If you’re not familiar with the Oregon Country Fair, or OCF you may find the following photos a bit befuddling. This is NOT your state or county fair. You’ll find no sheep or huckleberry pie with blue ribbons at OCF but what you will find: just about anything else!
I used to be a “fair kid” as a teenager, joining my parents who are part of the Community Village in working to prep the fairgrounds and camping throughout the event. The event is open to the public for 3 days, but those who are part of the fair family are involved all year round planning and building and managing public relations. A lot goes into changing this seasonal swamp into a three day party of love and self expression, and it’s thanks to the public for supporting the fair that it keeps on truckin’ through the years.
My husband was a ‘fair virgin’ and thoroughly enjoyed his first fair. He told me on the way home that he “gets it” now: the fair is a place where you can and are encouraged to express yourself, no matter how bizarre that true self is and are enveloped in a bubble of happiness and goodwill. So much goodwill! It can almost be oppressive 😉   The fair was historically a ‘hippy’ event, filled with drug use and other illegal activities to the point that the police were going to shut down the fair. No more. Although i’m sure there are still drugs being used, they’re used privately if at all and security is well enforced. It’s in everyone’s best interest to keep the fair going for years to come, so we keep it on the up and up.
The fair is full of craft booths, music and performance stages, educational displays, parades and of course the ‘villages.’ Archeology park is full of booths educating you on the historical residents of the valley, how to make fire and tan hides displays and other cool muddy stuff. Energy park has booths for solar energy, kinetic energy, permaculture and more. And of course, the community village has their own displays, including my favorite: the wild edibles booth. I FINALLY figured out that i was right in my Plantain identification and was shocked at just how poisonous Foxglove really is! I also made the ID of all the wild peas growing everywhere and was even more shocked to discover they’re massively poisonous, causing permanent paralysis! Don’t eat that stuff, man!
We visited for just one day, this year. Picked up a few souvenirs including a shirt, a delicious nutty butty and a handcrafted wooden comb. We’ll probably go back next year, though may check out the Philomath Frolic instead. Talk about two polar opposite events on the same weekend: a frolic and rodeo vs a massive event of self expression and alternative lifestyles in action!
Did you go to the fair this year?
