I attended the 2023 McMinnville UFO Festival, and it was an experience I wasn’t expecting. First, let’s go over the history of McMinnville, specifically the 1950 UFO sighting. On May 11, 1950, two locals — Evelyn and Paul Trent — photographed an unidentified flying object near their farm. Now, 70 years later, we have one of the largest UFO festivals in the United States. The festival, which has become an annual McMinnville staple, has evolved into more of a showcase for the town’s many local businesses and communities and less about “believing.”
The town itself is about an hour’s drive southeast of downtown Portland. You’ll pass some beautiful countryside and vineyards along the way. Once you’re in downtown McMinnville you’ll notice a lot, and I mean a lot, of alien and UFO or AP stuff. But from what I can tell, it’s mostly the town’s theme, especially during the festival weekend. Otherwise, it’s a relatively serene place. I am actually considering moving there now. That’s how much I enjoyed it. The people seemed warm and inviting, unlike the more guarded energy I get from my current hub, downtown Portland. But how was the festival?
2023 McMinnville UFO Festival
Should I say it was out of this world? No, it was just your typical small-town festival with booths selling t-shirts and food, all in the spirit of aliens and new-age stuff. If they could wedge a UFO or ET pun into something for sale, then they would. The beers had names like Alien IPA. The cotton candy was manipulated to look like spacey things. It reminded me of that one time I visited Roswell, New Mexico, only with milder weather and fewer TexMex restaurants.
The center of the festivities was at The Hotel Oregon, a McMenamins establishment. If you’ve been to Portland, you’re probably aware of all the McMenamins-owned bars, restaurants, music venues, and hotels. Welp, this town is not where it all started despite the similar name. The McMenamin brothers are from NE Portland and have no family ties to McMinnville the town. They do, however, own the Hotel Oregon and essentially started the UFO Festival, so good on them. The hotel has everything you would expect from a McMenamin establishment, a mid-end pub/restaurant in the lobby, and tons of art novo in a well-maintained historic building.
I went to cover the festival with a tv crew from Open Signal, a Portland-based public cable station I sometimes work with. We were invited by Martin, one of the owners of The Reel Hollywood Video on 105 NW 9th St. If you’re in the area, check them out. Martin let us film at his booth and put us on his tab at Moonlight Theater, a pizza shop that shows old sci-fi movies in the back.
Firsthand Accounts
We interviewed dozens of people that weekend, some with their own experiences with abduction and UFO sightings. At one point, we interviewed Travis Walten, one of the guest speakers for the festival. Walten is best known as the author of Fire in the Sky, a book detailing his real-life abduction in 1975 that made national headlines. His story was later adapted into the 1993 hit film of the same name. He was pleasant to speak to and talked about his views on how we, as a society, should teach critical thinking in public schools so future generations might keep an open yet analytical mind to things happening around them.
On the third day of the event, we tried to watch the costume contest but it was too crowded to get any good footage. So instead, we got some lunch at The Oak on 326 NE Davis St. The food there was mid-bar food, but at least the beer menu was extensive and moderately priced. What I do love about this place is their no minors policy, which means no screaming babies or snooty teens. It did kind of sting when I was the only one in our group not carded.
After we fueled up on greasy bar food, we split up to film the main event at this festival, The UFO Parade. It was as you might expect from a small-town parade, a few floats, marching bands, and lots of people throwing candy. But my favorite part was all the elaborate alien costumes. It was a nice parade and a nice warm 85-degree day.
I’ve appreciated UFOs and conspiracy theories since I was a kid, so this festival fed into that part of my inner child. Would I go next year? I’m not sure. It feels like once was enough, but maybe every couple of years, to see how it continues to grow. Also, I would like to go sometime as a tourist so I could enjoy all the food and beer gardens. Having to work an event like that makes it challenging to enjoy, but overall I had a great time.
