Those who know her say Jude Stevens has a “magical” creativity when it comes to designing and arranging plants.
Even when she sold arrangements from her front porch, her customers were enthusiastic to support her unofficial business, Stevens said.
“Some people just have to create as part of their life, and that just describes me,” Stevens said.
Artists, plant lovers and other creative Salemites like Stevens will be returning to the Englewood Forest Festival this year on Saturday, Aug. 10, for the event’s sixth year.
Held in Northeast Salem’s historic Englewood Park, the festival celebrates the area’s natural environment, arts and cultures with diverse vendors and performances. The festival brings local artists and nonprofit organizations together to provide free entertainment and education to the public.
Englewood Park is located at 1260 19th St. NE.
Lynn Takata, festival board co-chair, said there will be 25 free family-friendly activities available at the festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Starting at 10:30 a.m., ecologist Frederick Livingston will hold a nature-focused poetry workshop, leading a walk through Englewood Park followed by a writing session.
At noon, Corazón Handicrafts conducts a painting workshop with alebrijes, Mexican folk art sculptures originating from Indigenous Zapotec tradition.
Along with a mainstage performance at 11 a.m., the Enlace Cross-Cultural Community Development Project will run a piñata workshop at 1:15 p.m.
The festival’s two stages will host various cultural and artistic performances throughout the day. Starting the day at 10 a.m. will be Aztec Dancers Titlakawan performing traditional drumming and dance. Then at 11 a.m. Paradise of Samoa will perform Polynesian dance.
A complete schedule of music and dance performances is available on Englewood Forest Festival’s website.
Stevens will return with a booth for her business, GreenSpaceDesign by Jude, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. She’s hosting a free terrarium build activity. The booth will have 100 glass terrariums and 600 small plants, with rocks and colorful decorations for people to top their terrariums with.
Stevens’ booth will also provide people with “plant pals,” which are insects and small figurines, along with their terrarium. She’s offering the free activities as Stevens wants to give back to the event that helped her business early on.
Takata described the festival as “an incubator for local businesses.” Of the 50 vendors at the festival this year, 22 are new.
When potential vendors apply to the festival, Takata said, the primary reason they want to join is to be a part of the community or contribute to environmental education.
Since the festival is in Englewood Park, the environmental significance is not lost on attendees. When the festival began in 2017, Takata wanted the event to honor the Kalapuya tribe by planting and preserving native species in the park.
The park’s pollinator garden has been tended and expanded by volunteers since, led by Takata, who also chairs the Northeast Neighbors association.
In 2026, Englewood Park will be 100 years old. The city purchased the seven-acre site in 1926 and it was Salem’s first city park.
For Takata, the festival is “a gift that we give to the community.”
Englewood Forest Festival is volunteer-run, and those interested can sign up to volunteer at the festival through the event’s SignUpGenius website.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Stevens’ store as GreenDesignSpace. The store is GreenSpaceDesign by Jude. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore is working as a reporter at Salem Reporter through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden internship program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
