The Eugene Celebration is our town's "Farewell to Summer Party," and it, like many small-town…read morefestivals, has changed a lot over the years. The official party weekend is scheduled now at the end of August, but before Labor Day, and is a Friday - Sunday affair. Although the festivities used to stretch farther and wider (to Good Times on the north end, and W.O.W. Hall on the west end), nowadays the partiers are confined to the heart of the downtown blocks, with three - five large-ish stages scattered throughout. Saturday morning of the fest is kicked off with my favorite Eugene event, The Celebration Parade! Here you will see so many things, rich and strange, that even the most through-and through south valley-ites have missed! The parade is capped off with the first public venture of our S.L.U.G. Queen (who was crowned some two weeks earlier at an early August pageant). The parade is free but to get "in," one must purchase a pass. These are $15 for the whole weekend, $8 for Sundays, and some unknown amount for singleton admit on the other days. The music scene is pretty tight for our little town. I've seen the Cherry Poppin' Daddies (of course), Fishbone, They Might be Giants, Blitzen Trapper, Lyrics Born, Misty River, Pinback... All with little to no crowds. The music has stayed strong over the years, but what is waning is all of the local color inside the festival gates. There used to be so many ... oddities... throughout the festival gates, and that is what I really miss. Even the firedancers were absent this year! -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78m7O7UOQw I'm still a fan though. I mean, what other small town do you know of that puts on a festival so uniquely its own? It's supported entirely off of donations and volunteers and has been getting us to party since 1983! Locals, let's get downtown next year!

I'm giving it three stars for years past…read more This year 1 star. For some reason, there were no Market Place vendors. I have come to Eugene Celebration for maybe three years and I loved the little shops. The shops were a great place to by local gifts and wares. They had plenty of massage, kids, and local exhibitor booths. My friends and I decided to go to the Saturday Marketplace for a few shops, which was nice. The Saturday of the Eugene Celebration is usually busy, but it was dead. I felt bad for the other patrons. I was disappointed. The music we witnessed was okay. Beers were delish. Oakshire, Hop Valley, Ninkasi. Also, they usually have a DISCO BALL cart at night and that was not there, either. Food had some good options. My friend loved her: Cart De Frisco. An old college treat - she claims. Love the Celebration normally, but this year was a bust.

Adorable tiny lavender festival! Well thought out and put together, the vendors were awesome, staff…read moreis knowledgeable and friendly and the price for u pick was excellent. Beautiful setting and the live music was a perfect touch. I've been to the big ones up in Sequim and I'll tell you, I didn't miss them. No giant crowds, ample parking, and pretty by the river. Their products are wonderful too so anytime you see that label, know it's good stuff.

Lovely venue, right by the river, with great vendors, pick your own lavender and a wonderful…read morevariety of live music groups. My friends and I have gone every year for over five years. Three days of music in the shade, near the food and venders, or just relax in a chair and watch the river.

Northwest Paella Fest is the best!…read more Picture this: twenty or so groups of people in front of giant, flat pans (the paellera). These pans are bubbling, filled with saffron-laden Bomba rice. This one of vegetarian, that one has chicken, chorizo and shrimp. Next door is pork, mussels and green beans. It's kind of heady just being here. And it is great fun. There's just something about the combination of piles of delicious Spanish food, the vibe all around and everyone having a blast. It is a great experience and totally unique.

Please Go!! The market is huge and filled with so much art and food and produce and all the…read morethings!! We had the best Watermelon Agua Frescas from one of the stands. There was the most beautiful flowers and the freshest produce and meat! There was so much beautiful pottery and wood working and so many creative things to buy. I would move to this area for this market alone! Go! Go! Go!

Excellent way to get out and spend several hours. Lots of good food, art, vegetables, meat,…read moreclothing, etc... and a lot of interesting people to talk to. Even live music!

This was a fun festival and a great excuse to come to Eugene. I wasn't sure what to expect, except…read morelots of mushrooms, and this Festival certainly delivered. I would definitely recommend getting here before the festival starts, because parking was tricky even though we got there in the first hour that it opened. It was also raining, so I imagine that it's even more crowded when it's sunny. There's some fun mushroom food vendors, and a few places to get mushroom soup. You can get mushrooms on other things, although I recommend getting the food early because the lines do get long. There are also food options that don't include mushrooms, so if you're not much of a mushroom fan, there's something for you too. There's a few vendors here too so you can buy some trinkets or accessories if needed, some with mushrooms and some not. You could spend an hour or several here depending on how long you wanted to stay, if you want to do the mushroom walks, and if you want to listen to music. The Hall of mushrooms was lots of fun too, and I never realized just how many varieties there were. I liked how they're mushroom experts that we could ask questions too If you have a membership I highly recommend coming here, but even for the non-member ticket price it's not too bad.

