Portland Spoke - The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Feast Portland Tickets Go on Sale May 22!

Lila Martin — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:27:33 +0000

Foodies, mark your calendars: tickets for the first annual Feast Portland food festival go on sale on Tuesday, May 22 at 6 a.m. Pacific time. Find them at www.feastportland.com. That day, you’ll see the full schedule of events (Sept. 20-23, 2012) and guest chef announcements, and be able to pick and choose whether you’ll be [...]

Food Carts? There’s an App for That

Marcus Hibdon — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:48:20 +0000

Visitors need all the help they can get navigating the more than 600 registered food carts dishing out all sorts of tasty vittles in Portland. Fortunately, the dedicated folks at FoodCartsPortland.com (who have been diligently tracking and cataloging the carts since 2007) have introduced an iPhone app that’s sure to help. The 99-cent Food Carts [...]

Live Like a Portlander When You Visit

Laura Guimond — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:46:02 +0000

Travelers looking for a place to call their own will enjoy several new lodging options on Portland’s east side, each with its own distinctive flair and bountiful neighborhood attractions. Each has a full kitchen, though with the succulent offerings within walking distance, visitors will be excused for not cooking at home. Kuza Cottage, nestled in [...]

Pickathon: Unplugged and Unencumbered

John Patrick Pullen — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:02:12 +0000

In “Field of Dreams,” a baseball player in a cornfield asks, “is this heaven?” Standing in front of a crowd of enthusiastic fans at Pendarvis Farm, musicians might ask the same thing. But it’s not heaven, it’s Pickathon (Aug. 3-5). For the past 13 years, this annual gathering of artists and audiences has celebrated the summer with [...]

Overflowing with Pride

John Patrick Pullen — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:13:05 +0000

Known far and wide as a gay-friendly destination, the Rose City is open and accepting. And in June, it gets friendlier than ever, when the Portland Pride Festival & Parade makes a name for itself — and LGBT community members — all over town. Before the big party, BearTown (June 7-10), an annual weekend of dances, parties and [...]

Beer Fests Bring Summer Suds

John Patrick Pullen — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:10:22 +0000

For some, there’s nothing like the taste of a cool beer on a hot summer day. Others pine for their favorite fruits to be in season, so they can pop nature’s sweet treats into their mouths. Both, no doubt, would agree on the Portland Fruit Beer Festival (June 9-10) and the North American Organic Brewers Festival (June 29 – [...]

Festival of Balloons: Floating on Air

John Patrick Pullen — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:12:27 +0000

Balloons, buoyant and brightly colored, could easily be the universal symbol of happiness. And with the summer coming, the Festival of Balloons (June 22-24) is ready to dot the sky with smiles, as dozens of colorful hot-air craft rise over the scenic landscape southwest of Portland. Held in Tigard, just a 15-minute drive outside the city, [...]

Untamed Melodies at the Zoo

John Patrick Pullen — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:59:57 +0000

There are many rites of summer — popsicles, sprinklers, road trips — but Portland has one of the most unique beat-the-heat traditions with the Oregon Zoo Summer Concerts (June 22 through Sept. 14). No, it’s not zebras with keytars and baboons on bongos — some of the country’s coolest acts play their songs under starry summer skies surrounded [...]

An Abstract Example: Rothko at PAM

John Patrick Pullen — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:11:03 +0000

Celebrating the works of one of America’s leading 20th century artists, the Mark Rothko exhibit at the Portland Art Museum welcomes home a native son, with 45 paintings and a lifetime of creative growth on display. With works covering more than 50 years of Rothko’s career, the show outlines his artistic path as he transformed from a [...]

North Williams: Stacked with Surprises

Greg Newland — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:19:54 +0000

Spurred by an article in the new Travel Portland magazine, Bert and I spent a recent afternoon on North Williams Avenue, a vibrant district of retailers and restaurants — and one of the newer additions to Portland’s rich tapestry of neighborhoods. Our first stop was Lodekka, a vintage dress shop that’s housed inside a double-decker bus. [...]