(Helpful hint: If you scroll to the bottom, there are some neat Father's Day Ideas!)
ROSE FESTIVAL FLEET WEEK Since 1907, visiting ships have made their way to Portland's waterfront. The City of Roses is known to be a favorite port of call for military (and non-military) visitors, as Portland's citizens thank them and make them feel welcome. The Portland Rose Festival is extremely fortunate to be one of a few U.S. Ports of Call for a courtesy visit from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and Royal Canadian Navy. Their arrival commemorates a relationship with the Navy that has lasted more than 100 years, and over 80 years of visiting Portland during the Rose Festival. It is a significant commitment by the Navy to make Rose Festival Fleet Week one of the premier Fleet Week events in the country.
EDGEFIELD CONCERTS ON THE LAWN: DARYL HALL AND ELVIS COSTELLO Daryl Hall is a modern-day renaissance man, an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the star of his very own award-winning web series, Live from Daryl’s House, as well as a successful venue owner with “Daryl’s House,” a restored venue and live music space in Pawling, N.Y.
Elvis Costello is the composer or lyricist of over six hundred published titles, including fifteen songs co-written with Paul McCartney and renowned collaborations with Allen Toussaint, the Brodsky Quartet and T Bone Burnett.
PORTLAND ROSE FESTIVAL Every year for more than a century, the City of Roses has celebrated the city’s excellence with the Portland Rose Festival. Declared Portland’s official festival in 2010, the celebration includes more than 60 events, including parades, carnival rides, art shows, fun runs and more, starting in late May and ending in mid-June. The festival’s website
has a full list of events and activities.
Portland is known as the City of Roses because the weather is ideal for growing roses, and it has several public gardens to prove it. Whatever you do during the Rose Festival, take time to smell the roses.
ROSE FESTIVAL CITYFAIR Considered the "hub" of the annual Portland Rose Festival, CityFair fills Waterfront Park with carnival rides, concerts, food and fireworks for multiple weekends during the festival.
ROSE FESTIVAL CAREOREGON STARLIGHT PARADE The CareOregon Starlight Parade is one of the Rose Festival's most popular events, offering electrified, funky fun for everyone. From traditional marching bands and flood-lit floats to glow-in-the-dark umbrellas and unique hand-built entries, you’ll see representation from Portland’s diverse community groups (and the surrounding Pacific Northwest region), creating a vibe like no other on Portland's downtown streets. Events like the Starlight Parade are essential to a vibrant and healthy community.
THE OREGON CHORALE PRESENTS: IN THE MIDST Join the Oregon Chorale for In The Midst, the presentation of two choral masterworks: To The Hands by Caroline Shaw and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Missa in angustiis (Mass for Troubled Times). Composed as a reply to Dieterich Buxtehude’s Ad Manus, Shaw’s To The Hands is a poignant and thought provoking work that sheds light on refugee crises. Missa in angustiis, also known as the Lord Nelson Mass, is widely regarded as the culmination of Haydn’s liturgical compositions. The Oregon Chorale’s performances of this masterwork will feature orchestra and soloists Arwen Myers, Laura Beckel Thoreson, Les Green, and Ian Schipper.
SABERTOOTH McMenamins, Portland Mercury, X-Ray and doPDX proudly present Sabertooth 2024. With its roots in Portland’s Crystal Ballroom’s psychedelic history, Sabertooth comes to both the Crystal Ballroom for two nights of psychedelic stoner rock.
PEDALPALOOZA BIKE FESTIVAL Whether you’re a cycling fanatic, an occasional cruiser or just a lover of fun events, Pedalpalooza has something for you. Held all over Portland, this bike- and fun-focused festival celebrates summer’s arrival with over 100 rides throughout town.
STARLIGHT RUN Portland’s most popular fun run, the Starlight Run, is the wacky warm-up act for the CareOregon Starlight Parade is starting and finishing on Naito Parkway at Rose Festival CityFair.
The 47th Annual Starlight Run will start at 6:30 p.m. The traditional costume contest will be held at 5:30 p.m. The route will follow the path of the CareOregon Starlight Parade and operate as an out-and-back course.
THEATER IN THE GROVE PRESENTS: WAIT UNTIL DARK Theatre in the Grove presents the electrifying new rendition of the classic thriller Wait Until Dark. It is 1944 New York. Susan Hendrix, a recently blinded young woman, faces off against some dangerous con men searching for a seemingly innocuous item of interest hiding somewhere in her basement Greenwich Village apartment.
