Portland is highly regarded as a weird city nestled in a pretty weird state, so it’s not too surprising the city has a festival devoted to celebrating this weirdness. This year’s Weird Fest kicked off last Saturday at Oaks Park in SE Portland, and the seasonal heat didn’t dissuade attendees from showing up en masse, including people dressed as a Sleestack from Land of the Lost, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and, inevitably, at least one Elsa à la Frozen. The day’s schedule included a centaur offering a tribute to the late Dolly Parton, interpretative dance and costume contests for kids and adults, a mini rave, the Unipiper, vendors offering everything from handmade cat toys, to tiny papier-mâché earrings, to fart-themed T-shirts, and a ton of food options.
While not everything necessarily screamed “weird,” founder Christine Lassiter told KPTV that the goal was to “do something at the cross-section” of what weird can encompass. The intention of the annual event is to bring the “nooks and crannies” of Portland into the spotlight, giving vendors and attendees the chance to discover something new in a city that never stops creating.
At the festival’s center was the chicken beauty contest. While an amusing idea for sure, the competition was serious business; the chickens were resplendent in their beauty and each offered something different.
The group of cluckers were judged by attendees, many of whom visited multiple times (yes, you could pet the chickens) before casting their ballot tally-style on a sheet of paper.
There were seven chickens in the contest: Sencha (AKA Total Eclipse of the Heart), Gladys, Lacey Lou, Sugar, Jackie, Chubby Cheeks (yes, the cheeks were quite chubby), and Paris Hilton. For the curious, Sencha, the only rooster, was ultimately crowned the grand prize winner. (Note: Roosters are male chickens while females are technically hens.)
Beauty contests can feel superficial; the human version of such contests often include a segment in which contestants demonstrate public speaking skills, or offer insights on a hot topic of the day that’s somewhat political or intellectual in nature. The purpose of such exercises is to elevate the contest into something more than just judging a person on their perceived attractiveness.
Those showing off their prized chickens were effusive in their praise for their birds, and happy to expound on their more charming traits. Many were overheard describing their prized ground-dwellers as pets, or even something close to family members.
Festival-goer Shannon Garcia was carrying her chicken, Penguin, who did not enter the contest, because the bird developed a tumor that’s since rendered her unable to use her legs. Garcia, who lives in Woodburn, treats Penguin as a pet (she also has five dogs and two cats, per the Instagram account she runs), and the pair do all kinds of things together. That includes camping and attending various events near and far.
Chickens bring a lot more than egg-laying ability and overall cuteness to the table, Garcia told the Mercury. She added chickens to her brood to begin practicing permaculture naturally; Garcia needed somebody to take care of bugs. “I fell in love with them,” she said. “They’re like a mix between a cat and a dog.”
Chickens “learn their name, and they’re super social,” she added. “They call when you call them. Unfortunately, they’re also prey, so a lot of people don’t realize that while they’re sturdy, they are also fragile.”
Some chickens can live to be as old as 22, Garcia said, though most live for 12 years.
Armed with this knowledge, the beauty contest took on a different meaning the third or fourth time I lapped the tables to study the birds. Garcia’s decision to love Penguin as a pet first was moving, and the revelation (per Legal Impact for Chickens) that chickens experience empathy and have dreams is an especially sweet detail.
The chicken beauty contest may have been about an individual winner (congrats again, Sencha), but it also was about a lot more: delighted children petting micro-dinosaurs for the first time, proud chicken owners showing off their babies, and a little corner of SE Portland celebrating all things odd and adorable at the same time.
