r/Eugene • u/stuluser • 23d ago
Coffin races, parades, celebrations Something to do
We have nothing like these events where people come together, all the weird fun things that make eugene great. I miss when eugene felt vaguely like one big fucked up family
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u/BattleIntrepid3476 23d ago
Can we bring back coffin races? I can help.
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u/Moarbrains 23d ago
Me too, not sure why they stopped, there was a great turnout.
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u/BarbequedYeti 23d ago
Covid probably took it like damn near all fun things and our ability to forecast weather for some reason.
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u/UnPrecidential 23d ago
And there were anti-mask anti-vax people racing to get into coffins ;)
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u/BarbequedYeti 23d ago
Now that i think about it, it would be a bit morbid to hold the races during a pandemic... Not that I wouldnt still join in, just saying... yeah morbid..
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u/Medford_Lanes 23d ago
It was a pet project of a couple people who no longer work for the city. A lot of politics and funding issues involved. Contact Eugene Cultural Services and start fundraising/organizing!
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u/Particular_Way980 23d ago
From what I’ve seen as a participant in some recent downtown events, the City of Eugene Cultural services works damn hard to create some great programming throughout the year, but a lot of the times people don’t know about it or it just falls a little flat. They’re a small team and would probably love suggestions of what people will actually show up for. I’ve noticed a lot of what they do is try to recreate elements of what the Eugene Celebration offered but nothing will ever be the same. And ffs, people need to leave the damn house and SHOW UP. There’s some ok music calendars out there but is there a central location people can look to to learn about events like this? Other than the weekly?
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u/Particular_Way980 23d ago
They tried to do a big tree lighting/holiday night out at Kesey last wknd but for some reason did it on the same day as Springfield’s parade and the duck game so there’s also that unfortunate planning that happens
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u/somenewcandles 23d ago
Check out www.eugjams.com There’s a fairly comprehensive music and events calendar!
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u/firephly 22d ago
cultural services has done so much cool stuff. I suggest people follow them on social media or bookmark their site and check it regularily
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u/los_patitos 23d ago
Be the change you wish to see.
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u/stuluser 23d ago
Im not really sure what i can do but i hope to get some ideas from people through this post
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u/ChopperNotChomper 23d ago
I would let the city council know! If you live in a neighborhood that has an organization (like the Friendly Area Neighbors), maybe let them know as well?
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u/Sklangdog 23d ago
There are a few! Here are two that come to mind-
A couple months ago I went to the Bright Parade. Good times for sure. Big gathering at the farmyard market square after, went well into the night. https://eugenebrightparade.com/
And what about the full moon bike rides? Meet at Kesey Square at sunset, mystery destination, someone will have a music system on their bike. Extra fun when it lands on a weekend!
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u/Hockshank 21d ago
That Bright Parade was like old school Eugene! Loved it. It is the type of thing OP is looking for. Pretty good turn out, at least by Yardy's where we were. I'm glad you mentioned it, it will remind to look up how to get involved.
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u/Devinsgirlfriend 23d ago
The slug queen thing literally happened like a day ago.
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u/shewholaughslasts 23d ago
What? I didn't hear about that!! I remember that used to be a part of the Eugene Celebration. Did someone post about it and I missed it? I love celebrating the Slug Queen - I always curtsy when I see one out and about.
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u/_Taylor___ 22d ago
Right?! Wtf? I didn't hear about it either. I thought it was part of the Eugene celebration which I haven't heard about in a couple years.
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u/fnbannedbymods 23d ago
Thinking same thing. Went to the Creswell Light Parade last night, we both said how sad it was that the nearest thing is to spend $20 each at the fairgrounds! Springfield has its parade, we have...
A long time ago Eugene used to have a great parade but like the Celebration it went away.
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u/EUGres 23d ago
Eugene had the Bright Parade the last two years in the fall, and I think it's amazing. Wish more people would participate and show up to watch. https://eugenebrightparade.com/
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u/firephly 22d ago
they usually also have an art show in the park blocks with art and performances that glow in the dark, but this year for some reason it didn't happen.
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u/Hockshank 21d ago
The Bright Parade is great. Exactly the kind of funky Eugene event talked about in this thread fo sho
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u/stuluser 23d ago
I thinks having more parades and silly celebrations like the coffin races would really tie the town together again and who knows might even encourage people to be more active in the community benefiting other parts of the town in return
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u/fnbannedbymods 23d ago
Wow, were you following us last night?! 😆 We were saying how Eugene feels like three or four different little towns.
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u/ApplesBananasRhinoc 23d ago
Eugene send to run mostly on volunteer work, but if people don't have the time for volunteering...
