Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

The Portland Farmers Market season begins on March 19.

The cooler months are a great time to dig out your ski gear, grab your favorite coffee mug and head to Portland. Now, the adventure is even more affordable with the Expedia Winter Sale, which lets you save up to 30 percent off your Portland hotel stay.

More than two dozen hotels are on sale from now until the end of February, for travel by March 31. There’s also extra incentive to sample what TIME magazine calls “America’s new food Eden,” compliments of $20 dining certificate valid at tasty restaurants RingSide Steakhouse and Portland Prime.

Looking for an excuse to visit? If the hotel savings, dining certificate and year-round tax-free shopping weren’t enough, Portland is filled with events and festivals during the winter season. (more…)

Did you know that Portland is the crafty capital of the world? Such a claim might be hard to prove, but for the next three days, the Summit of Awesome at the Kennedy School will make Portland the undisputed center of the handmade universe.

Produced by Hello Craft along with Portland’s own Crafty Wonderland and DIY Lounge, the Summit is an annual national craft conference that offers business and technical education seminars as well as hands-on workshops and tours of Portland’s Alberta Arts District. Featured speakers include Portland craft stars like Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee Creationsand Elizabeth Newell of the newly launched Handmade in Portland.

The best part of all? You don’t have to be a crafty genius to reap the benefits. On Saturday, June 19, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., you can meet — and buy handmade goodies from — 40 vendors at the free Show of Awesome at the Doug Fir Lounge. I’ve been counting down to this event for weeks!

To learn more about Portland’s craft community, check out this awesome article from The Oregonian.

Image courtesy of Explore the Pearl.

Kick off fall in style with Labor Day weekend in Portland.

Start with the much-loved juried art festival, Art in the Pearl, featuring more than 100 artists selling ceramics, jewelry, mixed media, photographs and other designs in the North Park Blocks.  There’s food, music and an educational pavilion, too.

The streets surrounding Art in the Pearl will be bustling as well, as retailers mark down prices for the annual Sidewalk Sale, the Pearl District’s biggest shopping event of the year.  More than 50 shops are taking part, including Lizard Lounge, French Quarter and Lucy, with discounts up to 80%.

After you’ve shopped to your heart’s content, take in the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s annual Time-Based Art Festival (Sept. 3-13).  This 10-day event combines performance, visual and film artistic works curated by Cathy Edwards. (more…)