McMenamins Hotel Oregon UFO Festival

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|name = McMenamins Hotel Oregon UFO Festival

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|nickname = McMenamins UFO Fest

|logo = File:UFO_Festival_Logo.jpg

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|caption = Participants during the costume parade at the 2005 event

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|frequency = Annually

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|location = McMinnville, Oregon

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|country = United States

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|sponsor = McMenamins Hotel Oregon

|website = {{URL|ufofest.com}}

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The McMenamins Hotel Oregon UFO Festival is an annual UFO enthusiast event in Oregon, United States. First organized in 2000, it is the largest annual event in McMinnville, Oregon; the largest UFO-themed event in Oregon; and the second-largest UFO-themed event in the United States. Notable persons who have appeared at the UFO festival include George Noory, George Knapp, Whitley Streiber, and others. The event was originally established to commemorate an anniversary of the McMinnville UFO photographs, a 1950 UFO hoax that occurred in the area.

History

The McMenamins Hotel Oregon UFO Festival was established in 2000 and has been an annual occurrence in McMinnville since that time, with the exception of 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Swindler |first1=Samantha |title=How a UFO sighting in 1950 created this Oregon town’s biggest annual event |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2025/05/how-a-ufo-sighting-in-1950-created-mcminnvilles-biggest-annual-event.html |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=The Oregonian |date=May 9, 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Swindler |first1=Samantha |title=UFO Festival brings out people and pets in far out costumes |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2022/05/ufo-festival-brings-out-people-and-pets-in-far-out-costumes.html |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=The Oregonian |date=May 15, 2022}} The event has been sponsored since its inception by McMenamins Hotel Oregon.

The festival was founded to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the McMinnville UFO photographs, a local UFO hoax{{cite book |last1=Nickell |first1=Joe |title=Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation |date=2005 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=0813138280 |page=48}}{{cite news |last1=Sheaffer |first1=Robert |title=The Trent UFO Photos—‘Best’ of All Time—Finally Busted? |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2015/01/the-trent-ufo-photosbest-of-all-timefinally-busted/ |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Skeptical Inqurier |date=February 2015}}{{cite book |last1=Hines |first1=Terence |title=The Psychology and Science of Pseudoscience |date=2025 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=1538194678 |page=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnYrEQAAQBAJ}} perpetrated in 1950.{{cite web |title=Memorable marchers in the showcase parade of all things extraterrestrial-like at McMinnville Oregon's, annual McMenamins UFO Festival |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2018699401/ |website=loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=May 24, 2025}} McMenamins Hotel Oregon first started hosting the festival after McMenamins historian Tim Hills discovered that the anniversary of the photographs was approaching in 2000.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Emily McFarlan |title=For UFO enthusiasts at Oregon festival, 'it's all extraterrestrial' |url=https://www.deseret.com/2016/5/25/20589176/for-ufo-enthusiasts-at-oregon-festival-it-s-all-extraterrestrial/ |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Deseret News |agency=Religion News Service |date=May 25, 2016}}

In 2016, the festival first organized around a single theme, the Phoenix Lights event of 1997 — an incident in UFO history during which members of the public in Phoenix, Arizona were unable to positively identify a pilot training exercise and some believed it to be overflights of alien spacecraft.{{cite web |last1=Sheaffer |first1=Robert |title=The 'Phoenix Lights' Become an 'Incident' |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/11/the-phoenix-lights-become-an-incident/ |work=Skeptical Inquirer |date=8 November 2016|access-date=28 October 2022}}{{cite news |title=Flares Caused Old Sky Lights, Air Guard Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/27/us/flares-caused-old-sky-lights-air-guard-says.html |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=July 27, 1997}} Speakers that year included Peter Davenport; Lynne Kitei, who authored a book on the subject; event witness Sue Watson; and, Phoenix city councilor Frances Barwood.

Participants and attendees at past festivals have included Luis Elizondo, David Paulides, Jeremy Corbell, George Knapp, George Noory, Stanton Friedman, Whitley Streiber, Travis Walton, Bob Lazar, Nick Pope, Roger Leir, Irena Scott, Linda Moulton Howe, Budd Hopkins, and others.{{cite news |last1=Hale |first1=Jamie |title=UFO fanatics are flocking to Oregon: 2014 McMenamins UFO Festival |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/events/2014/05/ufos_are_coming_to_oregon_2014_mcmenamins_ufo_fest.html |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=The Oregonian |date=May 1, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Past UFO Festival Speakers |url=https://ufofest.com/past-ufo-festival-speakers/ |website=ufofest.com |publisher=McMenamins Hotel Oregon UFO Festival |access-date=May 24, 2025}}

Size

By 2021, the festival was attracting an annual attendance of up to 10,000 persons.{{cite news |title=For UFO enthusiasts at Oregon festival, ‘it’s all extraterrestrial’ |url=https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2016/06/16/for-ufo-enthusiasts-at-oregon-festival-its-all-extraterrestrial/ |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=Oakland Press |agency=Religion News Service |date=June 17, 2021}} As of 2025, it is the largest UFO enthusiast event in Oregon, United States; the second-largest UFO event in the United States after the Roswell, New Mexico UFO festival; and the largest annual event in McMinnville.{{cite news |last1=Sandoval |first1=Ginnie |title=Oregon's largest UFO festival is May 16-17. What Earthlings need to know |url=https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/life/2025/05/13/2025-oregon-ufo-festival-may-16-17/83543462007/ |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=Statesman Journal}}{{cite news |last1=Salisbury |first1=Vanita |title=Spend an Out-of-This-World Weekend at Oregon’s Offbeat UFO Festival |url=https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/things-to-do-in-mcminnville-mcmenamins-ufo-fest |access-date=May 25, 2025 |work=Thrillist |date=March 24, 2023}}

Activities

Past events at the festival have included a pet costume contest, an alien costume parade, an "Alien Abduction Dash 5K" run, and UFO trivia competitions.{{cite news |title=Want to believe? UFO Festival makes contact once again in McMinnville this weekend |url=https://katu.com/news/local/want-to-believe-ufo-festival-makes-contact-once-again-in-mcminnville-this-weekend |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=KATU-TV |date=May 12, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Joele |title=Thousands expected to ‘make contact’ at 21st annual UFO Fest |url=https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/thousands-expected-to-make-contact-at-21st-annual-ufo-fest/ |access-date=May 24, 2025 |work=KOIN-TV |date=September 23, 2021}}{{cite web |title=UFO Festival: The Truth About This Flying Saucer |url=https://visitmcminnville.com/about/articles/ufo-festival/ |website=visitmcminnville.com |publisher=Visit McMinnville |access-date=May 24, 2025}}