So many features of the Oregon Country Fair set it apart from what you may envision for a festival. One scene that encapsulates its differences: the marching band.
Twice a day, a 40-piece band (named the Fighting Instruments of Karma Marching Chamber Band/Orchestra) parades down the dusty paths of the fair, performing off-beat interpretations of John Philip Sousa classics, along with their own original tunes.
Like so many things in this 56-year-old counterculture celebration of the arts, the marching band has become a fair institution, and helps create its annual fairyland splendor each July…