The Oregon State Fair is the official

state fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in t ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It takes place every August–September at the Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. In 2006, responsibility for running the fair was delegated to the

Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department Oregon ( , ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much ...

, and the division is now known as the Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center (OSFEC), which holds events on the fairgrounds year-round.

History

As Oregon agriculture expanded in the early 19th century many communities formed agricultural associations for the purpose of sharing information on farming practices and resources. These groups began to organize county fairs such as the Yamhill County Fair (1850). Shortly thereafter the ''Oregon Farmer'' newspaper began calling for a statewide fair. A group of farmers known as the Oregon Fruitgrowers Association organized the first unofficial state fair in 1858. That year is recognized as the official anniversary year of the fair. 1881 Oregon State Fairgrounds

In 1860, the association merged with other county groups and became the Oregon State Agricultural Society, who held the first official fair in 1861 in the

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Oregon City Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 ...

area. It was felt a larger area was needed and following a proposal by the Marion County Agriculture Society, the second official state fair was held in Salem in 1862 on the grounds of the Marion County Fair, where it has remained ever since. Homesteader John Savage donated of his land, which was three miles (5 km) outside of Salem at the time, while pioneer

John Minto John Minto (born ) is a New Zealand political activist known for his involvement in various left-wing groups and causes, most notably Halt All Racist Tours. A 2005 documentary on ''New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers'' listed him as number 89. ...

contributed $1,200 to build a wooden fence around the grounds. The fairgrounds were annexed into Salem in 1921. The fair has been held every year on the same site, except in 1905, because the

Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide World's fair, exposition h ...

was taking place in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

that year, and during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

years of 1943 and 1944; instead the fairgrounds were leased to military units as a place to bivouac. Also, although the 1942 fair was held, it was scaled back to only include

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times ...

displays, livestock exhibits, and displays from 27 Oregon counties, so it was not considered an official State Fair. The fair was also canceled in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

1967 Fire

In 1967, an arson occurred just before the opening of the fair, burning several large structures. Along with the fair commissioners, Governor

Tom McCall Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon, serving as the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A progressive Republican, he was known as a staunch environme ...

felt the fair should go on, so many groups donated time and money for the cleanup and sent facilities like tents from as far away as the

Portland Rose Festival The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Foundation (named the Portland Rose Festival Association until the 2000s ...

so the fair could open.

National Register of Historic Places

The state fairground is the site of two historic buildings listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

: the Oregon State Fair Stadium and Poultry Building Ensemble. The 1919 horse stadium and the 1921 poultry building were added to the register in 2002. The poultry building is known for the "chicken head"

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

sculptures that decorate the exterior. The horse stadium is the oldest state building in Oregon in continuous use.

Heritage oak grove

In 2007, a 200-year-old grove of Oregon White Oaks across the street from the main fairgrounds was designated by the Oregon Heritage Tree Committee as an

Oregon Heritage Tree Oregon ( , ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much ...

site. The grove was used as a camping and gathering place by the area's original inhabitants, the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...

, who collected

acorn The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...

s and camas there. The site later became a camping place for fairgoers who originally arrived in wagons and created a tent city during the fair; the practice of camping in the grove continued into modern times.

Reorganization

Following a period of financial trouble, the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

directed the

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), officially known (in state law) as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks. In addition, it has pr ...

to take over management of the fair in 2006. As of 2008, the fair's slogan was: "It's like a magical enchanted land. Except real."

Events

Through the years the fair has showcased Oregon crops and livestock, arts, and culture, and has hosted many food booths and vendors as well as judging competitions, horse racing and popular entertainers. In 2007 the fair hosted its first

Lucha Libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

(Hispanic wrestling) event.

Facilities

Outdoor concerts are held at the L. B. Day Amphitheatre, which was named in 1987 for L. B. Day, an Oregon State Senator and supporter of the fair. The Oregon State Fairgrounds Pavilion, completed in 2004, is the newest building on the fairgrounds. The 5,000-seat indoor pavilion is used year-round for a variety of events. The pavilion and parking replaced a badly deteriorated grandstand that was built in 1929, and the horse racing track. Architectural ornaments from the grandstand's facade were to be salvaged and incorporated into the replacement building. In 2024, it was the home of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

Oregon Blackbears The Oregon Blackbears were a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Salem, Oregon. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (2024), Arena Football League (AFL), beginni ...

for only three games. The Salem Armory Auditorium is located on a corner of the fairgrounds site, but is not affiliated with the State Fair. This concert venue is owned by the

Oregon Military Department The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the Government of Oregon, government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the Governor of Oregon, governor as ...

Gallery

File:Grandstand at Oregon State Fair, Salem, Oregon (3230144112).jpg,

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

s at the fair in 1913 File:4-H participants showing dogs at the State Fair, circa 1975 (5858448308).jpg, A

dog show A dog show is an animal show; it is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a '' breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs f ...

at the fair circa 1975 File:The Mighty Chicken Head.JPG, Detail of chicken head on poultry building File:Oregon State Fair pigs.jpg,

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

s at the fair in 2005 File:Chicks Under Heat Lamps (Marion County, Oregon scenic images) (marDA0016b).jpg, Chicks under a

heat lamp An infrared heater or heat lamp is a heating appliance containing a high-temperature emitter that transfers energy to a cooler object through electromagnetic radiation. Depending on the temperature of the emitter, the wavelength of the peak of th ...

at the fair in 2007 File:Slumbering Pigs (Marion County, Oregon scenic images) (marDA0005d).jpg, Pigs, 2007 File:Department of Forestry at State Fair.jpg, Department of Forestry building, 2015 File:Oregon State Fair 2016 03.jpg,

Llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

at the fair, 2016 File:Oregon State Fair 2016 12.jpg, Horse show, 2016 File:Oregon State Fair 2016 13.jpg, Another section of fair, 2016 File:Oregon State Fair 2016 01.jpg, Cattle, 2016 File:Oregon State Fair 2016 16.jpg, Pig, 2016 2017-09-02 Oregon State Fair 01.jpg, Alligators, 2017 File:2017-09-02 Oregon State Fair 02.jpg, Horse event, 2017

References

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

{{Authority control Oregon culture State fairs

Fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

Sports venues in Oregon Indoor arenas in Oregon Music venues in Oregon August September Fairgrounds in the United States Festivals established in 1862 Festivals in Oregon Annual fairs Agriculture in Oregon Culture of Salem, Oregon Fairs in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Oregon Tourist attractions in Salem, Oregon 1858 establishments in Oregon Territory Annual events in Oregon Festivals established in 1858