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THE OREGON VIBE

Oregonians have a good thing going and they know it.

Oregon is a fun place to live and play; the state exudes good times and adventure, largely because of its tremendous variety. Oregon is the nation’s ninth-largest state, and one of the least homogeneous in many ways—the climate, the geography, the population density, the politics, and the culture vary so much from region to region. The Portland Metro Area holds more than half of the state’s entire population, and Western Oregon as a whole far surpasses the population east of the Cascade Mountains. This formidable range, with its snow-capped volcanic peaks, effectively cleaves the state in two distinct parts, not just geographically, but also in many ways culturally and demographically. Yet, while rural Oregonians might find little political and sociological common ground with the state’s urban residents, both camps almost always agree on one thing: Oregon rocks!

Oregonians will celebrate just about anything, and they have plenty to celebrate. Oregon festivals come in so many forms that some are difficult to categorize, ranging from the farcical to the funny to the farfetched to the fascinating. The state’s eclectic mix of festivals, from tiny small-town, off-the-radar events to massive, nationally famous gatherings, engenders a subset of Oregonians who revel in these celebrations, taking in many of them over the course of a year. I’ll call them festivarians, to coin a phrase, and some of them are genre-specific, hitting as many music fests or film fests or beer fests as possible; others are generalists, embracing many kinds of festivals. Other Oregonians have their favorite events, returning year after year, while many like to check out a different event here and there. Whatever your own motivation, rest assured Oregon has a festival for you.

Those beer festivals deserve special mention. Oregon is a leader in the world of craft brewing (not to mention winemaking), and beer festivals are ubiquitous, ranging from sprawling extravaganzas featuring many dozens of breweries at big-event venues to intimate celebrations held at pubs and other small spaces and dedicated to specific kinds of beers. Beer fests also come and go—every year new beer events hit the scene; some last a few years and a few persist. In this book, I’ve tried to stick to those with some staying power, but the one-offs and the newcomers looking for traction are certainly worth exploring.

Oregon also hosts a variety of festivals that celebrate the natural world, and why not? The state is rich in natural history, wildlife, wild places, and people who relish them. Some festivals are dedicated to birds, others to salmon, even some to such wild edibles as mushrooms and berries. Oregon also boasts a vibrant music scene, with a variety of music festivals, big and small, all over the state. Film festivals are also big attractions, and of course Oregon’s wine country, as well as the state’s multifaceted agricultural business, have spawned many different festivals.

A substantial percentage of the state’s annual and ongoing festivals are described herein, but not all of them. Choosing festivals to include in this book required just a few limitations. First, certain festival-type events are ubiquitous: harvest festivals, July 4 celebrations, rodeos, Octoberfests, for example, and I’ve opted generally not to include these (with a few notable exceptions). Second, I tried to eliminate from consideration any festival that was not ongoing—readers would not be well served to read about a festival only to discover it no longer occurs.

In an effort to make this book as complete as possible, I vigorously searched myriad sources to discover festivals big and small. The only qualifications for being included were that the festival be both annual and ongoing. A number of festivals are not included because I was not able to procure graphics from them or because they declined to provide the permission required for their graphics to be reproduced herein. In a few cases, festivals declined my invitation to be included, and with respect for the wishes of those festival organizers, those events are not included in this book. In other cases, the festival organizers simply never responded to my inquiries and requests.

But most festivals were happy for the exposure, thrilled for a chance to share their message—and their joyous celebration—with a larger audience. In total this book includes well more than 130 festivals, all over the state, at all times of year. So for the festivarians out there, for curious Oregonians and visitors—for food lovers, beer lovers, wine lovers, music lovers, and above all, fun lovers—this book is your one-stop resource.