Around many corners of this county, there’s a craft market here, a non-profit there, a volunteering opportunity and a cultural festival, usually all at once at a series of vendor tables. This is a community-minded place to live, so for our 2026 Lookout List we asked you for your best of Community & Events: the festivals, non-profits, gathering spaces, where to cry in public, and where to protest, too. Check out the rest of the Lookout List winners here.

Best Free Thing to Do Around Town

A runner on the Ruth Bascom Riverfront Path at Alton Baker Park in Eugene, June 4, 2026. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

Winner: Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System

There are four sections of the trail, which goes along the Willamette River in Eugene and Springfield.

It’s beautiful, it’s a nature-forward opportunity to take in our stretch of the Willamette River, and it’s free. What could be a better unguided tour of our fair river system?

Runner-up: Springfield Block Party

Once a year in downtown Springfield.

This celebration of everything Springfield sprawls across downtown with music, food, karaoke and a signature, slightly scary inflatable Homer Simpson costume to boot.

A block party attendee dressed as a Simpsons character walks through the Springfield Block Party in Springfield, September 5, 2025. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

Best Place for a Good Cry

Look at that park. Seems like a nice place to cry, no? Credit: City of Eugene

Winner: Hendricks Park

Summit Ave. and Skyline Blvd., Eugene 97403

Bust out into sobs in beautiful, serene nature, where the trees won’t judge you, the flowers are a nice palate cleanser and the baby deer just might make you cry tears of joy.

Runner-up: Eugene Masonic Cemetery

University St. & E 25th Ave., Eugene, 97405

Weep next to the final resting places of people like Eugene Skinner, John Whiteaker and other names that now pepper Eugene’s maps. You won’t be alone, but they’re not great for conversation.

Best Place to Protest… Anything

Protestors listen to a speech at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in Eugene on Jan. 8, 2026. The protest against ICE followed the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Credit: Payton Bruni / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Winner: Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza

799 Oak St., Eugene 97401

Runner-up: Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse

405 E 8th Ave, Eugene 97401

Best Wedding Venue

Winner: Mount Pisgah Arboretum

34901 Frank Parrish Rd, Eugene 97405

The arboretum’s White Oak Pavilion is 3,000 square feet of wood and glass surrounded by more than 200 acres of the arboretum’s nature education facility.

Runner-up: Sweet Cheeks Winery

27007 Briggs Hill Rd, Eugene 97405

You get the Willamette Valley winery vista and the actual wines in the wedding. It’s the ideal venue to lean into the wine country mood for the big day.

Best Third Space

A busy night on the dance floor at Blairally Vintage Arcade. Credit: Annie Aguiar / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Winner: Blairally Vintage Arcade

245 Blair Blvd, Eugene 97402

Dance-floor sweat at ’80s night, pinball machines lighting up the bar, the massive outdoor space where asking for a cigarette creates a new friendship or seven: Blairally is the place you know everyone winds up one weekend or another.

941 W 3rd Ave, Eugene 97402

From figure drawing nights to comedy routines, drag showcases and rotating exhibits in the gallery, the Hybrid leans into its name as a venue combining everything into one.

Best Community Gathering Space

The Juneteenth Gathering is held at the Farmers Market Pavilion in Eugene, Thursday, June 19, 2025. Credit: Craig Strobeck / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Winner: Farmers Market Pavilion

85 E 8th Ave, Eugene 97401

Sometimes, it’s roller-blading. Sometimes, it’s an after party for a light-up parade. Sometimes, it’s a cooking contest. Whatever’s happening at the Farmers Market Pavilion, you know it’s usually something wonderful.

Runner-up: PublicHouse

418 A St #4606, Springfield, 97477

Food hall. Beer hall. Trivia hotspot. Community hub PublicHouse is a Springfield staple built in a beautiful former church, and always a solid spot to drop into for a good time.

Best Place of Worship or Spiritual Enlightenment

Winner: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

1300 Pearl St., Eugene 97401

Runner-up: The Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene

1685 W 13th Ave, Eugene 97402

Best Social or Hobby Club

Winner: Eugene Food Not Bombs

Distributing food on Fridays from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Park Blocks, at 8th Avenue & Oak Street.

Beyond their weekly food distribution at the Park Blocks, this local collective collects hygiene supplies, daily needs and more to whoever needs it in downtown Eugene.

Runner-up: Eugene Frontrunners & Walkers

Meetings are every Monday at 6 p.m., on East 24th Avenue and Amazon Parkway.

This inclusive walking group is geared towards queer and transgender walkers and their loved ones.

Best Local Nonprofit or Community Service Organization

Delaine Allen shops for Crossfire Field of Dreams at the Food for Lane County warehouse in Eugene, Dec. 9, 2025. She looks for breakfast foods and any dinner items that would feed about 30. “If Food for Lane County wasn’t here, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” said Allen. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

Winner: Food for Lane County

This non-profit food bank distributes food out of its Eugene warehouse to meal sites and food pantries across Lane County, with ample ways to volunteer across the network.

Runner-up: St. Vincent de Paul

This non-profit offers services primarily keyed to housing, from its shelters for the unhoused, winter warming shelters, affordable housing programs and more.

Best Farmers or Outdoor Market

Organizers for the Eugene Saturday Market and Lane County Farmers Market say the weekly markets serves as a “third place” for the community — a dependable spot between home and work where people gather, browse handmade goods and share food. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Winner: Eugene Saturday Market

126 E 8th Ave., Eugene 97401

This weekly tradition is about as close as you can get to a crash course in the Eugene “vibe.” Local independent artists selling their work, which runs the gamut from quirky to striking (and is often both).

Runner-up: Lane County Farmers Market

85 E 8th Ave, Eugene 97401

…and the next block over is the farmers market, with produce, food vendors and fresh flowers for you to take home.

Weather often dictates good or bad days at the market for Wayne Lambert, a longtime Eugene Saturday Market potter. For the 56th opening day, he lucked out with sun. Credit: Ashli Blow / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Best Annual Event or Festival

Beswican, 28, “noodles” on his guitar across from The Ritz at the Oregon Country Fair, July 8, 2026. Credit: Brooke Taché / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Winner: Oregon Country Fair

24207 OR-126, Veneta 97487

For three days every July, this land along the Long Tom River becomes hippie heaven, with food, music, art, comedy, roving parades, puppets, and a touch of “fair magic” that people look forward to year-round.

Runner-up: Junction City Scandinavian Festival

Downtown Junction City

Skål! The second week in August turns Junction City into Scandi central with this four-day festival from Thursday to Sunday.