The Bend Buzz
Posts
🍽️ Join us for dinner?

🍽️ Join us for dinner?

Bend Buzz dinner club, more roundabouts in the works, and build a Lego set for free

Derek Carlson
November 21, 2025

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning, Bend! Quick programming note as we head into the last weekend before Thanksgiving. Monday’s email will include your event roundup for the entire week (hopefully it all fits), and there will be no newsletter on Wednesday (we’ve got turkey to prep). Then on Black Friday, we’ll be sending out our annual shop local guide that will highlight some of the best local makers, artists, and shops around town + all the holiday markets happening through the holidays

In today’s Bend Buzz:

🍽️ Bend Buzz dinner club
🚦 More stoplights and roundabouts in the works
🚂 Build a free Lego set

Let’s get to it.

— Derek Carlson & Emily Elaro

SNAPSHOTS

🚦 Stoplights & Roundabouts Coming to Olney & Revere

The city announced plans to add stop lights and roundabouts (although not at the same intersection) to four spots along Olney and Revere. The projects include:

Olney Avenue & 4th Street (Stoplights)
Olney Avenue & 8th Street (Roundabout)
Revere Avenue & 4th Street (Stoplights)
Revere Avenue & 8th Street (Roundabout)

Expect construction to start sometime next year.

🍽️ Bend Buzz Dinner Club

I’ve got an idea I’m excited about, and before I dive in, I wanted to float it your way. How would you feel about a monthly meetup built around good food and new connections? Super simple: you sign up, answer a few quick questions, and get matched with a small group of Bendites for dinner at a local restaurant (and maybe a little afterparty if the vibes are right).

Things are already moving behind the scenes, so if this sounds fun, let me know and I’ll lock in the first dinner for next month.

Want to join us for dinner?

BUSINESS HAPPENINGS

🎉 Commonwealth Pub 1st Anniversary Party: Commonwealth Pub is celebrating its one-year anniversary, and everyone is invited! There will be happy hour all day, food and drink specials, and, of course, live music and karaoke to cap off the evening. All Day Saturday

🚂 Free Lego Building at Dakota’s Brick Shop: Dakota’s Brick Shop (an excellent local Lego store, if you haven’t been) is holding a FREE make-and-take event on both Saturday and Sunday to kick off the start of Thanksgiving break. Choo-choo! Saturday 10 AM - 6 PM & Sunday 11 AM - 5 PM

🍗 Life and Time East Closes: East side residents and workers now have one less food option to choose from as Life & Time has permanently closed their east location. Still want to grab one of their breakfast burritos or a bowl of elk chili? You’ll have to make the trek west, as that store is still business as usual.

@THEBENDBUZZ

📸 @junctionroastery | SE Bend
Tag @thebendbuzz to get your photos featured!

TOGETHER WITH ROB ARTHURS PHOTOGRAPHY

🏔️ Oregon Landscape Prints and Swap Boxes

Looking for holiday gift ideas? Consider a print celebrating the beauty of this remarkable state. From the coast to the lush Cascades to the high desert, Rob Arthurs Photography offers a wide range of stunning images, including rarely documented scenes from Oregon’s hinterlands. Did you know the photo above was taken just two hours from Bend?

Rob’s Monthly Photo Swap Boxes provide a unique way to enjoy twelve Central Oregon images throughout the year. Each month features a new photo, displayed on an elegant felt-lined wooden box that stores the remaining prints.

Visit www.RobArthurs.com for prints and Swap Boxes, and find Rob on Instagram @ackrob

LOCAL LOWDOWN

Friday 11.21

🦃 Dirty Minds Thanksgiving Trivia: Get your mind in the gutter and in the holiday spirit. This special Thanksgiving edition of Dirty Minds brings spicy clues, silly guesses, and the chance to prove to your friends that you are both clever and… creatively inappropriate. 7 PM Craft Kitchen

🎷 Jazz Central: Jazz up your Friday evening with an evening of vocal jazz with Jazz Central. 7 PM Unity Spiritual Community

🎁 Holiday Food & Gift Show: Shop hundreds of exhibitors and local artisans for arts, crafts, jewelry, clothing, woodcraft, music, photography, toys, Christmas décor, and much more at the Holiday Food & Gift Show. The show runs all weekend long. 10 AM - 6 PM Deschutes Fairgrounds

🧥 Vintage Rendezvous: Gearheads, vintage lovers, and retro romantics unite for this cozy Friday hangout. Sip something delicious at UPP Liquids while geeking out over all things old-school cool. 4 PM UPP Liquids

✨ The 3 C’s: Courage, Confidence & Collaboration: Level up your life with this community-powered workshop exploring what it really takes to show up boldly—in work, relationships, and the rest of the Bendiverse. 4:30 PM Downtown Bend Library

💗 Pink Party: Throw on your finest rose-colored fits and dance the night away at UPP’s Pink Party—a glowing, thumping celebration of all things blush, bubblegum, and Barbiecore. If it’s pink, it’s perfect. 8 PM UPP Liquids

