Experience surfing in Norway, protecting lions in Namibia and more when the Wild & Scenic Film Festival makes its Bend stop on Friday, October 2.

Now in its 14th year, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival features the world’s most stunning films about outdoor adventure and conservation. This year’s on-tour lineup includes biking in Scotland and hula hooping in the Tetons, as well as efforts to protect Montana wild lands and to keep the Colorado River from running dry.

In addition to heart-racing videography, the evening will also celebrate the 15^th birthday of the Steens Mountain Wilderness, the first desert wilderness designated in Oregon. The act was signed October 3, 2000. ONDA is putting on a six-week photo contest leading up to the event, providing a backdrop of user-submitted images that tell the story of the Steens and set the stage for a host of other Steens-themed surprises.

The event, presented by Bend-based E2 Solar (e2solar.com), will also serve as the premiereof a new film by the Bend-based Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA). It features the journey of three women, ages 65 to 80, who hiked more than 50 miles across critical wildlife habitat on the Oregon-Nevada border called the Hart-Sheldon Landscape.            

The event is a fundraiser for the Oregon Natural Desert Association, a nonprofit organization that has worked to protect, defend and restore Oregon’s high desert for nearly 30 years. We’re actively working to protect stunning, ecologically significant areas in the Central Oregon Backcountry, Hart-Sheldon Region, John Day River Basin and Owyhee Canyonlands.

ONDA.org

­ Tickets are on sale now for two screenings at the Tower Theatre in downtown Bend. www.towertheatre.org

Matinee: Doors 3pm | Show 4pm $12 for general admission, $8 for minors and students with ID
Evening: Doors 6:30pm | Show 7:30pm $14 for general admission, $8 for minors and students with ID

Prices include all ticketing fees.