118th Multnomah County Fair draws thousands to Sellwood

The 118th Multnomah County Fair was another big success. It’s held on the Memorial Day weekend – this year, May 25, 26, and 27 – at historic and non-profit Oaks Amusement Park.

This year’s Fair featured more live and multicultural stage entertainment performances than ever – as well as free Loteria (bingo) games, Wiener Dog Races, hip-hop dancers – and, for the first time ever, Portland Lucha Libre professional wrestling.

Guests shopped local craft vendors, and also browsed the art displays, and the gardening, and craft exhibits, in the at-capacity Creative Living Exhibition.

“Each of the six Creative Living Exhibition departments saw a large increase in entries over last year, and were completely filled – featuring more than 30 first-time exhibitors, among the 1,500 entries,” pointed out Board President Larry Smith of the Friends of Multnomah County Fair – the nonprofit organization that’s kept the fair going all these years, without any financial support from Multnomah County itself.

“I took the time to enjoy each and every one of the culturally-diverse entertainment offerings, and they were all great,” said Smith. “I especially enjoyed La Familia Day, with Latino-based performances. I also heard a lot of positive comments from the guests about the entertainment, food offerings, the Creative Living Exhibition, and the small animal farm exhibit.”

Smith credited Armando Gonzales of Mando’s Mundo Entertainment — the new Fair Manager, selected by the Board of Directors this year. “He and his team did a great job in coordinating the vendors, entertainment, and promoting the Fair.

“And, we were delighted that Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran came back again this year to give opening remarks, kicking off the County Fair!” exclaimed Smith. “Our volunteers worked seamlessly as a team, putting on a high-quality three-day Fair for a total of about $65,000. Contrast that to the more than $400,000 that Multnomah County spent on it every year, up until they stopped funding their Fair in the 1990s.”

Thousands of visitors

It was difficult to get an exact count of the Fair attendees, because Oaks Park offers free admission, and it doesn’t have turnstiles. However, Oaks Park Association Marketing & Events Director Emily MacKay told THE BEE that their data-based metrics showed that at least 14,500 visitors were in the park during the three-day holiday weekend.

All this – plus the rides, games and food along the Oaks Amusement Park midway – made for fun days for the thousands of folks who came and enjoyed time at this year’s Multnomah County Fair.