🪙 COMAG Holiday Art Show: Come shop the wares from some of the best metal artists across Central Oregon at this two-day juried show. 10 AM - 6 PM Open Space Events Studio

🏓 Rally with New Friends: Looking for your new group of best friends? Join New Friends Bend for their second meetup at Rally Recreation. No ice skating required this time! 6:15 - 8 PM Rally Recreation

Saturday 11.22

🎒 Ruck Talks: Join a local group of men for a Saturday morning ruck that is all about connection and movement. Sign up to get the details of this week’s ruck. Exact location & time provided after signup

🏅 Gobble Games: Serve up some pre-Thanksgiving fun at the Gobble Games — Sun River’s festive indoor pickleball event where the only thing getting roasted is the competition! 11 AM SHARC

🧙‍♂️ Friendsgiving Hobbit Feast: Second breakfast? Elevenses? Dinner AND supper?? Feast like a Baggins at this cozy, whimsical Friendsgiving event straight out of Middle-earth. 4 PM Pangaea Guild Hall

🎄 Festive Fun at the Farm Stand: Kick off holiday mode with wreath pickup, local goodies, photos with the alpacas, and seasonal cheer. Schilling’s Garden Market is basically a Hallmark movie set right now. 10 AM Schilling’s Garden Market

💡 Kids’ Entrepreneur Market: Support the next generation of CEOs, creatives, and lemonade-stand moguls. Handmade goods, clever ideas, and tiny business owners—what’s not to love? 1 PM Downtown Bend Library

🎼 Bend Pops Orchestra Fall Concert: Warm up your weekend with a joyful, family-friendly symphonic concert full of seasonal tunes. Can’t make this one? There will be a second concert on Sunday at Mountain View High School. 2 PM Ridgeview High School

🎤 Stand-Up Comedy Competition: Comics battle it out for laughs, glory, and bragging rights. Expect big energy, big personalities, and possibly big awkwardness. 7 PM Craft Kitchen

🧁 Red Door Bake Sale & Bazaar: Nothing says local like your neighborhood holiday bake sale and bazaar. Stop by the Trinity Episcopal Church to see what holiday goodies you may find. 9 AM - 1 PM Trinity Episcopal Church

☘️ St. Andrews Day Celebration: Break out the bagpipes and kilts (because everyone has those lying around, right?) for the St. Andrews Day celebration at Bevel Brewing. 5 - 8 PM Bevel Brewing

🫖 Ceramic Seconds Sale: Want to find that perfect (or in this case, maybe slightly imperfect) handmade gift for that special someone? Camp Clay is holding a seconds sale where you can grab a slightly imperfect pot from one of their 50 local artists. 10 AM - 4 PM Camp Clay

🗝️ Revival Vintage Fundraising Party: Come raise a glass, show off your moves, and shop for some new vintage threads, all while raising money for HDFFA and the Bend Equity Project. 4 PM Revival Vintage

Sunday 11.23

🌿 Plant & Planet Herbal Astrology Consult: Curious where your birth chart meets your herbal constitution? This consult blends planets + plants for a uniquely cosmic wellness experience. 12 PM The People’s Apothecary

🎄 Christmas Wreath Decoration Class: A crafty Sunday afternoon awaits! Learn to deck out your holiday wreath with greenery, bows, and festive flair—no crafting experience required. 4 PM Bridge 99

🥔 Lefse & Holiday Bake Sale: Those of you who didn’t grow up in a Norwegian family may have never experienced the magic of lefse. Luckily, you get a second chance with the Lefse & Holiday Bake Sale. Even better is that the proceeds go towards making handmade quilts for those in need. 10:30 AM Grace First Lutheran Church

🎄 Christmas with C.S. Lewis: Step inside an intimate, fireside afternoon with C.S. Lewis as he shares stories, wit, and a little holiday wonder in this one-man Christmas show that feels like sitting down with an old friend. 2 PM Tower Theatre

🥳 Not’Cho Grandma’s Bingo: A weekend in Bend is never complete without a morning of the most entertaining bingo event this side of the Cascades. 9:30 AM Silver Moon

LIVE MUSIC

Friday 11.21

Saturday 11.22

Sunday 11.23

Paul Eddy | Currents at the Riverhouse | 11 AM

THANKS!

Stay warm, and thank you again for reading!

Have an event you want to feature or want to advertise your business to our 15,000+ readers in Bend? Drop us a line here → [email protected]

🍽️ Join us for dinner?

Bend Buzz dinner club, more roundabouts in the works, and build a Lego set for free

SPONSORED BY JUNIPER DERMATOLOGY

SNAPSHOTS

🚦 Stoplights & Roundabouts Coming to Olney & Revere

🍽️ Bend Buzz Dinner Club

Want to join us for dinner?

BUSINESS HAPPENINGS

@THEBENDBUZZ

TOGETHER WITH ROB ARTHURS PHOTOGRAPHY

LOCAL LOWDOWN

Friday 11.21

Saturday 11.22

Sunday 11.23

LIVE MUSIC

Friday 11.21

Saturday 11.22

Sunday 11.23

THANKS!