Traveling Dan

Oregon Country Fair

I just spent the weekend out at the Oregon Country Fair west of Eugene. Volunteered as a greeter with Kathy and Sue, thus was able to be among the priveleged gazillions who get to camp at the fair site and roam around after the public is swept out at 7 PM. I wore costumes all 3 days, the most popular with the public was the Boy Scout in a skirt: full uniform including Eagle rank patch and my old merit-badge sash, classic smokey-bear hat and canteen, and a black and red flowered skirt. People love a Boy Scout gone bad.

As freak fests go, the OCF is pretty good. It certainly has a very long history, was a pioneering event of its kind. Having been twice to Burning Man, it is hard for me not to make comparisons and contrasts between the two. OCF is more strictly a hippy fest (whatever the term even means these days) whereas at Burning Man there is a much higher quotient of other stripes of freak, from anarchist Mad-Maxians to bespectacled engineers who build flaming gyroscopic rocket dragons in their spare time. Part of the difference just has to do with the environments in which the two fests are held: soft green woods versus a vast flat playa upon which you can build any manner of nutjob visionary art project or rave dance-camp.

Then too, whereas there is no buying or selling of any kind (except for coffee and lemonade at Center Camp) at Burning Man, OCF is one big temporary forest-town of handicrafts and food. Everything sold must be made by the vendor. Lots of music too, leaning heavily toward early-twentieth century revival, jug bands and dixieland and the like.

The Saturday night vibe at both fairs is very similiar: giant roving party, everyone decked out in costumes, glow sticks and E-wire. OCF was heavy on impromptu string-band performances, marching bands, felliniesque silent clowns, stilt walkers, etc.

One thing about Burning Man i prefer over OCF is that once you're in the gates at B.Man, no one ever once asks you to see a pass. The attendees are also the participants and creators of the event and (almost) nothing is off limits. Whereas at OCF it seems like someone is asking to see my "staff" wristband every 10 yards, especially at night. I understand the reasons for this but i prefer a more open system. Burning Man raises its bar with a high ticket price and arduous physical circumstances but once you're past that, it is the biggest social experiment in sheer human freedom ever undertaken.

Having said all that, the people at OCF are by and large the sweetest bunch of folks i've run across, and i hope the Fair keeps flying its flag for a long long time.

Posted by danreedmiller at July 15, 2003 05:00 PM