An alien leans over and says hi to children during a parade.

McMenamins UFOFest: Celebrating UFO sightings from the 1950s – present

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Trent UFO sighting that inspired our local McMenamins UFO Festival. Even if you didn’t know the name, you’ve probably seen the black and white photo snapped by local farmer Paul Trent in 1953, one of the most famous in ufology.

But consider this: In the time that the festival has been drawing the nation’s top ufologists to McMinnville and filling Third Street with a celebration of all things alien, more than three thousand UFOs have been reported across Oregon, more than 60 of which came out of Yamhill County.

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An illustration of a stack of books with a pair of reading glasses on top of it. A book with a purple lily on top lies open in front of it.

The Terroir Creative Writing Festival is back

The Terroir Creative Writing Festival returns on Saturday, April 29. Now in its 11th incarnation, the full day of keynote talks, workshops, sessions on creativity, and a panel discussion welcomes writers of all ages looking to expand their tribe and jump-start their creativity and will take place at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, a change of venue for the festival.

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A wood and metal gate holds a sign that reads 'The Boutique Retreat'. Behind it, you can see three tiny houses and a courtyard.

The Boutique Retreat brings tiny home experience to McMinnville

Sarita Springer and Kevin Kump had stayed in tiny house hotels and binged on HGTV for years before deciding to create their own tiny house accommodations in McMinnville. They toured tiny house production facilities, stayed in tiny vacation cottages in Portland, and explored space efficiency of vintage trailers, all the while marveling about how much joy can be designed into tiny spaces. We spoke to Sarita about the Boutique Retreat, the nine new tiny houses they just opened on Alpine Avenue.

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A woman in a stocking cap and coat puts a coat around a man's shoulders. They are on a stage.

Gallery Theater hosts regional one act competition

Come March 17-18, Gallery Theater will host the Association for American Community Theater’s 2023 competition for Region IX. Five theaters from three states – Oregon, Washington and Idaho – will bring their best game to McMinnville. The winner goes to nationals.

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