Oregon State Fair showcases agriculture Aug. 25-Sept. 4
Published 1:50 pm Tuesday, August 22, 2023
- The 2023 Oregon State Fair will be Aug. 25 to Sept. 4.
SALEM — The Oregon State Fair, which opens Friday, Aug. 25, and continues through Monday, Sept. 4, in Salem, has always served as an annual showcase of the Beaver State’s bounty of agriculture.
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The event provides a crucial opportunity for farms to do marketing and networking, said Jodi Rametes, state fair agricultural programs coordinator.
For youngsters and adults exhibiting animals, the fair is a chance to reunite with friends from far-flung locales.
Oregon State Fair
Dates: Friday, Aug. 25 through Monday, Sept. 4
Time: Gates open at 10 a.m.
Where: Oregon State Fair and Exposition Center, 2330 17th St. NE, Salem, Ore.
Tickets: Adult (12 and older) $12; child (6-11) $10; seniors (65 and older) $3; Children 5 and younger get in free. (Discounts, family passes and 11-day passes are available in advance.)
Ticketing customer service helpline: 971-701-6567
Parking: $5
Website: oregonstatefair.org
“You make new friends, you talk with them on Facebook and a year later, you get to see them in person,” Rametes said.
With attractions such as the petting farm, the fair also gives city-dwellers a chance to understand rural Oregon a bit better, she said.
“If you can get a kid to get hands-on with an animal … they enjoy it so much, because it’s not something they get to do every day,” Rametes added.
And there probably will be a plethora of people petting pygmy goats and llamas in the next few days during the 157th edition of the fair.
Fair attendance in 2022 increased by 63% to more than 346,000. That was also up 10% over 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.
Kimberly Jacobsen, Oregon State Fair spokesperson, attributed the surge to people being more comfortable being in public after years of COVID-19 precautions.
Online ticket sales for this year have been strong so far. “We sold 136,521 in one day alone,” Jacobsen said.
Revenues from the 2022 state fair topped $12.7 million, a 52% increase over the five-year average.
Besides animal competitions, the state fair boasts other agricultural contests and presentations, horse shows, exhibits such as the Darigold Milking Parlor and more.
The fair also offers more than agriculture, of course.
There will be carnival rides and games, fair food, and exhibits, demonstrations and competitions of visual arts, crafts, culinary arts and more.
Rodeos and a demolition derby are also part of the fun.
Concerts will be held nearly every night and include country music, the Beach Boys, alternative rock band Bush and rap stars of yesteryear with the “I Love the ‘90s” tour.
Music fans can also attend the “Oregon State Fair Idol” competition.
One of the top attractions remains the “FairLift,” which is a chairlift that soars over the fairgrounds.