissions, Advertising, Alter-Abled, Archaeology, Banners and Signs, Buses, Camping, Cart Central, Cartography, Childcare, Commemorative Sales, Community Village Council ,Communications, Construction, Craft Inventory, Crew Services, Entertainment Crew, Fair Family News, Fire Crew, Food Booth Committee ,General Store ,Green Thumb, Hospitality, Ice, Information, Kitchen Crews, Lot Crew, Main Camp, Medical, Office, Neighborhood Response Team, Peach Pit, Recycling, Registration, Sanitation, Security, Shower Crew, Site Crew, Teen Crew, Traffic, Veg-man-ecs, Video, and Water.

Working volunteers receive daily Food Vouchers. These vouchers can be used at event food booths to buy meals. They are redeemable only to designated event organizations.

All volunteers agree to the Oregon Country fair Guidelines and Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct of The Oregon Country Fair is:

"We are an association of equals. Each and
every member of our community is entitled to
respectful and equitable treatment by all other
participants. We should all act responsibly
towards one another wherever we gather.
The OCF is committed to the principles
of non-violence. Mental, verbal, physical,
or sexual abuse will not be tolerated.
We share reverence for the land. Stewardship
is everyone’s responsibility. Please help
protect the plant and animal life whose
space we share, and work to extend this
practice beyond the OCF and into daily life."

History of the land

The Willamette Valley has been continuously occupied by humans, to some extent, for at least the last 9,000-10,000 years (this timeline is based on the archaeological evidence gathered from 34 archaeological sites in the Upper Willamette Valley).
The Oregon Country Fair property has archaeological sites protected by state law on it. It is thought to have previously been a gathering place for the Kalapuya tribe of Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

. All ground disturbing activities on the fair property must be approved by the archaeology and construction crews.

The Kalapuya lived in permanent winter homes and migrated throughout the Willamette Valley of Oregon during the summers. Subsistence was based on fishing, hunting, and gathering wild plant foods.

Based on the translation of Kalapuya texts, strong historical aspects of the Kalapuya culture include: the dream, the dream spirit-power, death, wealth, prestige, sexual division of labor (men hunt, women gather), sex, acculturation, and language. The dream spirit-power was observed to be the strongest. The dream power was constantly referred to in matters of courage and bravery, of sickness and resisting disease, gambling, hunting, wealth, casting spells, power over natural phenomena and becoming a shaman.

Much of the fair site is a wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

 and the Long Tom River

Long Tom River

The Long Tom River is a tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area at the south end of the Willamette Valley between Eugene and Corvallis....

 floods much of the fair property each winter.

Educational areas

Some of the Oregon Country Fair's areas are organized to be information and workshop resources.
The Kids Loop is a children's play area, Yes You Canopy is a pavilion dedicated to the teaching of juggling, Energy Park is an area with displays and demonstrations on alternative energy

Alternative energy

Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....

, alternative transportation, organic agriculture and recycling, and Community Village has booths from non-profit organizations dedicated to education, information access, plants and gardening, including a display by the Oregon State University

Oregon State University

Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...

/Lane County

Lane County, Oregon

-National protected areas:*Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge *Siuslaw National Forest *Umpqua National Forest *Willamette National Forest -Government:...

 Extension Master Gardeners, and other forms of progressive social change.

Archaeology Park ("Ark Park") is the home of the fair's archaeology crew, and includes replica cedar houses like those used by Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 Native American tribes, displays of artifacts and photos of archaeological digs from the fair site, and hands-on demonstrations of flintknapping, firemaking, basket weaving and other Native American skills.

Philanthropy

The OCF organization maintains close ties with the Eugene-area community and supports many other nonprofit organizations through its philanthropic programs.

Fairgoers, fair working volunteers, and the OCF organization alike contribute to non-profit groups through The Jill Heiman Vision Fund. This fund grants funds to tax-exempt organizations in Lane County. Donations are provided to projects and programs related to improving the environment and fostering sustainability.

The OCF Board has created The Bill Wooten Endowment Fund to assist arts, environmental, and social justice projects. The Board of Directors also offers donations to various groups and activities that share its values of living artfully and authentically on the earth.

External links

• Oregon Country Fair (official website)