Oregon Country Fair
| Oregon Country Fair | |
|---|---|
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| Begins | The Friday before the second weekend in July |
| Ends | Sunday, 2 days later |
| Location(s) | Veneta, Oregon |
| Inaugurated | 1969 |
The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is a nonprofit organization, and an annual three-day fair held outside the city limits of Veneta, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, the site is about 13 miles (21 km) west of Eugene along the Long Tom River near the unincorporated community of Elmira. Annual attendance is approximately 45,000, and the fair has around 960 booths each year. The event is known as an outgrowth of the counter-culture movement, and for using environmentally-friendly practices during the fair.
The Oregon Country Fair begins on the Friday of the second weekend in July every year.
The first fair was held in Eugene, over the weekend of November 1–2, 1969. It was promoted with the tagline, "come in costume". The fair began as a craft fair to raise funds for an alternative school, the Children's Community School. The event moved to its current location in Veneta, about 13 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 and August 1982, OCF hosted concerts headlined by the Grateful Dead. Known as "Field Trips", that first concert was held as a benefit for the Springfield Creamery, which is owned by members of Ken Kesey's family.
Until 1977, the fair was known as the Oregon Renaissance Faire.
During open hours (11 am to 7 pm) there are 18 stages featuring a wide variety of musical, comedic, theatrical, juggling, daredevil, and vaudeville 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. The Ritz, which has showering facilities and two saunas, also includes a stage.
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