Where Purpose Meets Place

Why Bend, Oregon, is a natural choice for memorable group gatherings.

The sky over the high Cascades of Central Oregon has melted into a molten glow just as dinner is served. Sustainable tourism leaders from around the world are seated at long tables outside on an airy covered deck called the Sky Bar that occupies the second floor of one of Bend’s most unique breweries. Lights twinkle from rows of tidy apartments below. A 188,000-year-old volcano rises just beyond the balusters. Bend is just one of three U.S. cities to have an actual volcano in city limits and this one, Pilot Butte, is so close you wonder if you might whiff cinder. (You won’t; it’s dormant.) 

Worthy Brewing, where we’re seated, anchors a campus on the east side of this sunny city, population 107,000, about 3.5 hours southeast of Portland on the supremely gorgeous, dry side of the state. Groups come to Bend to network and convene, but they also stay for the trails, lakes, and outrageous views sprinkled across the 1.7 million acres of ambling public land just beyond its borders. This group of about 25 professionals from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean, are here for a forum on regenerative tourism practices. They’ve also taken an ebike tour around the city’s Old Mill District. They’ve swum in the cool, clean waters of the Deschutes River, where paddlers and floaters drift past craftsman homes to a verdant park downtown, and they’ve hiked the rocky shoulders of Mount Bachelor, a 9,068-foot volcano 22 miles away that’s home to one of the country’s largest ski areas.

Now it’s time to eat.

Bend has more than 20 breweries in town, including UPP Liquids, one of the best in the country, say judges at the 2026 Great American Beer Fest, but Worthy, which has won its share of awards, too, stands out for brewing more than just delicious beer. You can tour an on-site garden meticulously cultivated with hundreds of native plants all working together to create its own little ecosystem. A room downstairs hosts lectures on wild flowers, mushrooms, and birds, as well as private gatherings.

To my right, just beyond the vase of wildflowers on the table, stands Bend’s only research-worthy observatory, dubbed the “Hopservatory,” of course, with a 16-inch reflecting telescope and retractable dome. Before dessert, we’ll all file inside for a peek of Venus in its crescent phase. “We are the only brewery in the known universe that offers public viewings and tours of the night sky,” the astronomer on duty likes to say.

The food is gorgeous and equally scrumptious. Salads with greens, beets, and vegetables grown from a farm less than 15 minutes away. The pastry chef shares his rosemary focaccia recipe. We have steaks and freshly caught steelhead. The herbs come from the garden we toured and the staff have mixed up special cocktails just for us (including non-alcoholic ones) that taste like summer with a dash of syrup. Dessert is a chocolate brownie so rich and delicious I discreetly take another with me.

Over the next few days, the group will do so much more of this. They’ll learn. They’ll play. They’ll eat. The WhatsApp chat will go on for months, as attendees bounce ideas off each other in a familiar, casual way that only dedicated colleagues who’ve bonded over adventures in stunning outdoor places can do. And a few months after that spectacular sunset, the organizers will announce a return to Bend for the following year’s forum. 

See this to learn more about planning your next gathering in Bend.

Brought to you by Visit Bend.

Photos courtesy of Visit Bend.