Portland Spoke - The Official Blog of Travel Portland

The Rose Festival: Portland’s Party

Karen Martwick — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:29:29 +0000

Every year, the City of Roses throws itself a big party, and this year the�Portland Rose Festival (May 24 – June 9) has adopted�”Portland’s Party” as its theme, promising more fun and festivity than ever. Best of all, you’re invited! The fest kicks off with a spectacular fireworks show on Friday, May 24. For a [...]

Spring Arts Guide: On Stage

Oregon Arts Watch — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:26:49 +0000

Here are some of Portland’s performing arts highlights for May and June (also see classical music and visual arts highlights) The People�s Republic of Portland April 23 – June 15 Portland Center Stage, 117 N.W. 11th Ave. Comic writer/performer Lauren Weedman (�Bust�) has lurked around Portland for a couple of years now, and her account [...]

Spring Arts Guide: Classical Music

Oregon Arts Watch — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:26:23 +0000

Here are some of Portland’s classical music highlights for May and June (also see performing arts and visual arts highlights): Falstaff May 10-18 Portland Opera, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St. A comic masterpiece, Giuseppi Verdi’s final opera puts Shakespeare’s greatest fool front and center and surrounds him with some of the composer’s finest music. [...]

Spring Arts Guide: Visual Arts

Oregon Arts Watch — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:26:07 +0000

Here are some of Portland�s visual highlights for May and June (also see performing arts and classical music�highlights): Fred Sandback/Julia Dault April 5 – June 8 The Lumber Room, 419 N.W. Ninth Ave. This two-artist exhibition in one of the Pearl�s most architecturally beautiful and quietly hidden spaces takes simplicity and tension as its key. [...]

Pride and Spirit in Portland

Karen Martwick — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:16:49 +0000

This year�s annual pride celebration, Pride Northwest (June 15-16), is getting an extra injection of fun, courtesy of local event organizer Samuel Thomas. The founder of the Portland Queer Music Festival, who�s in the process of creating a new LGBTQ club and music venue in�downtown Portland, took time to plan a Big Gay Dance Party [...]

World Environment Day: Portland Parties for the Planet

John Patrick Pullen — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:48:34 +0000

With car sharing, pedal-powered gyms and 10,000 acres of leafy and grassy parkland, it’s no secret that Portland is a big fan of all things green. In fact, with the way that locals go about composting, recycling and repurposing waste, you could say we revel in eco-friendly fun every day. But�the party becomes official when�World [...]

Rollin’ Down the Clackamas River

John Patrick Pullen — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:30:36 +0000

When the weather heats up in the Pacific Northwest, the best way to cool down isn’t necessarily with a crisp beverage (though we do have plenty of great micro-brewed and -distilled options). The preferred method is an all-ages cocktail of water, wind and elevation that adds up to white-water rafting on the Clackamas River. Located [...]

“Cyclepedia” comes to Portland

John Patrick Pullen — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:25:10 +0000

Bikes are big in Portland. Like 300-plus miles of bike lanes big. So big that we were dubbed “America’s Best Bike City” by Bicycling Magazine in 2012 — another in a list of accolades that stretches about as far as the�aforementioned bike lanes. Since art imitates life, it makes sense that the Portland Art Museum [...]

Oregon Zoo Concerts

John Patrick Pullen — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:04:51 +0000

It’s a small outdoor venue unlike any other: a grassy lawn, sloping down to a modestly-sized stage and bandshell, with an elephant yard on one side and a red ape reserve on the other. For the past 35 years, musicians and fans alike have flocked to the Oregon Zoo each summer to revel in music, [...]

Forktown Food Tours Treks Downtown

Lila Martin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:40:29 +0000

Forktown Food Tours, which guides visitors on charming culinary journeys through Portland�s neighborhoods, has added a new tour exploring the city�s core. Inspired by all of the businesses that have recently opened in the area, Forktown�now offers�culinary walking tours of downtown from Thursday through Sunday. The tours showcase the different styles of eateries that make [...]