The Eugene Saturday Market Stage was oozing with anticipation August 15, with a crowd of nearly 150 gathered to see who the Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod would crown as Eugene’s next queen. Old queens, really old queens and those vying for the crown donned shimmery fabric, whimsical accessories and sported every shade of the rainbow. 

Mugzy W. Slugzy, known to the non-slug community as Margarita O’Brien, was named the 2026-2027 SLUG queen after a nearly three-hour-long slimy beauty pageant. Mugzy showed up in a golden yellow bodysuit, with a mechanical slug tail dazzled in shimmery fabric and an animatronic slug headpiece. Additionally, Mugzy was joined by Miss Pickles, her small dog who also wore a shimmering gold slug collar. 

“If your heart is listening, I know you are glistening. It’s time to rise and slime my friends,” Mugzy said in her acceptance speech. “Go forth, make trails and let the good slime roll!”

Mugzy W. Slugzy starts her rain already deeply involved with the Eugene community. She runs the Ukulaneys (Ukulele Club of Lane County) and is a board member of the Uketober Fest. She danced with the band Black Magdalene for many years, and is embedded within Eugene’s dance community where she can be seen dancing fusion, blues and salsa. 

Outside of being the newest “unofficial goodwill ambassador of Eugene,” Mugzy is a Spanish teacher at Sheldon High School.

“I dedicate this rain to my family, both given and chosen, and to my father, who named me Mugzy Wugsy, from my start on this Earth,” Mugzy said. “May he and all our lost lovers of whimsy watch over us.”

THE JUDGES

New SLUG queens are chosen based on voting by old SLUG queens, and very old SLUG queens —designations used to differentiate how long ago a queen served their term, and by local celebrity judges. Queen Melva was voted into the Slugdom 43 years ago and continues to regularly show up for the SLUG community. 

“The tradition has lasted so long, and we have so many enthusiastic people who are interested in knowing about the activities of the current queen and choosing the new queen for the 26 to 27 year,” Melva says to Eugene Weekly. “We like somebody who is confident, who can share their thoughts in different ways and has a humorous approach to life.”

This year’s panel of celebrity judges was Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson, arts and culture journalist Annie Aguiar, city of Eugene Equity and Community Manager Fabio Andrade and social media influencer Ashe “the Vibe Rater” Newton. 

“I’m really looking for someone who has an outfit so layered, so fantastic, so ridiculous that they’re kind of sweating to death in August, but it’s worth it for the look and for the slugginess of it all,” Aguiar tells Eugene Weekly before the judging. 

Queen Mugzy’s costume was indeed that. Mugzy says she was originally inspired by Dracula’s cape from Dracula the Musical, and had custom scrabble earrings that spelled M-U-G-Z-Y, and her glasses were rimmed with two yellow banana slugs. Other contestants wore sparkly flowy dresses, fun slug headpieces and even a mime costume. 

“I’m looking for someone to bring the best vibes to the competition,” Newton says. 

The 1993 Very Old Queen, Bananita Sluginsky, also known as Sarah Ulerick, a retired dean of science at Lane Community College, was the master of ceremonies for the colorful event. 

“I’m looking for creativity in the form of taking something very serious and making it fun. I have seen some of that happening in previous years, so I will look for someone who is doing that this year again,” Andrade said.

The SLUG queen competition began as a form of whimsical rebellion and embedded itself within Eugene. The event started in 1983, the same year the Eugene City Council approved the annual event called the Eugene Celebration, choosing it over the more whimsical Slugfest. But the SLUG queen idea only grew in popularity and still continues, unlike now-defunct Eugene Celebration, which ended in 2015. Since then, there have been 43 SLUG queens that have been elected and honored.

“Total commitment is what I’m looking for — and a heavy dosage of kindness, because we’ll be celebrating at the BRiGHT Parade in September and kindness is the theme this year,” Mayor Knudson says in an interview with Eugene Weekly. 

Once someone is named a SLUG queen they remain a queen for life, and return annually to help with the judging and event planning. Currently the SLUG queens are working to fundraise for a new SLUG float for the BRiGHT parade.

“I used to tell people it’s like the Supreme Court,” Sluginsky says. “It’s for the rest of your life, only you get to dress better!”

THE COMPETITION

The 2026 competition had seven contestants, with nine people competing; this year there were two duo entries that entered as a singular entity; Fybro and Mya Algaegastropodia and the Slugaceous Slime Sisters, who were crowned second runner up. First runner-up was SlugaMama Fecundia. The runners-up earned their spots via elaborate costumes, consistent performances and ability to work the crowd. Similar to a line of succession, if the crowned SLUG queen is unable to finish her rain, the runner-up would be expected to fill in the role. 

Other contestants included SugarShimmer FankenSlug the Changeling, Marcel Slugcasso and Share Lumiere.

The event started with Queen Sluginsky introducing the contestants and a “costume judging” portion, where contestants were expected to give the judging panel their best twirl to show off their creative outfits. Elected queen Mugzy Slugzy received praise for her creative use of a hoverboard in showing off her long cape and sturdy tail. 

“Mugzy W. Slugzy believes the world needs more creativity, singing, art, dance and music, and hearts filled with joy,” Sluginsky says. “I’m not sure what the W stands for, but I’m going with Why not?”

During the talent act, the Slugaceous Slime Sisters sang a parody of “My Favorite Things,” from the Sound of Music. Many performed original songs, with SlugaMama Fecundia performing a whimsical original song about a sperm bank. Memorably, SlugaMama Fecundia gave “birth” to two twin snails on stage, causing a stir among the audience. 

Mugzy Slugzy sang an original song while playing her ukulele titled “Your Majesty” which implored people to see the “majesty” in others and become a better version of themselves by seeing the best in other people. She had a large entourage of supporters come on stage, all wearing outfits with gold accents, and many carrying signs in support of Mugzy. 

The last section of the competition included a question and answer section, where contestants chose from old queens and very old queens to ask questions. Each SLUG queen prepared a humorous question for the contestants to test their creativity and word-smithing on the spot. 

“I have enjoyed very much adjusting my resume to include some of these benedictions, and every time I give one, I think about what a strange privilege it is to stand in front of people and say, ‘this matters.’ This beautiful thing matters, this community matters, these people matter,” 2025 SLUG Queen Hilaria Gastrognome, also known as Jen Jay, said in her outgoing speech.