THE QUEENS FEAT: RETURN OF THE MONARCH The Queen’s Feast is an interactive dining experience where guests can feel a part of a traditional Renaissance feast! Throughout the dinner, courses will be presented theatrically and accompanied by a traditional madrigal song performed by a quartet of singers. Queen Elizabeth I and her court will also be announced with great flourish, as well as special guests like William Shakespeare and his King’s men! The Queen, of course, wants entertainment with her meal, so Master Shakespeare will present scenes from his latest work. A harpist will strum away beautiful music of the time, and other exciting acts will take place for the pleasure of the court.
SPRING ROSE SHOW The Portland Rose Society Annual Spring Rose Show is the largest and longest-running rose show in the nation. The exquisite beauty and fragrances of this yearly show emanate from more than 4,000 blooms. Entry is open to anyone, and all entrants are encouraged. Rose growers from across the Pacific Northwest participate, and some 6,000 spectators from across the country are expected to visit this year’s Spring Rose Show. Sparkling trophies go to those entrants who grow the most beautiful roses.
OREGON COASTAL EXCURSION Join us for a 1.5-hour excursion along the scenic Tillamook Bay and the Oregon Coast between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach. You can board at either Rockaway Beach or Garibaldi. Pulled by one of our historic steam or diesel locomotives, this excursion offers a relaxed ride along the Oregon Coast and a step back in time.
PORTLAND vs HOUSTON - JUNE 2ND Head to Providence Park to watch the Portland Timbers take on their rivals. Cheer with the Timbers' Army at Providence Park and become part of a Portland tradition.
PORTLAND VINTAGE MARKET Market season is in full swing, and Portland Vintage Market is starting off with Oregon's largest outdoor vintage clothing market filled with your favorite vendors and tons of fresh items for summer. Featuring over 100 vendors and curators from the Pacific Northwest, food trucks, music and more.
POWELL'S BOOKS WAREHOUSE SALE Normally, Powell’s Books’ warehouse in the Northwest Industrial District is only for staff, but the store is opening it up to the public for the first time ever for a massive sale. The shopping event will feature 30,000 books at marked-down prices: $3 hardcovers, $2 paperbacks and $1 mass-market titles.
The flagship Powell’s City of Books on West Burnside Street famously occupies an entire city block and houses almost a million books. The warehouse holds an almost equal number of titles, and it is time to clean house.
“We constantly churn books through the store,” says Jeremy Solly, marketing director. “We get tons of new books in the spring and fall and we need to make room to bring them in.”
CURIOUS COMEDY SHOWDOWN - UNPLUGGEED The Hunger Games of Comedy. Six players enter the stage. Only one will survive. Curious Comedy Showdown pits Portland’s finest comedians against one another in competitive improv comedy cage matches that will make you laugh until you cry. Armed with only razor-sharp wit and your suggestions, the players must create fast-paced and hilarious scenes on the spot to win audience votes — round after round — in hopes of living to see another day. Finally, you decide which player is left standing. If you like Whose Line Is It Anyway, you’ll love this show.
OPEN AIR TRAIN RIDES Join the Oregon Rail Heritage Center for a 45-minute ride in open-air rail cars along the Willamette River in the heart of Portland. This is excellent for viewing wildlife, paddleboarders and Oaks Park rides. Open-air cars are pulled by a diesel locomotive and depart from the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.
7 WONDERS OF OREGON There are many splendid places to see in Oregon where you can let your spirit for outdoor adventure soar. The biggest challenge may be finding enough time to discover them all.
There are seven statewide destinations that are easy to reach for newcomers and longtime residents alike. They are places where you can find adventure and make some fabulous memories of your own.
HIKE - MULTNOMAH FALLS TRAIL Experience this 2.3-mile out-and-back trail near Bridal Veil, Oregon. Generally considered a moderately challengi...ng route, it takes an average of 1 h 30 min to complete. This is a very popular area for hiking, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.
PORTLAND SATURDAY MARKET Combining the vibes of an art show, a live street concert and an open-air bazaar, the Portland Saturday Market has been a beloved Rose City tradition since 1974. In fact, the market is considered the largest continually operating arts-and-crafts fair in the United States, drawing up to one million visitors during its annual season.
