Six-year-old Remi L. bent over a spinning canvas at the Northeast Neighbors booth, flinging paint into bright spirals.
Around her, 25 nonprofit, city and community booths filled Englewood Park on Saturday, Aug. 8, for the eighth annual Englewood Forest Festival and the park's centennial celebration.
The free event ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the northeast Salem park, bringing live music and dance performances on two stages, local artists and authors, and food vendors to the neighborhood.
This year's festival carried extra weight. Englewood Park turns 100 in 2026, and organizers used the occasion to spotlight the women who shaped it. Edith Schryver designed the park in 1941, including the playground and wade pool that remain in use. Her firm, Lord & Schryver, was the first landscape architectural firm owned and operated by women in the Pacific Northwest. Elizabeth Lord, daughter of former Oregon Gov. William Paine Lord, served on the Salem parks council when the city purchased the land.
The Lord & Schryver Conservancy, which preserves the firm's legacy, had a booth at the festival. Executive director Yvonne Putze told the Statesman Journal in an Aug. 2 preview that she believes Lord and Schryver would have loved seeing the community gather in the park they designed.
Chief organizer Lynn Takata has led the festival since its 2017 launch, pausing only for a two-year COVID-19 hiatus. In the same Aug. 2 interview, Takata described the event's lasting reach, saying the collaboration it sparks extends well beyond a single Saturday.
New this year: Dark Sky Oregon brought a solar telescope for public demos, and Chemeketa Community College astronomy instructor Chris Claysmith talked stargazing with visitors. Marion County Environmental Services debuted a repair fair where attendees could bring broken appliances to fix or recycle.
Three Keizer artists were among the featured vendors, according to the Keizertimes. Clinton O'Brien displayed pieces made from beach driftwood and thrifted materials, alongside fellow artist Joshua Jabon and a ceramics maker.
Takata told the Statesman Journal on Aug. 2 that the festival's mission hasn't changed: connecting neighbors with the park's ecological story. "We want to bring the community in and help them understand the ecological history of the park," she said.
Upcoming Salem community events
- Saturday, Aug. 22 — 2026 Open Studios, Willamette Heritage Center
- Friday, Aug. 28 — Concerts in the Park: Haley Johnsen with opening act Erin Adkisson, Gerry Frank | Salem Rotary Amphitheater, 6:30 p.m., free
- Aug. 28–Sept. 7 — Oregon State Fair, Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem
