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Calendar of Events in Portland, OR
Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec
February
Oregon Seafood & Wine Festival
February 1st & 2nd @ the Oregon Convention Center
An opportunity to sample Oregon seafood and wine from a variety of local wineries and restaurants. Experience Portland's largest oyster bar and the world's largest Oregon Pink Shrimp Cocktail. Upscale, yet festive.
Chocolate Fest
February 2nd & 3rd @ World Forestry Center
Indulge yourself and make all your sweet dreams come true during these two days of everything chocolate, including chocolate spa treatments, chocolate pairings, modeling chocolate class and more.
Portland International Film Festival
February 7th - 23rd (Various Locations)
Founded in 1977 the Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) now draws an audience of over 30,000, making it the biggest film event in Oregon. Each February PIFF premiers over 100 international shorts and feature films to Portland audiences. The full PIFF Program will be available Jan. 21st and online at www.nwfilm.org
Portland Jazz Festival
February 15th - 24th (Various Locations)
Experience concerts by such acclaimed artists as Ornette Coleman (pictured), Joshua Redman, Cecil Taylor and Maceo Parker, plus more than 150 additional events. Performances take place throughout the city at various music venues within easy walking distance of Portland's downtown hotels and restaurants. www.pdxjazz.com
Zoo's Gone Wild Spring Break Party
Feb. 24th - March 6th @ Oregon Zoo
Can't head for the tropics for Spring Break? Stop by Oregon Zoo instead. Wear your Hawaiian shirt and stroll around to tropical tunes. Keepers, volunteers and zoo staff have collaborated on a "vacation" chock full of activities that are just as fun for the animals as they are for the people.
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March
Cortea Cirque du Soleil
March 4th - 30th ( Located Just A Short Walk from RiverPlace Hotel! )
Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. www.cirquedusoleil.com
Twelve Angry Men
March 11th - 16th @ Keller Auditorium
What seems like an open-and-shut murder case becomes a twisted puzzle of prejudice and intrigue. Twelve jurors in a murder trial are corralled in a room for the duration of their deliberation. As prejudices are tested and evidence weighed, the entire jury is forced to look past the show of the courtroom to unearth the shocking truth. Faced with playing the hangmen, these dozen men must first face themselves.
Stephen Petronio Company
March 5th @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
"At once brittle and powerful - exquisite movement." - New York Press
Music by Rufus Wainwright
Featuring Portland's Pacific Youth Choir
Stephen Petronio has won international acclaim for his burning, high-speed, off-balance movement. First appearing on our season in May 1998, he most recently was represented by his dazzling "Underland," performed by Sydney Dance Company in March 2007. Stephen Petronio has long been admired not only for his galvanizing choreography but also for his unique collaborations with iconic musicians like Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and Nick Cave.
30th Annual Shamrock Run
February 16th in Downtown Portland
Race Distances: 5k, 8k and 15k -- All Chip Timed
Shamrock Stride: 3.5-mile Fitness Walk
Kid's Run: 1k Leprechaun Lap
Zoo's Gone Wild Spring Break Party
Feb. 24th - March 6th @ Oregon Zoo
Can't head for the tropics for Spring Break? Stop by Oregon Zoo instead. Wear your Hawaiian shirt and stroll around to tropical tunes. Keepers, volunteers and zoo staff have collaborated on a "vacation" chock full of activities that are just as fun for the animals as they are for the people.
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April
Sweeney Todd
April 8th - 13th @ Keller Auditorium
The legendary demon barber, hell-bent on revenge, takes up with his enterprising neighbor in a delicious plot to slice their way through London's upper crust. Justice will be served--along with lush melodies, audacious humor and bloody good thrills. Directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, this dazzling reinvention of a magnificent musical thriller is set to stun theatergoers as never before.
Elaphantastic!!! Featuring Packy's 46th Birthday
April 12th & 13th @ Oregon Zoo
An elephant-sized celebration! Come see why Oregon Zoo is a world leader in Asian elephant care. Watch special training sessions, play games and wear your own elephant ears. On the 12th it's a birthday party for Packy! Cake for everyone and Packy gets his cake at 2 p.m.
