Where weird is wonderful: A history of the Oregon Country Fair

A lot can change in 55 years.

While some booths have moved locations and some faces may have left the scene, what remains the same at this wetland property off of the Long Tom River in Veneta is the philanthropic and supportive spirit of the Oregon Country Fair.

Generations of fairgoers at OCF

This same weekend event has celebrated over a half-century of magic, excitement and community among Oregonians and beyond. Characters like Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters embraced counterculture and the Grateful Dead set impressive attendance records as the fair was early on in its years. Now, the event's thousands of attendees can expect to see 17 stages, 85 food booths and about 400 artisans faithfully set up at OCF each year, complete with programming and spaces for children and an event coordinated thoughtfully with local authorities and service providers.

Time has certainly marched on since the Oregon Country Fair started, but some families, events and activities remain fixtures in the fair’s event lineup even more than 50 years later.

Oregon Country Fair timeline: A 55-year odyssey of twists and turns

Suzi Prozanski, chair of philanthropy for the Oregon Country Fair and author of two books on OCF’s history, said there are generations of fairgoers who were raised coming to the event every year.

“What’s interesting about the fair is when you get into the generational pieces, most of the kids want to keep coming. It’s not like when I was a kid when you didn’t want to do what your parents did. They like it and they’re making it their own culture as they go,” Prozanski said. “The kids grew up together, hung out together and some of them have their fair friends that they only see at the fair.”

Matt Michel, city administrator for the city of Veneta, said that after more than 50 years of OCF events, Veneta still appreciates the "little things" like seeing new advertisement posters for the fair each year or witnessing the rekindling of friendships with "Fair Family" members.

“We’re moving into second and third generations of fair-goers, which is a pretty neat thing,” Michel said.

Vanessa Roy, marketing manager for the Oregon Country Fair, said OCF has about 10,000 volunteer staff members working during the event. These folks cover a range of tasks, from sanitation and recycling services to traffic direction to groundskeeping to firefighting. OCF has always relied on volunteer help to make the event a reality, and Roy said these volunteer crews span generations, too.

“We have a wonderful way of honoring our volunteers who have been here with us for a good amount of time. We were started by a bunch of people that are still alive and they still want to be a part of the fair, so we have an elders’ community,” Roy said.

“What that means is that you may not be working anymore at the fair but you’re still joining in on the community by being an elder. We connect that community with our team community frequently so that way, they can pass on the wisdom and energize the next stage of people who are going to take the fair into the future.”

Times change but some things don't

As well as being an event that gives back to the community, Prozanski said the fair was an important space for people to be able to unwind from the stress of daily life in a free and creative environment.

“The counterculture worked hard and played hard and ‘work hard’ included protests and trying to change society like they thought it ought to be," Prozanski said. "Then, they needed to relax, recharge, have fun and get the energy out in a positive way. I think that’s part of the culture of the hippie counterculture, it’s both. It’s yin and yang — you’ve got to do both.”

In "doing both," vendors at the fair would work hard to build up a product inventory, sell goods all day and, after the fair, would be able to celebrate earning a living off of the work they were passionate about.

“The other thing still important about the fair is there are crafters still making their living. That was not possible in 1969. There were no craft circuits or anything like that,” Prozanski said.

“The fair has been a big part of the West Coast energy fostering that kind of community and way to make a living.”

Oregon Country Fair's humble beginnings

That spirit of uplifting ways to live a life full of sustainable, artful and connected efforts began in 1969. The first fair was called the Renaissance Faire and was held as a fundraiser for Children’s House, an alternative school with child-led learning.

After this first fair, organizers continued the effort to coordinate this event each year. Since then, the fair has undergone a name change, an evolution in structure and volunteer staff teams, the growth of young attendees and often their eventual children at the fair and countless other shifts to build this event into what it is now. Even the path to developing an elected board of directors was an arduous but necessary one to form this weekend into a well-coordinated and anticipated event.

From ‘neighborhood nuisance’ to ‘neighborly’

A massive influx of people attended the fair once it became a staple event and in the process, descended on neighbors who weren’t too keen on trespassers and other nuisances brought about by fair attendees. Their top complaints typically included trespassing, shoplifting and traffic from events like the 1979 fair, when excessive traffic stops from the sheriff's department backed up cars for 15 miles on Highway 126 all the way to Eugene.

