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

More: Oregon Country Fair celebrates 55 years of history on the Long Tom River

Every year, thousands of people gather on property located off of the Long Tom River in Veneta for a weekend of magic, festivities and community at the Oregon Country Fair.

The fair sprouted from humble roots nurtured by the counterculture of the 1960s, providing a space where anybody and everybody was welcome to enjoy a slice of nature, experience live performances and become part of a collective community. Originally named the Renaissance Faire, OCF has grown over the years into a staple event attracting visitors from around the country.

The event’s history is as winding as the pathways slithering through the woods along the Long Tom River and is as colorful as the costume-clad community of fair-goers. To help make sense of decades of history, The Register-Guard has compiled a timeline of the fair, drawing on past coverage of the event and the memories of long-time participants. Notably, this work leans heavily on the years of research and interviews conducted by Suzi Prozanski, who was an invaluable source in verifying dates, clarifying details and gaining insight into the event's early years.

Nov. 1 and 2, 1969

The first version of the Oregon Country Fair, then named the Renaissance Faire, was held in a pasture in Eugene’s Hawkins Heights. The event was a fundraiser for Children’s House, an alternative school encouraging free thinking and child-led learning. Some 2,000 people attend across the two days.

May 29-31, 1970

Crow Road west of Eugene played home to the second Renaissance Faire. Two fairs were typically held annually in the event’s early years.

Oct. 16-18, 1970

Bill and Cindy Wooten, the fair’s organizers, rented a 400-acre property along the Long Tom River west of Eugene and hosted the third Renaissance Faire. Organizational meetings for the event required decisions by consensus, allowing everyone’s opinions to be heard. This decision-by-consensus model would define the fair’s “management” (a term used loosely due to general opposition to organization and the fair’s non-hierarchical structure) for years.

June 23, 1971

The Lane County Board of Commissioners passed an assembly ordinance requiring outdoor events to obtain permits a week after that year’s fair concluded. This was the last time two fairs were held in one calendar year.

June 30-July 3, 1972

Coordinators for the sixth fair worked with the Lane Transit District bus service, offering free shuttle service between Eugene and the fair in an effort to combat rising complaints and concerns related to traffic. On Aug. 27 that summer, the fair site was rented and held a benefit concert headlined by the Grateful Dead with an estimated 20,000 attendees.

June, 1973

Coordinators began to meet with neighbors of the fair site as opposition to the event grew from frustrated neighbors growing tired of trespassers and traffic. Fair coordinators agreed to hire off-duty sheriff’s deputies to assist with traffic direction, start a contract with Eugene Ambulance Service for quick emergency responses, offer more toilets, ban amplified music except for singers and ban alcohol from the event.

1974

In order to get its event permit approved by the county, the fair was required to pay eight off-duty deputies to help manage traffic and is also made to post a $15,000 insurance bond. This imposition stemmed from neighbors' complaints in prior years.

1975

The fair began to call itself the Oregon Country Renaissance Fair after the Renaissance Faire in Marin County, California, copyrighted its name. The fair’s peach logo was created in 1975, too. In 1976, the event formally adopted its name as the Oregon Country Fair.

1977

OCF officially became a recognized nonprofit organization in Oregon. The fair also elected its first board of directors.

June, 1979

The county board of commissioners proposed the fair pay a $30,000 bond prior to issuing an outdoor assembly permit. Jill Heiman, the fair’s attorney, argued the bond requirement treated OCF differently than other events and should not have been imposed. The board’s vote on issuing the permit narrowly passed and OCF was not required to post the bond. Heiman filed a lawsuit in federal court that year for the fair being treated differently and saying that the county’s behavior toward the fair impeded fairgoers’ constitutional right to freedom of assembly.

1979

Lane County commissioners required the fair to pay for extra sheriff patrols to help coordinate event traffic.

1980

In April, OCF became a registered federal 501(c)(3) nonprofit after starting work toward this accreditation in 1979.

1982

Lane County settled the fair’s lawsuit with $19,000 that the fair then used as a down payment on 240 acres of land.

Late 1980s

In 1986, Oregon’s Department of Transportation planned to reroute Highway 126 through the fair property, but efforts paused when Kalapuyan artifacts found on the property confirmed gatherings from 11,000 years ago. The highway was planned for a different route, not through the fair’s land, and in 1989, the route was completed, creating a new entrance on the west side of the fair site. The fair also celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1989.

1989

The fair board hired its first paid general manager.

1991 and 1992

The fair pays off its original mortgage on the property along the Long Tom River. The next year, the fair’s board created the Bill Wooten Endowment to fund arts and educational activities for the Fern Ridge School District, the Ferm Ridge Library and Camp Wilani.

1993

Fair GM Leslie Scott and Veneta City Councilor Galen Carpenter organized a volunteer committee to create a temporary weekend campsite for fair attendees at Zumwalt Park. This campsite remains in use by fairgoers. Also this year, the OCF Neighborhood Response Team partnered with the Veneta-area Neighborhood Watch to help prevent trespassing and other nuisance activities on properties neighboring the fairgrounds.

1996

An eventful year for the fair. The board honored former fair attorney Jill Heiman with the Jill Heiman Vision Fund, which raises money at the fair each year for donations to local nonprofits. Some landholdings were swapped between the fair and the city of Veneta. This resulted in Veneta owning land within its urban growth boundary. In return, OCF was given ownership of the land across the Long Tom River from the fair site. Lane County approved a permit that would allow temporary camping at Zumwalt Park, at a neighborhood campsite hosted by neighbors of the fair site and at the fair’s new land across the river. The beginning of advance-sale, off-site tickets started this year and the fair saw a historic attendance record of 53,000.

1997

The board officially declared that the fair is a drug- and alcohol-free event, marking a transition into a "family-friendly" focus.

Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad sent a letter to the OCF board stating that the fair site “constituted a nuisance” under state law and threatened possible property forfeiture if drug sales were observed at future events.

2001

The fair leaned into kids attending events with the start of Girl Circus, a performance act, and the creation of Culture Jam, a week-long camp hosted in August on the fairgrounds that aims to empower artistic and creative expression and freedom in teenagers. Throughout the 2000s, ticket sales steadily increased from about 41,000 to more than 47,000.

Early 2000s

In 2001, 2002 and 2003, the fair added more than 150 acres to its footprint through land purchases.

2019

OCF celebrated its 50th anniversary.

2020 and 2021

Amid a global pandemic, the fair persisted via a virtual "Fair in the Clouds."

2022

After two years of virtual fairs, OCF was again held at its normal property with attendance for the three-day event capped at 30,000 fairgoers.

2024

This year's fair dates are July 12, 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with tickets on sale at oregoncountryfair.org/tickets/.

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 timeline: 55 years of history