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May
National Bear Awareness Week
May 10th - 16th @ Oregon Zoo
Oregon Zoo is celebrating with daily public feedings of our bears, enrichment activities, and animal talks, culminating in the popular Bear Fair. Saturday, May 10, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m all are invited to bring their teddy bears and other stuffed buddies to visit the zoo's bear exhibits and activity stations.
¡Entusiasmo!
May 16th - 31st @ Center for the Performing Arts
Do Jump! creates a spectacle throughout the Newmark Theatre that tells the amazing true story of Gaviotas, a village in Colombia that is an exemplar of sustainable culture.
4X4: The Ballet Project
May 8th & 9th @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
White Bird announces 4X4 - The Ballet Project, an exclusive collaboration created for White Bird's 10th Anniversary season. Oregon's two outstanding companies, Oregon Ballet Theatre and Eugene Ballet Company, along with Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, have become vital incubators of contemporary ballet in the United States. This will be a dazzling evening you will remember for years to come.
Dinosaurs: China's Ancient Giants
May 2nd - 31st @ OMSI
Travel back in time 200 million years and witness China's most spectacular ancient inhabitants in the largest collection of authentic Chinese fossils ever toured. China's Ancient Giants features twenty complete dinosaur skeletons (both casts and fossils), interactive touch screens, activity carts, a "dig pit" where kids of all ages can become paleontologists for a day, and a 67 foot long adult Mamenchisaurus, the longest-necked dinosaur ever!
Rose Festival Waterfront Village
May 29th - June 8th @ Waterfront Park (Adjacent to RiverPlace Hotel)
As the region's premier children's celebration, the WaMu Waterfront Village is fun for all and all for fun. Presented in Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the Village has a whole new family-friendly focus, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Featured activities include our Pirates Rendezvous, two tall sailing ships, fun-loving strolling minstrels, and more than 500 hours of eclectic family entertainment. Add the Pacific Northwest's finest, cleanest and most family-friendly carnival, three food courts offering menu items from around the world, and exciting educational exhibits for a classic American celebration WaMu style. Join us during our Centennial Celebration festivities! www.rosefestival.org
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June
Rose Festival Waterfront Village
May 29th - June 8th @ Waterfront Park
As the region's premier children's celebration, the WaMu Waterfront Village is fun for all and all for fun. Presented in Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the Village has a whole new family-friendly focus, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Featured activities include our Pirates Rendezvous, two tall sailing ships, fun-loving strolling minstrels, and more than 500 hours of eclectic family entertainment. Add the Pacific Northwest's finest, cleanest and most family-friendly carnival, three food courts offering menu items from around the world, and exciting educational exhibits for a classic American celebration WaMu style. Join us during our Centennial Celebration festivities! www.rosefestival.org
Annual Events open to the public include:
- June 1, 9:45 p.m., Fireworks Spectacular
- June 2, 8:00 p.m., Keybank Starlight Run and Parade
- June 6, 1:00 p.m., Fred Meyer Junior Parade
- June 6 - 10, Rose Festival Fleet
- June 9 and 10, Dragon Boat Races
- June 9, 10am Grand Floral Parade
Avenue Q
June 24th - 29th @ Keller Auditorium
AVENUE Q is Broadway's smash-hit 2004 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. A hilarious show full of heart and hummable tunes, AVENUE Q is about trying to make it in NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account. Called "one of the funniest shows you're ever likely to see" by Entertainment Weekly, AVENUE Q features a cast of people and puppets who tell the story in a smart, risque and downright entertaining way. The New Yorker calls it "subversive and uproarious!" *Recommended for ages 13 and up.*
Dinosaur Revolution
All of June @ the Portland Children's Museum
Kids and adults get to "Be a Dinosaur" as they journey through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and later discover evidence of dinosaur doings in the present-time as Junior Paleontologists!
