You’ll be amazed at the variety of annual events and festivals that are held on the Oregon Coast. Many feature arts and crafts by local artisans, delicious seafood such as crab and salmon, and live entertainment. Other events are centered on favorite beach pastimes such as sandcastle building or kite flying. Or they focus on the natural beauty of the plants and animals present on the coastline. For example, twice a year you can participate in whale-watching week and look for spouting gray whales on their semiannual migration, or if you love flowers you should check out the Azalea Festival in Brookings or the Rhododendron Festival in Florence, both during the month of May. If you want to combine great seafood with fine Oregon wines, then you should be sure to attend the Newport Seafood and Wine Festival held in February in Newport. We’ve tried to include events that are big crowd pleasers as well as small-town gatherings, and we’ve also included events such as the Great Oregon Beach Cleanup where you can volunteer to help keep the Oregon Coast beautiful.
In this chapter we’ve listed annual events and festivals alphabetically in the months that they occur. We’ve noted the time of the month the event is taking place and we always recommend that you call ahead to verify specific places and times. Note that concerts and writing events are not included in this chapter, but, instead, are listed in the Arts chapter.