Tickets & Events in Springfield

• For $20, you get one all-day general-admission ticket (a $40 value). • For $40, you get two all-day general-admission tickets (an $80 value).

In their 85th season, the Harlem Globetrotters have entertained millions of parents, children, and general basketball admirers with a unique brand of athletic precision and showmanship. For their latest 4 Times the Fun North American tour, the Globetrotters will add new 4-point shot spots located 35 feet from the basket, which is 12 feet farther than the official 3-point line but several thousand miles closer than the prime meridian.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the American String Quartet's dulcet combination of viola, cello, and dual violin has been hailed by the New York Times as the "picture of ensemble unity." On May 15, the bow-drawing foursome sets the air particles of Soreng Theater swaying to chamber pieces from three legendary composers. The concert commences with Haydn's precisely wrought Quartet in G Major before the stormy sounds of Beethoven's Quartet in E-flat fill the theater with smiling cartoon rainclouds. The afternoon swirls to a finale with Ravel's sensual Quartet in F Major.

Ugly Christmas sweaters have become a modern holiday tradition, and in that spirit they are the symbol of Oregon's Ugliest Sweater Run. Runners dressed in their gaudiest knits will run (or walk) a 5K course trimmed with garland and lights, stopping if they choose for photo ops at each of a dozen stations themed after the 12 Days of Christmas. Beginning in Alton Baker Park and finishing at 5th St. Public Market, the race will culminate in an after party as festive as the run itself. As a DJ plays holiday tunes, runners can sign up for fruitcake-eating and eggnog-chugging contests. Those without iron stomachs can still get into the competitive spirit by contributing to an attempt to claim the Guinness World Record for Largest Gathering of People Wearing Ugly Christmas Sweaters.

In lieu of paying for parking, you can bring an unwrapped toy or five non-perishable food items. However, cash payments will all be donated to three charities: Toys for Tots, Food for Lane County Food Drive, and the Foster and Adoptive Parent Association of Lane County. Like Santa's Christmas-Eve duties or Mrs. Claus's epic knitting circles, Oregon's Ugliest Sweater Run is an all-weather event.

Listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, the McDonald Theatre has enjoyed a long, strange history since its establishment in 1925. Originally a community playhouse equipped with both a stage and a screen, the theater found new life in the 1950s when One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest author and psychedelic pioneer Ken Kesey began presenting free cartoons there every Saturday morning. The McDonald spent the next six or so decades as a movie house exclusively, but in 2001, the Kesey family returned, producing concerts and community events under the theater’s enormous proscenium arch. Kesey Enterprises finally purchased the time-weighted stage in 2009, and today the building hosts events ranging from high-school proms to reggae concerts to plumbing-fixture lifting contests.

The Eugene Generals’ deftly sharpened skates flash across the slick surface of Lane County Ice Arena as players battle other USA Hockey Junior A hockey teams in pursuit of the Cascade Cup. With a roster 20 players deep, the Generals perform feats of puck wrangling in front of cheering spectators, mascots, and renegade pucks of all ages as the young stars prepare to compete in college and professional leagues across the country. Special events throughout the season stir up additional excitement with free giveaways. Fans replenish energy depleted from repeatedly starting the wave at the snack bar and quench parched throats at the on-site beer garden. Groupon holders for the first two options receive vouchers for hats or T-shirts when picking up their tickets, picking up the team-pride accessory of their choice at the merchandise counter.