The winding passageways of the dinosaur-themed maze set the stage and begin a journey through a dramatic Patagonian mountainscape. The journey begins through each experience gallery featuring vivid murals and hands-on, body-in interactives including:
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July
Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival
July 3rd - 6th @ Waterfront Park
Now in its 21st year, the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi River, and one of the largest music events of any kind in the Pacific Northwest. Last year approximately 125,000 people attended the festival over five days. This year's festival will be held July 3 - July 6, 2008, with four stages at McCall Waterfront Park, in downtown Portland, Oregon on the banks of the Willamette River. In addition, there will be several blues cruises on the three-stage Portland Spirit. The event will also include blues films, workshops, The Zydeco Swamp Romp and artist jam sessions. www.waterfrontbluesfest.com
Oregon Brewers Festival
July 24th - 27th @ Waterfront Park
The Oregon Brewers Festival serves over 70 different craft beers from 14 states across the country. Beer lovers come from every state in the nation, and many countries around the world, to join in the celebration. www.oregonbrewfest.com
Maritime Heritage Festival Boat Show
July 24th- 27th @ RiverPlace Docks
The show is hosted by Columbia Willamette Chapter ACBS and will feature boat rallies, a fully restored World War II PT Boat and an Antique and Classic Boat Show. Registration forms available at: www.cwc-acbs.org. For more info, contact Mike Green at (503) 490-7031 or Chris Finks at maritimeclassics@aol.com
Glenn Miller Orchestra
July 24th @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
The World Famous, Glenn Miller Orchestra, is the most popular and sought after big band in the world today for both concert and swing dance engagements. With it's unique jazz sound, the Glenn Miller Orchestra is considered to be one of the greatest bands of all time. The present Glenn Miller Orchestra was formed in 1956 and has been touring consistently since, playing an average of 300 live dates a year all around the world. Trombonist Larry O'Brien is the orchestra's present musical director.
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August
The Bite of Oregon
August 8th - 10th @ Waterfront Park
If you love Food, Wine, Beer, Music and fun you don't want to miss the 25th annual 2008 Bite of Oregon! Benefiting Special Olympics Oregon, this dynamic Summer Festival on the Portland waterfront features: www.biteoforegon.com
- Dozens of statewide restaurants preparing close to 100 dishes
- Four stages of entertainment with over 60 acts
- Iron Chef Oregon competitions
- An entire pavilion of Oregon wines
- Oregon craft beers and American style lagers
- Friday Evening Late Night Fireworks Show!!!!
Providence Bridge Pedal
August 10th
The beauty of Portland, the variety of the Willamette River bridges and the joy of riding a bike - all come together on Sunday, Aug. 10th, at the 13th annual Providence Bridge Pedal. Over 20,000 people will take part in the event.
The Oregon Trout City of Portland Triathlon 2008
August 31st
The first major triathlon ever held in downtown Portland, Oregon welcomes you to its second annual. Swim beneath the signature bridges, ride amongst the steel and concrete giants, run through parks and paths teeming with urban life. In a city unlike any other, a triathlon unlike any other.
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September
World Animal Festival
September 27th - December 5th @ Oregon Zoo
Learn about the world's cultures, dance to live music, listen to storytelling, make crafts and learn about the planet's amazing animals, including the charismatic bears from the Arctic. This celebration is an exciting showcase of how various cultures around the world revere and celebrate animals. Local cultural groups will present animal folklore to zoo guests in a variety of ways, including performance art, hands-on crafts, educational activities and art exhibits.
Free with zoo admission.
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October
Portland Marathon
December 5th
For many years the Portland Marathon has been rated as one of the premier marathon events in the United States. It has been ranked as one of the top 10 local road race events in the U.S, and one of the top 40 races of all types and distances. www.portlandmarathon.org
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November
Wine Country Thanksgiving
November 28th - 30th
More than 100 wineries are open to the public from 11 AM to 5 PM during this special weekend in the Wine Country. Many of these wineries are not open at any other time during the year. Festivities include tasting of new releases and older vintages, barrel tastings, specialty foods and sales of limited quantity wines. Some wineries have live music and some charge a tasting fee. Winemakers and owners will personally greet their guests.
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December
Christmas Ship Parade
December 10th - 21st
The Christmas Ship Fleet averages about 55 to 60 boats between the two Columbia and Willamette River fleets. Both fleets will be out every night for two weeks beginning December 10, 2008 and running through December 21, 2008. The fleet will do a special performance in Camas, WA on Dec. 6th. As we are an all volunteer organization, not all the boats make it out every night.
For complete schedule go to: www.christmasships.org
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