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u/LocalInactivist 23d ago
When I moved back to Eugene I was disappointed to find that the Eugene Celebration and Art in the Vineyard had both gone away long before Covid. Saturday Market is all that’s left.
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u/fuckeryizreal 23d ago
I recently joined Bumble For Friends and they have an option in there to check it community gatherings. You can search for different interests but there are some options in there that might be of interest to people.
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u/fuckeryizreal 23d ago
There is a lot of niche groups of people and also more basic and broader activities. It’s not like a parade or anything but there are so many options.
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u/Medford_Lanes 23d ago
I see it as a chicken and egg problem that’s been on a slippery slope for a long while now. Good events can only happen if people show up, and people only show up if there are good events. Same thing with the music venues right now. Throw in some new economic issues, and now the whole situation is real tricky. My personal opinion: there’s a lot of incompetence and bad ideas out there with some local event organizers, and it’s hurting the community. Eugene needs to grow a little bit bigger and get some outside influence.
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u/GeorgeDogood 23d ago
We are bringing back the Eugene Celebration because we need THIS. I don’t know how. I don’t know when. But come hell or high water we are bringing it back!
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u/firephly 22d ago
what was it like?
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u/GeorgeDogood 22d ago
Nothing is perfect and nostalgia comes w rose colored glasses. That said, it was wonderful.
They’d shut down a big chunk of downtown for 3 days and set up stage and have local food and drink and bring in real great music. Decent sized names you’d happily pay good money to say would play for Eugene. Theyd have a silly parade and the Slug Queen would be crowned.
We all got together like the big fucked up family we should always be. It was part of Eugene’s culture for over 30 years. And we will have it back.
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u/bwp_eug 22d ago
As someone who tries to do community events at a smaller scale, here is my experience:
1) Funding is hard to come by, and doing an event well takes money.
2) Getting people's attention is hard to do--especially if you don't have a huge marketing budget.
3) Folks can be very enthusiastic about events in theory, but when the time comes, actual participation is low. Participation is something you can build over time, but it costs money to continue to throw and staff events, and, y'know, see (1)
I do think folks have very different patterns in the post-Covid era, and I don't know what "normal" is going to be like. I think one of my biggest problems is getting the word out--Eugene Weekly calendar, social media and boosting...it only goes so far. Without spending a lot of $$ (or a ton of time), it feels really hard to reach people.
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u/stuluser 20d ago
I agree i think we lost most funding for events post covid and lost a lot of peoples will to go out and about
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u/jeicam_the_pirate 23d ago
platforms like meetup and facebook groups used to be a good place to start. it can take a looong time to get a group going but its possible. I used to have a early morning running meetup with one friend, then someone noticed us and showed up, then more people, word of mouth, etc.
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u/No-East2665 22d ago
Can we bring back putting up flyers on poles?! I am so bummed we can’t do that in this town anymore.
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u/firephly 22d ago edited 22d ago
Something I would love to get started here would be something like this giant puppet, fire dancing Halloween show, I think people would LOVE this. The site describes it pretty well, and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page you can see some of the huge puppets.
It's more like a day of the dead celebration kind of, the community can come and help with the puppet making, they get fire dancers/eaters, and set up a bunch of hay bales outdoors to sit on. Live music is playing during the event and every year there is a theme. One of the first things that they do is honor the dead, with a song "we remember we remember" and people yell out the names of dead loved ones into the night air. Then the show starts with the giant puppets, people in costume, and fire dancers, and sometimes there's some Japanese shadow puppets. After that an organization similar to 'food not bombs' has food and there's a band and dancing.
It's all donation based. There are some videos of performances on YT
I have thought about trying to get this started, but I don't know anyone and I'm not much of a leader.
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u/Independent-Hawk6318 23d ago
I feel like the Reddit community is sorta disconnected from the real world community. They down vote things to hell that the real world community supports like Chick Fila, and the removal of homeless camps in a nearby rural city like Cottage Grove into the negatives, and they tell you how no one likes this or that yet all I see in the real world is the opposite. We're all allowed opinions but when the Internet only agrees with itself it becomes isolated from reality. I am shocked constantly by opinions I see online and think is the general consensus in Eugene Springfield NOT be the actual general consensus on any given thing. It's like there's a lot of people living in Eugene and Springfield, not sure how many actually get on Reddit and post, comment, or like because It's like navigating two completely different communities and it could change and be better.
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u/cubicle_farmer_ 23d ago
I was recently thinking about people who organize and make things happen. I’m not one of them. If you are one of them…you’re cool as hell. Nothing has to exist yet people make things exist. Wild to me.