Super fun! Loved browsing through all the food options and flea market stuff. The shows they had…read morewere super fun too

Time for another annual trip to the Junction City Scandinavian Festival! This year the crowds of…read morevisitors all seem in good spirits. Many people wearing various styles of lederhosen, others dressed as vikings, Oompa music fills the air along with the cooking aromas from Elephant Ears, Meat Pies, aebleskivers and brats! Ice cream and various cold drinks are also available. There are the usual array of vendors selling t-shirts, jewelry, handmade crafts, and the food! There is also plenty of entertainment to be had. There is an area for performing dancers doing traditional folk song and dance as well as a Maypole waiting to be decorated. I found a vendor for a company called 'Just Rum' who had a unique and very old recipe for the manufacture of rum. Utilizing these old recipes this company based in Sandy Oregon had come up with several award winning rums with varying alcohol levels. After a very entertaining and informative tasting session, I just had to purchase a bottle of Blackberry Rum! This is some potent stuff and seems to work best as a mixer, although there is one with a very high alcohol content made for sipping. Moving along to the Viking Village section I came across a vendor I had met last year. A leather belt maker. He does the whole process starting with a hide. Tanning the leather, cutting and tooling the designs, staining and preserving, it's just good quality craftsmanship. I purchased a belt from him and it's still in such good shape that I decided the cost was worth it to pick another style from him. He will also be at the Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel. Having secured my purchase of another belt, we escaped the heat for a bit by going into the crafts building where some of the more delicate items are on display. One of the real eye catching items is lampshades made out of wood! These shades are carved so thinly that light actually penetrates the wood casting a fantastic incandescent sepia tone of light. Time for some eats now, so we moved along and found an assortment or caramel apples with nuts, chocolate, M&Ms... you name it. We were also very happy to find some outstanding corn on the cob and some Danish Sausage Dogs with a very authentic European style casing that actually gave a crisp snap as you bite into the sausage. Thank You Junction City for another successful Scandinavian Festival. I just might come back before this four day event ends!

Adorable tiny lavender festival! Well thought out and put together, the vendors were awesome, staff…read moreis knowledgeable and friendly and the price for u pick was excellent. Beautiful setting and the live music was a perfect touch. I've been to the big ones up in Sequim and I'll tell you, I didn't miss them. No giant crowds, ample parking, and pretty by the river. Their products are wonderful too so anytime you see that label, know it's good stuff.

Lovely venue, right by the river, with great vendors, pick your own lavender and a wonderful…read morevariety of live music groups. My friends and I have gone every year for over five years. Three days of music in the shade, near the food and venders, or just relax in a chair and watch the river.

As we pull into Sutherlin we start seeing the signs for the event parking. Parking is on a school…read morefield and is free. There are students that are at the gate. They inform you that parking is free but they also accept donations for the sports team. Entrance to the event is free. The currency here is tokens. There are booths at either end of the park where you can buy tokens. $2 per token. Food and drinks are exchanged for tokens. Some non alcoholic drinks are also cash. Many other vendors are also on site with various items and goods for sale for cash. There is a wide variety of barbecue pits here for the competition. I see stick smokers, coal burners, green eggs, pellet smokers, drum cookers... There is a large variety of food available including lumpias, pulled pork, tacos and sliders along with the standard barbecue fare. The aromas are intoxicating. So far I've tried pork ribs, beef ribs and finally some alligator. The beef ribs were perfect. They had a nice smoke ring and were seasoned well to enhance that beef flavor. The pork ribs also had a perfect smoke ring, tenderness was spot on as it didn't fall off the bone. It had a minor tug and left bite marks where you bit in, perfect! The alligator was more of an adventure. The meat was soft, not chewy, not exactly tender, more like 'soft'. The seasoning was very good and by appearance resembled chicken. There is also a large play area and water park for the kids. Lots of squeals of joy coming from that area with swings, spraying fountains and water buckets and spraying sprinklers. There also seems to be a bean bag toss tournament going on. There are several large tables set up with trophies on display up to and including the top 1st place in the overall competition. Definitely a worthwhile trip to visit with competitors from around the country.

