9 Towns in Oregon With Unique Traditions

Oregon, a resourceful state on the Pacific coast, has attracted and created so much culture. Fish brought fishermen, fertility brought farmers, gold brought miners, and wartime persecution brought Japanese internees. Each of those groups, and many others, started traditions that still occur in the Beaver State, particularly in small communities that stayed wonderfully weird while big cities homogenized. Discover nine such settlements in Oregon and their unique local traditions.

Pacific City

Pacific City is a census-designated place in coastal Oregon that hosts Dory Days. No, that is not a celebration of Dory from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. This dory is a small, flat-bottomed boat that, after commercial netting was banned in 1927, dominated Pacific City's fishing industry. For the past 65 years, however, dories have dominated the streets on the third weekend of July. Dory Days comprise a fish fry, artisan fair, kid's fair, pancake breakfast, concert, dory history exhibit, dory boat display, and dory boat parade that runs from the Pacific City Boat Launch to the Oar House Bar & Grill. Some families have been participating in the parade for decades.

Lebanon

Few Oregon traditions are older or sweeter than the ​Lebanon Strawberry Festival. Since 1909, this Willamette Valley city has celebrated strawberries, once a cash crop and now a big draw for tourism. The festival brings in more guests than Lebanon has residents, especially via parades, races, live music, carnival rides, vendors like 4 Seasons Farmers Market Lebanon and Swansorifinds, eating contests, and the unveiling of the World's Largest Strawberry Shortcake, a disputed title for a cake that is approximately 32 feet by 17 feet. Over 8,000 slices are given out for free.

Ontario

Though home to only about 11,000 people, Ontario is the largest city in Malheur County. A sizeable portion of its residents are Japanese, many of whom descend from WWII internees who were offered relative freedom through agricultural work, particularly by farming beets to make industrial alcohol for the war effort. Thus, around 800 Japanese people settled in the Ontario region during the war. Enough stayed after the war to establish the Japan Nite Obon Festival, which had its 75th edition in 2024. Hosted by the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple, Japan Nite features origami folding, taiko drumming, a Japanese garden walk, and Japanese food courtesy of Matsy's Restaurant & Catering.

Merrill

Lebanon had strawberries, Ontario had beets, and Merrill has potatoes. While the other farming communities grow little, if any, of their traditional crop, Merrill's Klamath Basin still produces plenty of potatoes, many of which go to Frito-Lay and In-N-Out Burger, and celebrates its annual yield with the Klamath Basin Potato Festival. The festival's 87th edition is scheduled to run in October 2024 and features everything from a parade to a spud run to a potato queen coronation. Local tater growers, the Woodhouse family, are booked as grand marshals, while the Merrill Lion's Club and Basin Fertilizer & Chemical Co. are set to host.

Astoria

Astoria boasts a disproportionate number of festivals for a "city" of its size. Just over 10,000 residents have their pick of the Astoria Warrenton Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival, which has been celebrating Oregon's coastal delicacies since 1982; the Great Columbia Crossing 10K Run/Walk, which has been celebrating Oregon's coastal joggers also since 1982; and the Astoria Regatta Festival, which has been celebrating Oregon's coastal sailboats since 1894 as one of the oldest festival west of the Rockies. But Astoria's quirkiest tradition is the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival, a 56-year-old mishmash of Scandinavian culture comprising a Viking dinner, meatball eating contest, and running of the trolls.

Philomath

"Philomath" means a lover of learning. You will love to learn about the Philomath Frolic & Rodeo, which has taken place in this small Benton County city since 1953. Founded by three couples who wished to honor Philomath's rodeo and logging heritage, the festival has rodeo and lumberjack events but also a car show, a fun run, a home run derby, a sidewalk coloring contest, a parade, cornhole tournaments, food booths, barbeques, kids korners, craft vendors, and "frolics," AKA big dances. Sponsors include local legends like Figaro's Pizza, Vinwood Taphouse, and Cheeke Farms.

Troutdale

True to its name, Troutdale's top tradition is fishy. This 16,000ish-person city rests next to the Sandy River, which was the traditional spawning corridor for smelt, a small saltwater fish that breeds in freshwater. Each spring, myriad smelt traversed the river, and enterprising humans netted it for personal consumption or cetacean consumption via sale to SeaWorld. Smelt runs were huge events, attracting people from various cultures across North America. In 2010, however, smelt became threatened, and the runs ceased. Yet there are years when the fish enter Sandy in large enough numbers to temporarily revive the run. The last was 2023, when the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife authorized smelt netting for seven hours on March 30. Between noon and seven, hundreds of net-wielding locals lined Sandy from the Stark Street Bridge to the confluence of the Columbia, catching up to their legally allotted 10 pounds of smelt per person.

Bandon

Another berry fun Oregon fest is held in Bandon, a city of about 3,300 on the southern coast. As part of Oregon's largest cranberry-growing region, Bandon has hosted the Bandon Cranberry Festival since 1947. Naturally, one can sample all things cranberry during this September celebration, including a cranberry kitchen contest (sponsored by Ocean Spray), a cranberry eating contest, and a cranberry evening dance. But September is not the only time to find cranberry oddities in Bandon. The city is idiosyncratic year-round thanks to the cranberry candy sold at Cranberry Sweets & More and the cranberry bread served at the Wheelhouse and Crowsnest Restaurant.

Cottage Grove

Mining was integral to Oregon's growth, especially in the Bohemia Mountain area, where gold was discovered in the mid-19th century. Cottage Grove, a settlement some 25 miles from the Bohemia Mining District, became an important way station for hopeful miners. The boom went bust, but Cottage Grove busted out its heritage with Bohemia Mining Days in 1959. Comprising events like ore cart races and beard, mustache, and hairy leg contests, the festival honors bygone days of prickly prospecting. The festival was skipped in 2024, but another European-named celebration, Oktoberfest, can wet your whistle while you wait for Bohemia to return in 2025.

There are countless unique Oregon traditions to uncover and participate in during future travels. Dory ship fanatics can ship off to Pacific City, potato heads can head to Merrill, smelt fishers can spawn in Troutdale, and cranberry lovers can get bogged down in Bandon, while other peculiar interests can be cemented in other Oregon towns. After all, these are just nine of the Beaver State's fantastic fests. There are many more for you to explore.