How we wait to get into Zumwalt Campground (ZCG) for the Oregon Country Fair is different this year. For those who don’t really know what ZCG is or what goes on there, you can learn more here. The Oregon Country Fair begins on the Friday after Independence Day every year. ZCG, a camping event for people attending the Fair, opens the gate for campers on the Thursday the same week, at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, and not a second before. People travel from far and wide to come to Fair and camp at Zumwalt, and many arrive early on Thursday. In recent years, there has been a designated staging area off of Jeans Road in Veneta where the Zumwalt tribe would congregate. In 2015, people who parked at the designated staging area were allowed to enter the park before anyone else. For 2016, that is not going to happen. That is to say, the City of Veneta isn’t telling campers where to go before the gate opens on Thursday, and there will be no preferential entry to the park at the designated time. Now those of you who have been camping at ZCG for many years have seen this before. Those were the wild years when people would park willy-nilly on Jeans Road and get busted by the fuzz. Fortunately, cannabis possession laws have changed in Oregon, but you can still get seriously hassled by law enforcement. I’m not going to tell you what to do before the gate opens, but here are some ideas for how to manage that slice of time from dawn on Thursday of Fair weekend and the stampede at the Zumwalt gate. arrive at 2 p.m.This is the official line from the City of Veneta. In their perfect world, all Zumwalt campers would arrive in neat ten car packages every five minutes starting when they open the gate. They don’t want you to wait, loiter, hang out anywhere around Zumwalt Park because it pisses off the locals and clogs up traffic. If it works for you to arrive in town around the appointed time, then you are a super camper and your precision scheduling is much appreciated. park in designated areasYou are all adults who know where and where not to park. It is legal for you to park in...well...a parking spot. I’m not going to explain what that is. DON’T park on the the shoulder of the road or worse, the nonexistent shoulder on Jeans Road. This is like holding up a sign that says, “Mr. Sheriff, Please come F#^% with me!” Similarly, don’t park on private property. Not sure, if it that vacant lot is privately owned? Don’t park there. The fuzz will be on the lookout. Go find a nice comfy and legal place to park. There will likely be other Zumwalt people there which is part of the fun of showing up early. camp in a campgroundThis is kind of like the rap on parking. Overnight camping in Veneta and Lane County is only allowed in designated campgrounds. Camping on the street is one of the issues that really has the City of Veneta wound up. Business owners are complaining about funky buses in front of their businesses and hippies peeing in the bushes. There are oodles of campgrounds in the Mid-Willamette area. Again, you will likely run into other Fair Family while camped and waiting. don't piss off the fuzzLaw enforcement are out in force on Fair weekend and will be quick to make a traffic stop if they see something illegal. Here’s some ideas on how to avoid that bummer encounter with the Man:
know your rights with the fuzzIf you do have an encounter with law enforcement and it goes beyond just “You can’t park here. Move along” be ready to exercise your rights under the law:
what this means for your campspotThe staging arrangement in 2015 really gave preferential treatment to the people who congregated at the designated waiting location and that allowed them to have first pick of camping spots. Things going back to a free-for-all for entry into Zumwalt make getting that perfect spot in the park more of a gamble. Someone showing up in town right at 2 p.m. will have a pretty equal chance of getting a coveted spot as the person who arrived at dawn. Nevertheless, it always seems to work out and everyone has fun. Another factor getting into Zumwalt is the way we will be registered. As you may know we will be getting Zumwalt tickets through a different vendor (Zumwalt ONLY, NOT Fair). Part of this change will allow for much faster processing of tickets and getting arm bands. But that is topic for another post. -- El Scorcho
2 Comments
Susan Williams
5/31/2017 08:21:07 pm
Do you have electrical outlets?
Reply
El Scorcho
5/31/2017 09:02:34 pm
No. The only electricity at Zumwalt Park is between campers and what they bring to power their glow toys.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Author: El Scorcho (not his real name)Been camping for Fair at Zumwalt since 1994 and still haven't seen it all. Why else have a blog for something that lasts three days, once a year? I am not an employee of the City of Veneta and have no affiliation with the Oregon Country Fair. Well, I go to Fair and I do volunteer stuff at camp, but that in no way makes this website and blog official. Consume with caution! Archives
April 2024
Categories |