Creativity reigns at the Oregon Country Fair 

Carolyn Craig has attended Oregon Country Fair for 13 years. During the early hours of the final day of the three-day annual event in Veneta, Craig volunteered to walk around with members of the media, answer their questions and help them navigate the grounds. 

When asked about her favorite part of the fair, Craig paused. “Where do I start?” she said.

At first, she had a hard time answering — not because there’s nothing to say, but because there’s almost too much. But the details come.

“I love that it’s such a creative space for personal expression,” she said. 

“The dancing and music are probably one of my favorites, because I don’t find a lot of opportunities to do that elsewhere. Having music outdoors in such a beautiful setting—I also really love the intergenerational aspect of it.”

Craig explained that as someone without children, she finds fewer opportunities to be in truly intergenerational spaces as the young ones in her family have grown up. 

“It’s very cool here,” she said. “There are people of all ages dancing together, right there alongside each other.”

Craig, who moved to Eugene from Seattle, was initially skeptical when she first heard about the fair. But she fell in love with the vibe of creativity she found when she first attended. 

She heard it was a place for hippies, with naked people running around. While it has elements of that, it’s accepting and open in a way that can’t easily be categorized or articulated without experiencing it firsthand.

“I found that I was able to tap into something creative that I hadn’t really allowed myself to do before,” she said. “I was never really a festival person. But as soon as I came out here, I fell in love with it. There’s just nothing else like it.”

At Oregon Country Fair, visitors embrace creative self-expression — from elaborate costumes to impromptu performances — in ways that attendees say they rarely feel comfortable doing elsewhere. 

Remi Hagle, who started attending Oregon Country Fair in 2019, articulated that feeling while standing in line at Cafe Lafayette, waiting to order one of the cafe’s breakfast sandwiches with “super fluffy and good eggs.” 

Hagle volunteers at the Eugene Saturday Market booth, which, like many community organizations, has a presence at the fair. This year, they hosted a lounge area, talking with visitors about the market’s 55-year history and connection with the fair that includes many of the same long-time artisans.

Hagle said the Saturday Market booth is a welcoming place for families to get away from the heat, enjoy some bubble machines, and hear a little bit about the history of Saturday Market.

“I’m really happy to be a part of the fair,” Hagle said. “I feel that like in the world that we live in, there’s not a lot of third places where people can find community and connect with like-minded individuals. And so it’s nice to be a part of something that brings so many different kinds of people from all different walks of life together, and we’re able to create something beautiful.”

“Third places” are considered to be those places other than home and work where people can socialize. Hagle said many of the options for building community that exist today are structured around alcohol and spending money, such as in bars. 

While there was a cost to enter Oregon County Fair, once inside, Hagle said, “you could probably get by without money if you really needed to.”

“Everyone here is so kind,” she said. “If you need something, people are more than happy to give it to you.”

What she wanted in that moment was an egg sandwich, though this time the fair did not provide it. When it was her turn to order, they were out of eggs. She settled for biscuits and gravy, which she had last year, so although it wasn’t what she was craving, she knew it would be good. 

She didn’t seem disappointed by the change — that’s part of rolling with whatever happens at the fair. In a place where expectations are meant to be challenged, stretched and reimagined, going with the flow is part of the deal.