What says Eugene more than whimsical free events and celebrating the arts? On Saturday, Aug. 10, Free Shakespeare in the Park, a dedicated theater company in Eugene, put on their weekly performance of “The Tempest.”

With sparking costumes and even brighter performances, the show captivated the crowd at Amazon Park. Families and Eugene locals equipped with picnic blankets and lawn chairs filled the Amazon Park lawn amphitheater, buzzing with excitement. People brought pizza and fresh fruit on the sunny afternoon to enjoy during the show.

The Tempest, Shakespeare’s final solo work, tells a story of forgiveness and romance following a tragic shipwreck. With themes of magic, family and betrayal, the show teaches the audience the lesson of forgiveness, while showcasing just how spirited Shakespeare plays can be.

Saturday, the cast and crew of the show carried out this message well. With standout performances from leading man Christian Abbott (Prospero) and his charming onstage daughter, Hailey Flynn (Miranda), the show lit up Amazon Community Center’s amphitheater with passion for the arts and good storytelling.

Sharon Selove, founder and artistic director of FSITP, started the theater company in the spring of 1999. Motivated by her love of theater and childhood viewings of Shakespeare in the park in New York City, she aimed to create a similar tradition here in Eugene.

“For me, Shakespeare in the park is about community. It’s about bringing the community together to have this wonderful collective experience,” she said. “We get to experience not only the arts and Shakespeare, which is my passion, but we also get to experience each other.”

Selove’s and the entire FSITP program’s commitment to community bonding and love of theater has propelled the summer productions to success.

Regarding the funding of the show, Selove said, “All of the funds that we raise through donations go to our program. They pay for our costumes, our sound. The first 10 years, we had no sound, our actors were just speaking Shakespeare to the wind!”

The theater company also received a grant from the city of Eugene called Art in the Parks, which supports the project and helps cover costs and upgrades.

Thanks to these community donations and grants, FSITP can now afford costumes, sets, and a sound system to put on summer productions like The Tempest. This support allows them to put on great performances, while keeping them accessible to the community in Eugene.

“We just keep building and building and the community comes out for us every year,” Selove said. “It’s just been a wonderful experience and we want it to continue forever.”

These sentiments echoed throughout the audience as well. Bill Winkley, local theater enthusiast and attendee of the show, spoke about the theater company’s performances, saying, “It’s amazing, everybody up there. Their energy, their passion!”

Winkley, who has acted in several Shakespeare productions himself, commended the cast and crew of FSITP. “The director must really know theater, they know how to play to the audience. It’s a really talented group of people doing this,” He said.

Although some might not initially consider Shakespeare in the Park as their top choice for a Saturday evening, they might reconsider after seeing one of the performances at Amazon Community Center amphitheater. Through creative costuming and passionate performances across the board, FSITP showed on Saturday evening that Shakespeare can be fun and accessible to all.

Elsa Siedler, youngest member of FSITP, spoke about her perspective on Shakespeare. “I think that a lot of people have difficulty with the language in Shakespeare plays, but I really enjoy it,” she said. “I like how poetic and dramatic it is. There’s a lot of potential in these shows.”

Every Saturday and Sunday in August, The Tempest starts at 6 p.m. on Amazon Community Center’s south lawn. With a two-hour runtime and 15-minute intermission, don’t miss this great community event. A great example of how Eugene comes together for the sake of art and creativity, free Shakespeare in the park keeps theater alive, while bringing people together as the summer season comes to an end.

What says summer more than carnival games, funnel cakes and good music? Last week in the heart of Eugene, Lane County Fair was held from Wednesday July 24 to the evening of Sunday July 28. Complete with live concerts every night, local food trucks and heaps of carnival games and attractions to choose from, the event proved to be the highlight of summer in Eugene.

Every night of the fair had a different featured artist on the main stage, affording attendees with diverse choices for concerts based on their musical tastes. On the 24th, it was Clay Walker, a country singer known for his hit song “Need a Bar Sometimes.” Walker’s energy-filled performance kicked off the fair in a positive way.

The next day, the fair switched it up, featuring Queensrÿche, a bestselling metal band from Bellevue, Wash., known for touring with bands like Quiet Riot and Metallica. On Friday, the fair held arguably their biggest concert – Shaggy. Known for his hit songs, “It Wasn’t Me” and “Boombastic,” among other classics, Shaggy lit up the summer stage with enthusiasm and great stage presence.

On the 27th, Lane County Fairgrounds hosted the I Love The 90’s Tour, with rap and hip-hop performances from Tone Loc, Color Me Badd, Treach. and Sugarhill Gang. The fair closed out on Sunday the 28th with a free concert from Red – A Taylor Swift Tribute.

The selection of concerts at the fair covered all the bases for fairgoers’ musical preferences. The concerts colored the nights, but during the day there was still much to do and see.

