It’s set to be the ultimate neighborhood block party: Bend’s up and coming Central District is throwing a blowout celebrating the arts on Saturday, June 27. The area has some gems with Somewhere That’s Green, Open Space Event Studios, Funky Fauna Artisan Ales and Dogwood at the Pine Shed bar and food cart lot. The event will invite visitors to all those spots while NE Second Street will be filled with vendors, entertainers, food and drinks.
Open Space Event Studio on NE Layfayette Avenue is partnering with Family Kitchen for an art gallery pop-up called “Nourish,” with all proceeds supporting Family Kitchen. There will also be Oregon wine vendors. “People can walk around. It’s kind of like a wine garden inside an art pop-up,” Open Space Director Leah Rutz told the Source. “Then in our garage space…we’re opening that up and doing garage theater. We have about four or five independent theater production companies doing small vignettes.”
The festival’s main stage will be located nearby with local musicians, including students from Cascade School of Music, as well as comedians, theater actors and other performers. Visitors can browse booths along Second Street, participate in hands-on art, watch performers from Lava City Cirque and High Desert Fire, sew something with Fashion for Everyone, a mobile sewing classroom, play games, visit with artisans, enjoy a kids zone, food and drinks.
Over at NE Second and Greenwood Avenue, John Kish, the founder of Somewhere That’s Green, will also showcase artists. “I was thinking of putting an emphasis on the 75+ local ceramicists that we have, so emphasizing that kind of art form. And as far as the Greenhouse Cabaret goes, trying to keep educating people about what we’re doing… Probably doing musical theater.”
In addition to showcasing a variety of local talent, Rutz says the goal is to draw folks to the Bend Central District, which she describes as a community of collaboration. The area is an urban renewal district east of the Bend Parkway, south of NE Revere Avenue, west of NE Fourth Street and north of Burnside Avenue.
“Look where we’ve grown as a town that was kind of void of art not too long ago,” Kish says. “I think of the BCD as kind of being the guiding force for that because it’s one of the only affordable areas left for artists who rent spaces and studios in industrial spots. I think it’s a really cool beginning to the long dream I think all of us have had for this district becoming an arts district.”
A new pedestrian/bicycle bridge, Hawthorne Crossing, is in the works which will span from Second Street over the Bend Parkway to NW Hill Street, making the area more accessible and walkable. Construction is estimated to begin in fall 2027.
Organizers hope to make the BCD Block Party an annual event. “To highlight the diverse cultural piece that is the Central District. We are a very different part of town,” Kish says. “We’re going to highlight our unique history but also the future possibility.”
Block Party
Sat, June 27 11am-9pm
Bend Central District
NE Second St, Bend
/bendblockparty.com/
Free
This article appears in the Source May 21, 2026.
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