A lucky dad receives a carefully crafted bracelet made especially for him at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Under the welcoming shade of Douglas fir trees, hundreds of visitors flocked to Englewood Park Saturday for the annual Englewood Forest Festival.
The festival is a family-friendly destination event with music, demonstrations, crafts, and artists all coming together in one space to share all kinds of learning experiences.
There were free books for kids, 6-inch-long hissing cockroaches to be awed by and an “instrumental petting zoo” to visit and try out all kinds of things from tubas to violas. Salem’s native son Ty Curtis performed blues music, and artists’ booths of all varieties lined the pathways enticing customers.
Also available were free school supplies, plenty of crafts for kids, and a station where visitors could make a homemade seed feeder to entice even the choosiest of bird to their yard. There were also free seed giveaways, nature walks, and information on attracting butterflies to your yard.
A future brass player at the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) The hissing cockroach was a crowd favorite while visiting the Chintimini Wildlife Center booth at Englewood Forest Fest on August 12, 2023. Not to fear- hissing cockroaches are native to Madagascar and are quite docile, despite being 6 inches long. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
This young reader was very happy to choose a book at the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library booth at Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Miniature paintings made this younger art collector and buyer happy at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) Artists were happy to meet and greet visitors to their booth and answer questions about their wares at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
At the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo, children and adults could try out various instruments. It helped to have a friend hold the tuba so younger musicians could try it out properly at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Some younger hopeful musicians were happy to just hold the instrument at the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Visitors to the City of Salem booth learn about the emerald ash borer beetle, a serious threat to native ash trees in Oregon at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) Serious concentration and a tight tripod grip help this young artist finish his rock masterpiece at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) A young musician tries out a violin at the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) At the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth, children and adults could try out various instruments and some adults couldn’t resist the opportunity to play a little impromptu music at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
A dancer from Aztec Dancers Titlakawan entertains the crowd on the gras under the trees at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) Samuel Loop shows off his favorite origami shape at his booth at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. Samuel likes to fold snails as at the end you pull the edges together to puff the shell up. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) No summer festival is complete without a face painting booth. The booth at Englewood Forest Festival was available with long waiting lines at the on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) A happy recipient of face paint and glimmer highlights at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) At the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth, children and adults could try out various instruments at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. For the younger musicians, it helped to have someone hold the tuba so you could just stand and blow into it. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) At the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth, children and adults could try out various instruments at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. For the younger musicians, it helped to have someone hold the tuba so you could just stand and blow into it. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) A future brass player at the Willamette Valley Music Company’s Instrumental Petting Zoo booth at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Radio Power, 98.3 FM KTUP was on hand broadcasting live from the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) A little friendly paparazzi in action at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) These customers had in mind their perfect purchase at the Glass Art Oregon booth at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) Salem’s native son and blues singer, Ty Curtis, is a reliable music act every year at the Englewood Forest Festival, and Curtis again played on stage during the Aug. 12, 2023 event (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Some visors weren’t at all bothered by the music or the noise, it was a perfect place to take a nap in a pair of comforting arms at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023 (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Sketching en plein aire was an activity enjoyed by a visitor at the Englewood Forest Fest on Aug. 12, 2023 (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Hungry crowds wait outside the array of food trucks at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)A younger dancer from the ENLACE Cross-Cultural group prepares to sing at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Two dancers from the ENLACE Cross-Cultural group wait to begin a traditional dance at the Englewood Forest Fest on August 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)A prospective buyer looks carefully at the seller’s offerings at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Visitors create “seed bombs” at the city of Salem public works booth where they paste peanut butter onto a cardboard tube and then roll it in Niger thistle seed and hang outside to attract birds at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)A fairy garden that would make any garden sprite happy for sale at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)A Bollywood dance company performer on stage at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Ty Curtis performs onstage at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)A visitor enjoys lunch under the trees at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)The hissing cockroach at the Englewood Forest Festival on Aug. 12, 2023 (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Englewood Forest Festival on August 12, 2023 at Englewood Park. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
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Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.
