The Annual Trek to Tonasket

This will be my sixth annual trip to the Okanogan Family Faire, and although I'm a newbie to the scene by some standards, this faire has become a big part of my life. I enjoy any barter faire, but the Tonasket faire has always been one that I look forward to and the largest one that I attend each year.

This year, of course, there are many changes taking place as the faire is growing and adjusting. Policies, prices, and rules are all undergoing a shift. I can't say I'm happy about some of them (i.e. the dog ban) but I can understand why changes are happening. I just hope that the spirit of the faire I have come to know and love is not diminished and that the new rules don't keep out the people that make the faire so special.

I've made a batch of soap, have been busy making jewelry, and the bus is packed and almost ready to roll. Okanogan Family Faire usually marks the end of the barter faire season, and regretfully I didn't make it to many faires this season. So I gotta get my barter faire kicks for the season all in one dose. Here's to the Okanogan Family Faire retaining its original barter faire spirit, for a successful and fun faire for everyone. See you there!

I Miss My Barter Faires!

While we've been traveling around in the "volksvegan" this summer, we definitely haven't been to enough barter faires. We skipped Rainbow because it was too far away this year and we decided to play in Canada's National Parks instead. We still haven't been to Oregon Country Fair because they don't allow dogs and when you live in a VW bus, it's impossible to leave the dog at "home." We didn't go to the Llama Family Reunion because my cousin's wedding was the same weekend (plus I was a little put off by the admission costs). We're not sure if we'll make it to Santa, although that's definitely one of my favorite faires (and it's free!), but we hope to make it to the Montana faire and of course, the Okanogan Family Faire in Tonasket. So I'm waiting anxiously for the next faire I can go to, and I'm super excited for the fall faire season!

I'm not sure why there aren't more spring and summer faires, and more in general. They can be difficult to organize, and of course one needs a large plot of private land and a bit of cash to get it started, but I'd love to see more new faires sprout up. As our elders get older, eventually younger generations will have to start organizing new faires and keeping the old ones alive. It's no easy feat, but I am hopeful that the barter faire spirit is still thriving and more faires will be born. I know if I had a big plot of land (and someday I will) I would definitely host a few faires each year. The more small faires that get started, the more we have a chance to get to know one another and rekindle a strong sense of community. Having faires more often also takes some of the burden off of the larger faires like OFF, which is growing so much that people have to be turned away for lack of space. Faires have come and gone in the few years I have been attending them, and it's great to see new ones flourish and grow year after year, but sad to see others fade away. So let's start a few more and keep the barter traditions alive!