The road leading into the 46th annual Oregon Country Fair was packed with pedestrians and cars parked bumper-to-bumper. A cyclist rode down Suttle Road in tie-dye t-shirt and a yellow reflective vest. A dad wearing a loin cloth pulled his children, who slept in a canopied Radio Flyer wagon.
Everyone from miles around was magnetically drawn to the fairgrounds outside Veneta, OR. Inside the fair, you’ll find a rich supply of musical entertainment, science education, art installations, and much, much more.
Among the 52,000 participants (OCF’s highest attendance in 15 years) was an abundant array of eccentric clothing styles and combinations: a doctor’s smock and nebulae-patterned leggings, fishnet stockings and detachable butterfly wings, and plenty of other expressive fashion choices, like the man who wore a cardboard sleeve for Mott The Hoople’s 1974 record “The Hoople” over his head.
And although storm clouds often teased a storm, the three days of the country fair remained as bright and sunny as the attendees. Besides, rain is just God’s way of washing hippies.
Check out our photos from this year’s Oregon Country Fair below:
Fairgoers browse through the OCF Library. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Fairgoers practice acro-yoga in the Flow Zone, another one of the additions to the New Area. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Body paint was a popular choice of attire for attendees at the Oregon Country Fair. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Musician Marcus Fire plays his didgeridoos while beatboxing for wandering fairgoers. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
A man uses a lasso to lead a parade through the fair crowds. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Butterflies parade through the street of the fair while a butterfly catcher swats at them with a net. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Patrons enjoy the Spectrum Splendor in the New Zone. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Rainbow-colored streamers in the art installation “Spectrum Splendor” adrift in the breeze in the New Area. (Emerson Malone / Emerald).
Eugene-based funk outfit Soul Vibrator plays at the Youth Stage on Saturday, July 11 during Oregon Country Fair. (Emerson Malone / Emerald).
Barebacked, stiltwalking grannies patrol through the streets. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Fair attendees get down in the drum circle. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
University of Oregon student Anna Davis receives a sigil from a henna artist. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Fair vendor Riley Estrada shows off her faun-themed attire. (Jamie Perry / Emerald).
Mina Wegner (left) on the Youth Stage on Saturday, July 11. (Emerson Malone / Emerald).
Two attendees wore inflatable outfits and paraded around the fairgrounds in their full-body disguises on Saturday. (Emerson Malone / Emerald).
Children and a volunteer weave dream-catchers with yarn and paper plates in the Altared Space area of the fairgrounds. (Emerson Malone / Emerald).