The showout for fair food was intense this year, with 28 different trucks and stands offering all sorts of cuisines, from classic to whimsical. Standouts included Matt and Mitty’s LLC food truck, voted “Best Fair Food Vendor” by the community at the fair. Known for their weirdly delicious blackberry grilled cheese among other menu items, Matt and Mitty Richardson, owners of the truck, gave their insights into what makes Lane County Fair special.

“We wanted to do the fair because we love the community,” Mitty Richardson said. “Lane County in general, they just come out and there’s such a diversity of people and a big food following. It’s just amazing, the support from Lane County.”

When asked about the unconventional nature of their menu, Matt Richardson said, “Everyone told us that they don’t want two hot dog vendors, they don’t want two taco trucks. So, we made our menu different from everyone else’s.” He said, “The food is a huge part of the fair.”

The Fair also featured some interesting entertainment options, including mullet-bearing unicyclist and juggler, Mark Wilder. During his 80’s themed act over the first three days of the fair, Wilder juggled knives and pins while atop his very tall unicycle.

“People love going to the fair. We, as entertainers, get paid to go work in a place where people are going to have fun,” Wilder said. “It’s pretty awesome.”

Speaking about his fellow performers in the fair industry, he said, “We call it the fair family. Part of the fun of being on the road is the joy I get from performing and spreading joy to audiences, but also hanging out with friends you meet along the way, having that shared experience.”

Along with enthusiastic entertainers, live performances and delicious food, the Lane County fair offered 24 different rides and numerous carnival games. The large, fluorescent Ferris wheel at the center of the fairgrounds lit up the fair in an array of colors, especially at night. Other rides included Zipper, which spun riders around, flipping them upside down, and Vertigo, a large tower with hanging swings.

Perhaps the most spirited event at the fair, however, was the All-Alaskan Racing Pigs. The pigs, dressed in professional racing attire, ran 100-yard races with hurdles. The crowds cheered as these well-trained pigs flew across the tracks with speed and agility.

Ending the summer season on a high note, Lane County Fairgrounds upheld its yearly tradition of five days of excitement and whimsy. Complete with fun-filled events and attractions for all, the fair provided the community with family-friendly fun and a summer celebration that won’t be easy to forget.

The Eugene punk community is well into the summer season and thriving, despite the lack of students in town. On the sunny afternoon of Saturday July 20, Sam Bond’s Garage held a clothing swap and punk rock show, open to all ages.

The show was held inside the building and featured a three-band lineup: Death Master File, WHYWONTYOUDIE and Bad Odds. The swap, held in the back patio area, had tables filled to the brim with books, alternative clothing and Eugene locals sorting through the piles. The atmosphere of the music and the clothing was a vibrant reflection of the punk community’s commitment to sustainability and fostering freedom of expression.

With fast fashion cycles getting faster and faster, swap events like this offer an environmentally friendly alternative. The Sam Bond’s Garage clothing swap celebrated punk fashion in a way that benefited the community and gave people a resource to find pieces they wouldn’t normally find in mainstream retail stores.

The swap, organized by Hair of the Dogs Booking and Printing, a group of local musicians and creatives in Eugene, had free entry and customers could take home as much as they wished. Teal Bailey, Hair of the Dogs member, shared her insights about planning and ideas behind holding the swap event.

“We saw a lot of the people that identify as alternative, goth and punk not really being able to find anything that fits their aesthetics,” Bailey said. “Growing up in the punk scene, I had so much stuff that I wanted to get rid of, but I wanted it to go to people that appreciated it, rather than just Goodwill.”

Bustling with alternative/punk/goth locals, the event truly bolstered community and a common love of good music, alt fashion and judgment-free fun. Although the event seemed intimidating at first, looks can be deceiving.

“Here in Eugene, our punk and alternative community is super diverse. It spans all different ages and generations,” Bailey said. “It’s super super inclusive, a lot of radical idealisms, and just really supportive of each other.”

At the show, Sean Shanahan, Booker and Head Sound Tech for Sam Bond’s Garage, agreed with these sentiments. Shanahan and Bailey talked about punk ideologies and the misconceptions the punk community faces.

Shanahan pointed out counterculture is precisely about upsetting people for the sake of positive change, but it doesn’t imply a lack of inclusivity and openness within the punk community. “If there’s one thing the punk scene does, it’s call bullshit out when we see it,” he said. “The people who we’re calling out, they’re still pissed as ever. I like that.”

Bailey also addressed the unfair stigma the alternative community faces within the media in general. “A lot of people are still stuck in the mindset from movies and TV shows that punks are the villains,” he said. In reality, the punk scene in Eugene is anything but.

Hopefully, the event at Sam Bond’s Garage last weekend sets this bad reputation straight. Through sustainable practices, live music and fighting for what’s right, the punk community continues to defy stereotypes whilst promoting community bonding and inclusivity.