Peace and flowers out in force at Oregon Country Fair

The Oregon Country Fair takes place on the second weekend in July every year in Veneta, Oregon, 15 miles west of Eugene, for a three-day bash with over 50,000 people participating (up to 35,000 at any given time). For those three days of the year, it becomes the 11th largest city in Oregon with its own water and communications systems, recycling service, emergency medical team, and security force. The Country Fair, which started as a barter and craft fair in 1969 as a fund raiser for an alternative school, offers an earthy mix of village atmosphere that harkens back to a prehistoric urbanity.