Threads of Community: Oregon Country Fair Opens with Ceremony Honoring Makers

Zahra Indigo Rønlov guides attendees and woven loom to Altared Space

From a whisper on the wind, Zahra Indigo Rønlov, wisdom teacher and co-coordinator for Altared Space, opened the 2024 Oregon Country Fair on Friday morning at Main Stage with the theme “Honoring the Makers.” Under the hot July sun, attendees filled the meadow and joined together to warp a loom from a single cord. As they wove, they sang a song written by Rønlov with a melody collectively created by the choir.

Loom and participants stand at Main Stage during the opening ceremony

As the ceremony ended, the warp was complete. The group processed the loom and ceremonial elements to Altared Space. Using a candle lit at the start of the morning, they ignited the Lotus Fire, one of only two ceremonial fires allowed at the fair. Throughout the weekend, community members were invited to add their own wefts to the loom.

Since the opening ceremony began, Rønlov has relied on intuition to guide each year’s theme, inviting the Fair Family to collaborate in the process. The first element-themed ceremony featured Risk of Change, a sacred mummer and giant puppet troupe that crafted elemental costumes and has participated in most ceremonies since.

This year’s ceremony honored the intention behind the work of craft and food vendors, crews and attendees, all gathered with shared purpose. Rooted in the cyclical nature of the elements, the opening ceremony embraces each person’s vision of sacredness.

Rønlov’s relationship with ceremony stretches back years. She once used a metal singing bowl to open and close Board of Directors meetings. In 2010, she brought the bowl to the fair’s opening ceremony. While on stage, she felt called to honor water the following year. That moment sparked a series of themes, including Earth in 2012, Air in 2013, Fire in 2014, Unity in 2015, Love in 2018, CommUnity in 2023 and “Honoring the Makers” in 2024.

“This year, to me, felt like the alchemy of these many years of ceremony has come full circle,” Rønlov said. “Not only did we have the four elements with us as we always do, but this year the Risk of Change, garbed as Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, were all in attendance.”

The Oregon Country Fair has long thrived on the collective spirit of its makers. Founded as a charter school fundraiser, it evolved into a community where crafters and musicians supported one another. In the 1970s, the Grateful Dead performed to help purchase the land, establishing the fair as an annual tradition.

Its foundation rests on the value of handmade work. “The impulse laid down by the early founders was that there was something essential about the act of making,” Rønlov said. “It was about the idea that anyone could walk into a booth, meet the artisan, and talk to them about what inspires their work.”

The “Honoring the Makers” ceremony recognizes the time and intention behind one-of-a-kind creations, urging a return to craft in an increasingly industrialized world.

“That is something beautiful and so needed in the world today,” Rønlov said.

Each ceremony reflects the power of community at the Oregon Country Fair. Looking ahead, Rønlov said she hopes the opening ceremonies will continue as a “pure expression of what it means to be human and to feel life.”