OK, so it can be crowded. I get that. It can be difficult to SLOWLY wander through the giant barn…read moreand look at the amazing array of wild fungus that volunteers collect, identify, and set up for display. Is it worth it? Well, the answer isn't yes, it's HELL YES!!!! This is a fundraiser for the arobretum. The arboretum is awesome too. Go often. You'll love it. The scarecrow contest is always a hoot. There's a bunch of booths from non-profits that you can support. There's a mushroom identification booth so you can have someone look at what you're not sure about. There's a booth with common edible mushrooms and their look-alikes so you can get better at identification. There's books, posters, and T-shirts available for purchase, all of which support the arboretum. Oh. Yeah. There's that mushroom soup. Oh. My. Goodness. You must get it. The price tag looks high, but it's also a fundraiser. It's made by Holy Cow, and they only make this soup one day of the year. Go get yours. You won't regret it. William O. Sullivan is always there selling his awesome books. Local artists have mushroom related art for sale. There's mushroom growing kits from some local companies. What's not to love? There's live music. There's guided nature hikes. There's even a hay ride if you're in to that kind of thing. I will see you there next year.

When you walk in and go to the right corner, there's a tiny section over there about the Native…read moreAmericans who lived here before Westerners committed biopiracy and genocide. The first of about 10 informational photos says that the museum is trying to be more inclusive and aware of its history, but has all the photos of the Native Americans up a staircase you cant even access. And, it looks like most, if not all, of the photos were taken without this person's consent. It's very obvious that this section did not take any direction from a Native person, or do any research into considerations to be taken. How about mention of community efforts to reconstruct the Kalapuya dictionary? How about teaching about the agriculture they did here before colonization? How about teaching about Lane County's roles in the atrocities of residential schools? How about not putting the ONLY photos and mention of native people up in a corner you can't even access? How about showing examples of traditional dances done by Kalapuya and neighboring tribes? So f*ckin, daft, y'all. Do better. I understand that its a small museum, but you could at LEAST make the stairs available to view what you do have, even though its almost comical how obvious it is that these did not want their picture taken, or didn't know, like the blind woman standing outside her house- probably not knowing who tf was there or why. The Race for Change exhibit is phenomenal and takes up a very decent amount of space, that was awesome. The only reason I'm giving 3 stars instead of one is because of the effort put into the Race for Change exhibit, and the fiery and undeniable acknowledgments of KKK presence here in Eugene- which NEEDS to be taught about if our community wants to be a safe space.

I love pretty much anything to do with Oregon history, so my review maybe somewhat biased…read more.. Currently there is a hippie movement exhibit that is very well done but I believe it takes away from other important historical events. The pioneer section of the museum is definitely my favorite part. They have a number of horse-drawn wagons from various time periods. If you're in the area and want to know a little about Lane County stop by, or if you live here and don't know enough come check it out. Also it would definitely be a good place to take kids to teach them local history.

Great price, 2 day admission, additional beer tickets for $1 each and heavy handed pours on day 2,…read morewhat's not to like? This is the best beer festival we have been to. Due to the price and the selection of breweries this is excellent value for your money. The popcorn was also 1 ticket and there were many food vendors to pick from. The vendor prices were reasonable too. There was a separate room for games and rolled derby. They had a large connect four, and other extra large board games . This review reflects my experience in 2019.

They were playing an anniversary version of This Is Spinal Tap, with an intro by Rob Reiner…read more I was running around 10 minutes late (would miss the trailers) but the welcome from the Ticket guy was no less warm despite my being the last viewer in. He sorted me out pretty quickly and then I faced my next wonderful obstacle: an amazing concession stand with a very understanding vendor who had two different kinds of kombucha on tap, chilled brut rosé, several beers ranging from a Pilsner to a stout, several kinds of wine including Pinot noir and Cabernet Savignon, popcorn with real butter, frozen junior mints, whoppers, peanut M&Ms... everything good was there. Give yourself a few extra minutes to decide what you want to nosh on -- just don't pass up such a great selection. The movie was showing in theater B which was across the courtyard, really lovely few steps between buildings. The chairs were very comfortable inside theater to B and the drink holders wide enough to hold the mason jar that my kombucha came in. Yep a real glass -- none of the paper or plastic stuff -- love that. But maybe the best part was the audience who was clearly queuing to many of the lines and laughed at all the right places. The vibe was a lot like a familiarity that you encounter when you watch the Rocky horror picture show: lots of audience knowledge and appreciation expressed throughout the film, which made the movie even better. I really like this venue and the set up they have. There's also free parking to the side of the building. Support this business. It's a treasure.

Finally made it back to the Art House, had another good experience. We saw one of the films in…read moretheir French New Wave series, and again enjoyed the theater very much.