Tag: newyearseve

Central Oregon

5 Must-Have Experiences if you go to Central Oregon

shaylacurtis
  • Old Mill District, Deschutes River Float
    • You don’t want to miss this opportunity to enjoy one of the most scenic, unique, and enjoyable experiences you can have in Bend. Floating the Deschutes river through the Old Mill District and ending at Drake park is a fun way to see the city while relaxing and staying cool on a hot summer day. 
    • Staring at Riverbend Park offers a safe, sandy shore for you to launch your air mattress, float tube, or raft.
    • On your float, when you reach the Colorado Avenue Bridge, hop out and walk through the handy tunnel that takes you to another put-in spot to start the second phase of your journey. You can also stay in the river and continue through the state-of-the-art Bend Whitewater Park. The park offers a mildly-wild passageway (amusingly referred to as “da chute” by a few locals) for floaters, plus a whitewater channel for experienced paddlers and a nature habitat channel designed to preserve Bend’s aquatic wildlife.
  • New Years Eve at Hoodoo
    • Ski mountain, Hoodoo, does New Year’s Eve! If you’re visiting over winter break with the kids, this is the place to be to ring in the new year! Complete with a party, live music and fantastic fireworks on the snow. Ski lifts run from 9am to 9pm with night skiing fun. A bar and restaurant is open until midnight with live music from 6pm to midnight in the lodge.  
The Sisters Folk Festival 2013. Held over three days, September 6, 7, 8, at nine different venues featuring 46 performers. Liz Longley and Gus Berry performing at the Open Door venue.
  • Sisters Folk Festival
    • In Sisters, OR (20 min west of Bend), all the town’s a stage each September as music lovers from around the world come to town for a unique community experience — the nationally renowned Sisters Folk Festival. At multiple venues nestled right in downtown Sisters, audiences get an up-close-and-personal encounter with some of the finest artists in roots music.
    • The ability to stroll through town from venue to venue is part of the charm of the Sisters Folk Festival, which brings people from all over the United States and Canada back to Sisters year after year.
    • Whether you come to dance or to listen — or a mix of both, the Sisters Folk Festival will give you plenty to enjoy. SFF artists may fly below the mainstream radar, but they are the real deal — talented, compelling and accessible.
  • Bend OktoberFest
    • Bend Oktoberfest is a place for great beer, fun games, silly events, and being a part of the Bend community. It is an incredible opportunity to sample seasonal local craft beers as well as select Bavarian wines, eat unique food, and participate in fun events like the Wiener Dog Races, Tricycle Races, Yodeling contests, bendhamershlagen (race to hammer a nail into a custom table), a costume contest and more. 
    • All of this takes place in a free family-friendly environment. The Bend Oktoberfest is produced by the Downtown Bend Business Association, a 501 (c)(6) nonprofit organization working to maintain and improve the economic vitality of Downtown Bend.  
Mt. Bachelor snowy flanks catch the morning light. (Courtesy Visit Central Oregon)
  • Mt. Bachelor Year-Round Fun
    • As the warm summer sun slowly melts the snow off Central Oregon’s most popular ski and snowboard destination, colorful mountain flowers begin to sprout, and hiking and biking trails emerge, weaving through lava rock, mountain hemlock, and lodgepole pine.
    • Summer activities at Mt. Bachelor cater to everyone from adventure junkies to culinary aficionados looking to take their experiences to new heights. While Mt. Bachelor is primarily known for winter activities like skiing, snowboarding, and tubing, there’s just as much fun to be had on a summer day at Mt. Bachelor.