You can decorate your home without effort and donate to a good cause by bidding on a tree at the annual Festival of Trees. The Hospice of Redmond has hosted the fundraiser for 42 years. It’s been chosen by Source readers as the Best Nonprofit Event in 2024 and 2025.
More than 30 elaborately decorated trees are up for auction. The public can view the trees for free during the day on Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center. Santa will be there for photos. The public can also vote for their favorite tree with the People’s Choice Award. The evening live auction is a ticketed event which includes dinner and a drink. The menu this year includes a buffet with butternut squash, Chevre salad, beef brisket, mashed potatoes, Mediterranean chicken, falafel and several dessert options. The event also includes raffles, a silent auction, live music and games.
Money raised is used for hospice care, the transitions program for people navigating serious illness, bereavement services, Camp Sunrise helping children who are grieving and pet peace of mind helping people with a life-limiting illness keep their pets. Last year the event raised more than $210,000.
Lauren Lebien, community engagement manager for Hospice of Redmond, says the daytime event is popular and attracted 1,500 people last year. The evening gala had 420 attendees.
Organizers say volunteers are critical to the success of the Festival of Trees, delivering the trees to buyers the next day. About 95 people work to make it happen and all trees up for auction are donated.
“We have incredible and creative tree decorators, offering themes anywhere from Cinderella-themed trees, rustic/country-themed trees, vintage trees and more,” Lebien told the Source. “There have been too many incredible tree packages over the years to pick just one. We have a barbed-wire cactus “tree” every year which tends to go for a lot!…This year, we also have a “Home Improvement” tree with thousands of dollars worth of gift certificates for various excavation, contracting [and] masonry work.”
Lebien says the highest bid on a tree in past years was $23,000.
“This event is Hospice of Redmond’s main fundraiser,” she says. “Funds are essential for our various free programs. We have served all of Central Oregon since 1979, so the money raised at Festival of Trees stays in Central Oregon and truly helps our community’s friends and neighbors in need.”
Festival of Trees
Sat. Dec 6 10am-1pm viewing, Gala 5pm
Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center
3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond
hospiceofredmond.org/festival-of-trees/
$110/individual $880/table for 8
This article appears in the Source December 4, 2025.
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