Eugene Weekly : Calendar : 08.04.05

This year's Springfield Filbert Festival presents "The Best of the Northwest," three days of family-friendly fun at Island Park. Two stages host a plethora of Northwest musical talent, including The Vipers with Deb Cleveland, Jerry and the Stagehogs and Misty River (pictured). Attendees can test their talents in the NW Harmonica Championships, The Nuttiest Cook-Off or the floral arranging contest. Personally, we're drawn to The Nutty Kingdom, where kids of all ages can pet a snake, make crafts, win prizes and (this is what got us) read a book in an inflatable creation. Inflatable … creation? OK, we're in. And we didn't even get to the Oregon River Sports or bazillions of food vendors, artists, wineries and booths yet! See Calendar.

Join leader Rob Hankins, cultural services director for the city and the Hult Center, for Lane Arts Council's August First Friday Art Walk. The Walk begins at 5:30 pm at Jacobs Gallery, where the current exhibit is "Illusion and Rhythm: David Reager & Miriam Kley." Stop #2 is White Lotus Gallery, where 30 jewelers from around the world are on display as part of "Multiple Palettes/Varied Vision: 30 Artists Explore Color." The exhibit includes Red Bulbs, earrings by Heinz Brummel, shown below. At the third stop, Tibet's Fine Design, Jangchup Palmo will tell her story about bringing the art of Tibetan rug-making to Eugene. The New Zone Arts Collective's New Member Show is stop #4, and the Walk concludes at DIVA, where you'll see "Selected Works of Maude I. Kerns" and work by many local artists. ArtFest, a sidewalk show and sale of local artists' work, takes place along the path of the Art Walk. When your feet are all tired out, you can head to the newly opened Jazz Station, where John Crider plays from 5 to 7 pm, followed by Nancy Ream & Mercury's Refrain at 7:30. As always, many other downtown galleries are open late but not part of the Walk. See Friday Calendar, or go to www.lanearts.org for details.

Saturday, Aug. 6 is the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. On Friday, the Pacifica Forum has a countdown to the exact moment of the bombing, "Hiroshima 60th Anniversary to the Second," which features readings and commentary. WAND (Women's Action for New Directions) has organized several events, including the Shadow Project, which begins Friday evening as participants receive training and materials at the downtown library, then venture into the streets to create chalk shadows in designated areas of Eugene and Springfield. Saturday brings a Hiroshima Day ribbon ceremony at the Federal Building, where "Our Ribbon of Tangible Hope," a national project, will be wrapped around the building. Readings, songs and the presentation of ribbon round out the symbolic event. Saturday evening, Mala Spotted Eagle, Michael Carrigan and Mayor Kitty Piercy will speak at a commemoration ceremony in Alton Baker Park. The ceremony also includes traditional Koto music from Mitsuki Dazai and a performance by the Eugene Peace Choir, followed by a ritual candle float at 9 pm. See Calendar.

On Wednesday, local poets including Evandro Munhoz, Sarah Zagarino and Jorah LaFleur present a bilingual poetry reading in A Celebration of the Poetry of Pablo Neruda (pictured). Or, as the press release puts it, the poets "will give flesh to his immortal words." (There's no way we could have said it better.) The reading is preceded by an hour-long open mic, to which poets from the community are invited to come and share their original work. Neruda, whose body of work includes love poetry, epic poetry and poetry of common, everyday objects, was a Latin American poet with an international reputation, committed to politics and social reform. After an early phase as an anarchist, Neruda went on to spend many years representing his homeland, Chile, in South Asia, Argentina and France. He received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in 1971, two years before his death. See Wednesday Calendar.