For this week's "Bend Don't Break" podcast, we talk with Cameron Clark, the founder and owner of C3 Events, which produces Munch and Music and the Northwest Crossing Saturday Farmers Market. He moved to Bend in 1990, and soon after began creating memorable community experiences for both visitors and locals in Central Oregon including the Bend Summer Festival, Clear Summer Nights Concert Series, the Bend Fall Festival and Munch and Movies.
COVID-19 has obviously had a huge impact on his business, but instead of focusing on the economics, this conversation explores the topic of social health and the way that the pandemic lockdowns and bans on large gatherings have had a devastating impact on individual mental health and a the feeling of belonging.
Clark discusses how he braved the byzantine maze of COVID-precautions to open up the Northwest Crossing Saturday Farmers Market in the midst of the pandemic.
“We felt like keeping the lights on somewhere, to some ritual to some iconic experience in this town was going to have an emotional effect on the greater community,” Clark said. “There is something that has been incredibly uplifting about that experience every Saturday.”
"Bend Don't Break" is hosted by the Source Weekly's publisher Aaron Switzer who also runs the event company, Lay It Out Events, which hosts Oregon WinterFest, Bite of Bend and The Little Woody among many other events in Central Oregon. Switzer also shares his insights about the ways in which gatherings and festivals increase the social wellbeing of the community. Listen to the rest of this lively conversation between two of the region's largest event organizers on this week's “Bend Don’t Break” podcast.
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