Whether you are a long time resident or considering relocating to Salem Oregon, the Bite of Salem is our annual event to let some restaurants share their food. This year one of my favorites, French Press was there.
The event is held towards the end of July every year and the South Salem Rotary Club works insanely hard to pull off this event every year so my kudos to them for a fun family day. The event has rides and games by Butler Amusement, food, and music. I typically haven’t been able to listen to too much music because my kids don’t want to sit and listen, but with the splash fountain close to the stage, I got to hear a good chunk of the Battle of the Bands this year. My daughter was even dancing to several of our local bands on the Ferris wheel.
As usual I had a good time with my family, but I did decide on a few rules for next year. Rule #1: Don’t go on a ride with the kids until you have seen what it does. I took my kids on the Zipper, not appreciating the g-forces that would be brought upon us. Rule #2: Charge my battery for my video camera the night before. I had all these great ideas for video shots…dead camera. Rule #3: Don’t leave my iphone on the hood of my car. It was there when we got back, so thank you honest Salemites for not taking my iPhone.
If you are considering moving to Salem Oregon, this annual festival is just one of many local events that our community has to offer.
I need some clients who have money to burn on really expensive houses in Salem Oregon so I can make some more money…know anyone? See my problem is that I went to the Salem Art Fair, like I have every year since we moved to Salem ten years ago. This is a problem because it never fails that I fall in love with a $2,000 piece of art. It happened again this year…okay it was really 5 pieces of $2,000 art, but still…
If you are considering relocating to the Salem Oregon area, the Salem Art Fair is a really great festival that occurs in July every year. It’s held at Bush Park and artists from all over are invited. Artists have to submit their work and be accepted into the fair, so the quality is always stellar, hence my problem. Art ranges from clothing, to jewelry, to watercolors, to pottery, to…you name it.
For families, the kids section is a separate area where they can do some small craft projects, get their faces painted, and watch performances geared for children. Live music, food, and of course art are plentiful at the fair. The hardest part is convincing your children that wandering through aisles of art that they can’t touch isn’t boring…You laugh, but this is harder than it seems. I saw many teens and kids with looks of irritation that can only be explained by that “This is sooooooo boring look” on their faces. My kids started complaining after three aisles. This was an improvement over last year’s one aisle stint…Thankfully ice cream, potato chips, and strawberry lemonade were easily accessed bribes that kept their hands occupied and off the art and focused enough to get through all of the aisles.
Anyway, here is a short slide show of a few pictures I took of the art festival, including the cool spin art puzzles my kids made in the children’s area. If you are looking for detailed art or whimsical art, this event is another one of those great things to do in the Salem Oregon area, and if you are considering relocating here, just knowing that is one more fun thing to do…
One of the things I have learned to like about living in the Salem Oregon area is all of the smaller town festivals. Obviously yesterday was the 4th of July, and rather than deal with the lack of parking in downtown Salem, we decided to head out to Western Days in Monmouth and Independence Oregon. We hadn’t been over there yet, so this was my first experience there.
Western Days is held at the Riverview Park in Independence and Main Street Park in Monmouth. They have live music, plenty of food booths, as well as art/crafts/wares booths. We were in Independence.
I have to say for a small town I was impressed with the size of this event. There were a few rides there, which were insanely expensive, but I took a quick shot from the top of the big slide of the park. This was taken around 7PM or so and I can tell you that it was packed by 8:30.
It normally runs for two days surrounding the July 4th holiday and is one of the two major festivals done in this area, the other being the Hops festival.
The fireworks were great…
So if you are new to Salem or are just relocating here and want to celebrate the 4th in a smaller venue then heading to one of our smaller town celebrations, like Western Days, might be right for you.
One of the things I have learned to like about living in the 
I have to say for a small town I was impressed with the size of this event. There were a few rides there, which were insanely expensive, but I took a quick shot from the top of the big slide of the park. This was taken around 7PM or so and I can tell you that it was packed by 8:30.
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