For a weekend each May, McMinnville trades its wine-country composure for flying saucers, alien costumes and extraterrestrial street theater. The UFO Festival grew out of the famous 1950 photographs taken by Paul and Evelyn Trent near town, whose mysterious subject still invites debate.
The downtown costume parade is the playful centerpiece, with inventive alien characters and a crowd happy to get strange. A street fair adds otherworldly shopping, while speaker programs give the festival a more serious UFO-discussion side. McMenamins Hotel Oregon is a central gathering place, though activities spread across downtown.
The parade and street fair are free; speaker sessions and some other events are ticketed separately. The festival usually takes place in May. Confirm the current schedule, venues and ticket options before visiting, especially if you want both the costumed spectacle and the talks.