A great weekend of fun and BBQ! Food, music, corn hole. All for a good cause! You won't regret…read morestopping by!

RIP to such a beautiful gathering place. Hope that one day Eugene will get the same artistic and…read morebeautiful environment you provided.

Nice venue, set up for great music, seemingly…read more Bluegrass, however, requires a soft touch on the sound end... Especially with two GREAT guitarists and a string bass. Dropped in last night and made it for about 30 before I couldn't take anymore. FIRST: The soundman mixed the monitors with the HOUSE MUSIC on... and that was all she wrote. I got up close to the stage (out of range of the mains) while the first act -- dadweed -- was playing, and the monitors were, indeed, louder than the mains. And the BASS... Gawd. Ian is an insane player & his bass solos were the only ones that stood out between all three players. The bass solos. The vocals and songs were great over the roar of the bass... The crowd dug it. A bluegrass mix with two guitars is a delicate thing... The point is to be able to hear both guitars and what they're doing, including the whoever's playing rhythm at that moment.

Greetings Fairgoers! StevO reporting for KWTF Traffic in the…read moreGreater OCF area Porta potties have been making their debut in the neighborhood with many thanks from the local Great Unwashed. The arrival of 45,000 visitors has created huge lakes of vehicles in private fields and overwhelmed our local cell tower for our population of 5,000. Signal can be quite sketchy at times. Some travelers have been spotted in the local hardware store looking for bug spray. Some shopkeepers are leaving the shelves of deodorant, soap and mouthwash unlocked in hopes of petty theft. The early morning hours brought us a traffic jam on Hwy 126. Traffic was stalled from the gates of the fair all the way to Fern Ridge Reservoir. Even THIS exceptional reporter had to lay on the horn to prevent someone trying to pass me on the sidewalk in the only intersection in town. The lights became meaningless as vehicles were stopped in the middle of the intersection during light changes. Suttle Rd traffic has slowed significantly but is still manageable. New to the 'Fair Outside the Fair' this year are 25mph radar speed signs hanging over the standard 45mph placards on both Suttle and Territorial. This makes for a nice diversion and a good opportunity to calibrate your speedometer at 55mph, one can't be too sure.. On the lighter side.... This afternoon gave us a highly decorated madman with water pistols jumping out in the road and squirting cars, let's just hope it was water and that he can dodge in case a local shoots back. On Eastbound 126 there was a 3 wheel scooter speeding down the bicycle lane. Lucky for them there was one of Veneta's finest on that side of the road only too happy to celebrate this event with flashy lights! The intersection at Suttle and Territorial is once again turning into a game of Vehicle Mosh Pit as you see many sticker laden vehicles that are obviously low on blinker fluid. StevO signing off for KWTF Traffic, reminding everyone to stay cool and use sunscreen.

My 1st fair was 7 years ago. Within 10 minutes of being inside, a woman came up to me and said…read more"welcome home". If you understand what that means....leave the world behind a day and visit the fair.

Great music series in the summer featuring local and regional artists. You can take chairs blankets…read moreor towels they have food trucks or you can bring your own food

I remember when this first started, what a cool idea. They put a half shell in Stewart Park and had…read moremusic for free. People would sometimes show up hours - literally early am hours - to place blankets and mark the spot that they wanted for the upcoming show. Obviously the size of the act that was performing would kind of dictate how early people would start showing up to lay claims on a spot. Through the years they have had a wide variety of performances spanning all types of genres of music. This year is really no different, with events cancelled last year, they are moving forward once again with the Tuesday night music night at the half shell. Cool venue for a show, nice grassy hillside that overlooks the South Umpqua river. Usually you can catch a nice breeze to minimize some of the heat. If you're in the area and a fan of live music, check this place out.