Well, now that the gathering is getting close, I thought I'd post excerpts from a letter received by the Rainbow Guide from the folks at the Oregon Country Fair (http://www.efn.org/~ocf/index.html) ... We don't normally (this is the first time I know of) post letters sent to the Guide, but this seems a special case.
"As you may or may not know the oregon country fair is a 3-day music and crafts festival held the second weekend of July. some members of the rainbow family are also oregon country fair family, we're happy to say.
"i understand that the rainbow gathering might be held in the pacific northwest this year and since the gathering is the week before the fair, it's very possible a lot of your family (who've never been to the country fair) will consider coming to our event. i want to make sure they know the 'drill' for us and are not disappointed when they get here and find we are sold out. unfortunately or not, as we've grown we've had to adopt more rules and policies and it does take some planning to have a successful fair experience.
"one thing is that it's a strong possibility that we may go to an all-advanced ticket format. and we do sell out. i'd hate to see folks travel all the way to our fair with no ticket and be turned away. although it may be too late by the time of the gathering for folks to buy tickets to the fair, at least they won't show up to a closed gate at our event.
"secondly, we do not offer public camping and neighboring campgrounds are often filled up with reservations before the fair begins so some advance planning there is necessary. and lastly, we absolutely do not allow dogs on our property during our event. this is non-negotiable. if someone shows up with a dog they and the pooch are turned away."
BTW, the website says tickets go on sale May 30 ($10/$15 a day) and has the ticket contact info. These folks seem quite nice (they took the time to let us know what was up; most of the rest of the letter expresses their concern for Rainbow folks not getting disappointed about the Fair).