Summer’s warm weather brings with it festival season—twilight evenings in grassy fields with a light breeze (one can only hope), sounds of music drifting through the air, an ice cold drink in hand, surrounded by strangers and friends alike. Oregon is home to over 15 music festivals—not including the slew of events at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheater, a five-hour drive away from the Portland State campus.
Under the fringes of this broad umbrella sit an eccentric band of community-oriented gatherings. Some such events include SOAK, Portland’s regional Burning Man offshoot held May 25–29; the Oregon Country Fair, held July 7–9; and the Tectonic SHIFT Festival, held July 20–24, to name a few. Despite being often hailed as a “festival,” however, Burning Man and its regional affiliated burns avoid using the term, opting instead for titles such as “event” and “gathering in a temporary city” which evoke its focus on community.
The Oregon Country Fair, commonly called OCF, uses similar language. In its mission statement, OCF states its goal is to “create events and experiences that nourish the spirit, explore living artfully and authentically on earth, and transform culture in magical, joyous and healthy ways.” Later on in the “About” page, it takes its place as an “annual three-day festival.”
Tectonic SHIFT Festival, held in Oregon’s Grass Valley, proudly wears its title of festival. Though it is not officially affiliated with Burning Man, many of its key ideologies are rooted in Burning Man ethos, including decommodification, a culture of free self-expression and an addendum to Burning Man’s 10 Principles titled the 11th principle: Consent!
It begs the question—is there any difference between clearly labeled festivals and these “gatherings?”
The distinct noticeable variance between Burning Man and other closely related festivals is the effort to transform the foundational values and principles into sustainable, year-round communities. The nonprofit Burning Man Project not only supports the temporary Black Rock City in Nevada, but provides support in the form of grants, education and connection year-round to the organization’s regional burns in over 40 U.S. states and 35 countries.
Many of these regional burns operate with a nonprofit base. Portland’s regional SOAK is made possible and fiscally supported by nonprofit Precipitation Northwest, which helps organize local beach and park cleanups and community clothing swaps, and assists in the local Burners without Borders chapter. Burners without Borders focuses on a variety of projects, from disaster relief, to supporting toy drives for children of Ukraine, to conservation bee projects.
Nonetheless, this mentality of turning festival culture into sustainable communities is not solely owned by Burning Man. The Oregon Country Fair operates year-round as a philanthropic 501(c)(3), distributing grants in areas of emergency relief funding, youth-centered projects in the local community and nonprofits specializing in environmental protection.
Tera “Supernova” Zarra is performing at OCF this summer as Supernova the Strongwoman, marking 10 years of performing on and off for the fair, in addition to other festivals and renaissance fairs. For her, the joy of performing is magnified through the connections she’s made with other people in the fair circuit, along with the ones she makes with her audiences.
“With the nature of challenges that we face, you see who has your back,” Zarra said in reference to a sardonic skeleton puppet performer she’s now close friends with. “Some of these places where you’re out in the woods, people really come together in support of each other.”
On the page of the local Portland regional burn, SOAK, in the FAQ page under “What does SOAK mean?”, the website responds: “Depends on who you ask. We encourage you to believe whatever story you enjoy best.”
This lack of defining the regional burn’s title word—or potential acronym, depending on who you talk to—aptly portrays the atmosphere of community-centric festivals, which highlight self-expression, immediacy and general joviality, among others. To this point, as you make plans to partake in your particular flavor of festival this summer, consider taking a broad look at the motifs behind festival culture and how they might transform your day-to-day routine. And most importantly, don’t sweat the verbiage.