Michel said the city’s partnership with the fair has been a long-standing relationship to work together so each year’s fair is a success. He said the formative years for the fair were also the formative years for the city, as Veneta became an incorporated city in 1962. With 15,000 tickets available for the fair, the event nearly triples the population of Veneta for one weekend each year. Despite a rocky start to the relationship, Michel said the fair has been working hard to be a good community partner for two decades.

“I understand that in the first few decades, the fair did what the fair did without much consideration for the local community. The traffic, illegal camping and public order impacts were intense,” Michel said.

“But that started to change as the fair took responsibility for those community impacts and worked to mitigate them. In the eyes of the city, off-site ticketing and banning alcohol were significant mitigating factors.”

Now, the fair is a reliable source of festivities every summer. Michel said the year-round collaboration between the fair and entities like the city of Veneta, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office and others helps lead to an annual event that is well-coordinated, safe and reflects well on the Fern Ridge community.

“Every year, the fair invites city staff over for lunch to show us their plans and preparations for a safe fair,” Michel said.

“We break bread together at picnic tables and talk about cell tower coverage, traffic mitigation plans, emergent safety plans, and make sure that the city, Lane Fire Authority and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office are all ready to support the fair’s efforts."

Michel said the fair “is always looking for opportunities to support our community and the area’s youth,” and has recently done so by sponsoring the annual Veneta Celebration Run on Aug. 17 at 9 a.m. in City Park in Veneta.

Prozanski said turning around the relationship between the fair and its neighbors was hard work spearheaded by Leslie Scott, the fair’s then-general manager.

She said Scott instructed the board to improve its neighbor relations, telling them, "You may have problems but your real problem is with your neighbors." In 1992, the board approved the creation of the Neighborhood Response Team, which still exists to address concerns, share information and support with neighbors of the fair site.

Another thing that improved the fair’s relationships with neighbors was the creation of the Bill Wooten Endowment Fund and the Jill Heiman Vision Fund. Jill Heiman was the fair's first attorney who helped the entity become a registered federal 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1980. OCF continues to make good on its mission to give back to the community by raising funds for the Fern Ridge School District and for businesses committed to enacting positive change in the world through these funds. These philanthropic efforts have raised more than a million dollars over the years.

“If they didn’t have the fair stuff, they (the Fern Ridge School District) wouldn’t have any art money,” Prozanski said about the Bill Wooten Endowment Fund.

“That’s what I’ve learned in the research because it’s a small school district that just would not offer art so the fair really helps that part.”

What’s new at Oregon Country Fair in 2024?

The fair sees just as much change as it does constant between anticipating event weather, shifts in property lines and natural elements and updates to policies and operations.

An addition to the fair’s offerings this year includes Xavanadu, a new area expansion featuring a hub for Native American artist spaces. This new space, formerly known as the Crafts Lot, allows more room for arts and movement while holding true to the roots the fair has of stewardship and giving back to the community.

As stewards of the land it occupies, the fair is taking precautions to prevent the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer, a beetle that destroys ash trees. Roy said up to 90% of the shade provided on site is cast by oak trees, which are vital to the local wetlands.

This means that the fair is planting resistant saplings with the help of two arborists to ensure that when the Emerald Ash Borer arrives in the Willamette Valley, the fairgrounds have a more resilient canopy already in place.

“Nothing lives for 55 years without having incidents come up that require fast as well as slow responses,” Roy said.

Part of the fair’s "fast" response to the Emerald Ash Borer includes a ban on non-sealed wood entering the property. No wooden palettes and no live-edged woods are allowed on the property. This ban on wood also comes with a request to wash your car, including the undercarriage, if you are planning to visit the fair from the Washington County area where the Emerald Ash Borer’s presence has been confirmed.

Despite pivoting to adapt to the impending arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer, Roy said she feels excited and prepared for this year’s fair as it approaches.

“I don’t have fear, I don’t have worries because there is absolutely nothing that has happened that has not happened before in our 55 years that we can’t handle,” Roy said.

“There’s a lot of confidence that comes into something that has this much longevity.”

What you need to know before you go

To join in on the magic of this year’s fair, make sure to snag a ticket for the Oregon Country Fair at oregoncountryfair.org/tickets/ and check out The Register-Guard's guide to the Oregon Country Fair.

Hannarose McGuinness is The Register-Guard’s growth and development reporter. Contact her at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Country Fair celebrates 55 years of history in Veneta