> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.brynnilsen.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Oregon Country Fair - URL: https://www.brynnilsen.com/oregon-country-fair/ - Published: 2026-09-11T17:00:06.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-11T17:00:07.000Z - Author: Bryn Nilsen Pretty much everything reminds me of Riley, my younger sibling who died of a meth overdose in 2023, but Oregon Country Fair probably takes the cake for the time and place that I find most heavily saturated with Riley particles. Started in 1969 in Eugene as a fundraiser for an alternative school, Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is a big, beautiful, and vibrant annual gathering. It feels like a living embodiment of the Utopian hopes and dreams of the hippies in the summer of love. It's no surprise because OCF has been a key crossroads of the Hippy counter-culture since it's inception and many of the people at the fair are old heads.It's not the drug fueled sloppy bacchanalia that judgemental people would assume of a hippy-fest; in fact it's a far more sober, child friendly, and wholesome event than almost any sports game or music festival in this country. The Fair is drug and alcohol free, though there's no feeling of judgement or control. They have a robust community healthcare infrastructure for all sorts of first aid and care, including chill out areas for people in distressing altered states and multiple supports for people in recovery. It's so apparent how much thought, love, and communal deliberation is put into the entire weekend. I could spend hours teasing out all of the cosmic resonances I sense of Riley at the Fair, but at a most basic level it's something that Riley had experienced when they were alive and that I had no experience with until after their death. This brings about this fruitful space for reflection and connection to them. In a place where I have no concrete Riley memories but feel so much Riley energy I can hear both the echoes of past joy and the drumbeat of future hope. As someone who can find himself mired in the pains of the past and frozen in fear of the future I love any oasis like this. Gotta thank Riley for that one. The pictures that follow show just a little taste of the magic of OCF. I can imagine Riley just out of frame in each of them! I love and miss them so much. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-5.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-6.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-7.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-8.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-9.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-10.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-11.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-12.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-13.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-14.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-15.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-16.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-17.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-18.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-19.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-20.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-21.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-23.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-22.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-24.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-25.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-26.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-27.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-28.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-29.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-30.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-31.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-32.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-34.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-35.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-36.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-37.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-38.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-39.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/1a/3f1a5bc8-4e8b-43ec-bcfd-6e772719b80b/content/images/2026/09/OCF2026-42.jpg)