Dave Knows Portland

Archives for September 2012

Portland Polish Festival 2012

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Polish FestivalThe 17th annual Portland Polish Festival, my favorite local cultural event, takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 22 and 23, 2012.

The fest features non-stop music (much of it featuring accordions!) and dance performances, polka contests, and a can’t-miss Saturday night street dance. Enjoy Polish food like pierogies, kielbasa, gołąbki (cabbage rolls), placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), and other delectable options – and of course delicious Polish beer! In the vendor village, check out the jewelry, clothing, Polish pottery, and sundries for sale.

Below the masthead on the festival website are the words: the best kept secret of Portland, Oregon. This statement hasn’t been true for several years – the Polish Fest is the premier fall festival in the Portland area.

Entrance to the Polish Festival is free. Hours on Saturday are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The fest takes place on North Failing street, on the east side of Interstate, between the St. Stanislaus Church and the Polish Library (3832 N. Interstate). Take the 4 – Fessenden to Mississippi and Failing and then take the Failing Street Pedestrian Bridge across the freeway and you are there. Or take the Yellow Line MAX to the Overlook Stop – Failing street is two blocks north up Interstate. Check out the festival website for more information, and follow @PDXPolishFest on Twitter!

Heather and I have blogged the festival the past few years:

Mile73.com

Dave Knows

Protip: arrive Saturday evening after sunset to avoid the bulk of the crowd, and the ridiculously long lines. (Read more tips here!)

Portland Weekend Amusements (September 7-9, 2012)

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September always treats Portlanders to the best summer-like weather of the year; perfect for the furious rush of street fairs and festivals! This weekend treat yourself to Baconfest, Widmer’s Oktoberfest, the Belmont Street Fair, and more!
Ongoing

Movies in ParksPortland Movies in the Park – last weekend!

Portland Parks and Recreation has released the 2012 summer schedule of Movies in the Park. From June 29 through September 18 sprawl out at one of Portland’s fine municipal parks several times a week for an evening of free entertainment.

Friday 9/7: Funny Face (1957) @ Director Park
Friday 9/7: Hugo @ Multnomah Arts Center
Saturday 9/8: Pee-wee’s Big Adventure @ Wallace Park [more]

Swift WatchChapman Vaux’s Swift Watch 2012

Every September thousands of Vaux’s Swifts come to Portland. After spending their day eating bugs, the Swifts coalesce in Northwest Portland, flying in a giant undulating swirl in the sky above the school. Around sunset the swirl gets more compact, like a ground pepper tornado, and begins disappearing, measure by measure, down the chimney. On the lawn below hundreds of Portlanders stare mesmerized at the sky, from the comfort of lawn chairs and blankets. Boos erupt when opportunistic Peregrine falcons get lucky. [more]

Friday

Architectural Heritage CenterExhibit Opening: Streetcars Build a City

Streetcars Build a City, the new exhibit at the Architectural Heritage Center (701 SE Grand), opens Friday, September 7, 2012 with a free showing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“In Portland, our urban neighborhoods are a product of the pre-automobile era.” [more]

Friday-Saturday

Widmer OktoberfestWidmer Oktoberfest

The eighth annual Widmer Brothers Brewing Oktoberfest expands to two days this year, taking place Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, 2012 at the brewery (929 N. Russell Street).

Widmer’s beers, brats, chicken schnitzel wraps, sauerkraut, and pretzels are available, and of course there will be accordions! [more]

Saturday

Belmont Street Fair

The 16th Annual Belmont Street Fair takes place Saturday, September 8, 2012 from noon until 7 p.m. The fair extends from 20th to 48th on Southeast Belmont, with car free blocks from 34th to 38th.

The fair features over 100 craft booths, two music stages, food vendors, and activities for the kids. There will be a beer garden at SE 33rd! [more]

PDX BaconfestPDX Baconfest

The fourth annual Portland Baconfest takes place Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 18th and East Burnside, adjacent to the East Burn (1800 E Burnside), from noon until 9 p.m. – it’s a giant street festival celebrating bacon!

Thousands of bacon lovers attended last year’s fest, thoroughly lubricating their cardiovascular system and contributing hundreds of pounds of food to the Oregon Food Bank. [more]

McMenaminsKennedy School Oktoberfest

When you imagine Oktoberfest, what comes to mind? Oom-pah bands, loads of beer, bratwurst and hamburgers and more! One and all are welcome to participate in the German celebration that is Oktoberfest! Begun as a wedding party for Germany’s Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese in 1810, today Oktoberfest is celebrated all over the world with music, singing, dancing, beer, food and revelry. [more]

For even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.

Exhibit Opening: Streetcars Build a City (7-September-2012)

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Streetcars Build a CityStreetcars Build a City, the new exhibit at the Architectural Heritage Center (701 SE Grand), opens Friday, September 7, 2012 with a free showing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In Portland, our urban neighborhoods are a product of the pre-automobile era. Although far-slung suburbs may be a result of America’s love affair with the private automobile, inner city residential districts owe their location, street alignment, and pattern of growth almost entirely to the advent of the street railway. Current Portland roadmaps still reflect those early “streetcar suburbs.”

Portland and its street railway system grew together and expansion into the open spaces beyond downtown was rapid. Until the coming of the automobile streetcars were also the only easy means of getting around town and had become an integral part of most inner city neighborhoods.

But the heyday of streetcars only lasted a few decades. Already by the 1910s the automobile had begun to change the way people moved about the city. By the 1920s traffic around the city was frequently snarled by the volume of automobiles and the existing (and abundant) streetcar lines. The 1930s marked the “beginning of the end” as streetcars began to be replaced by electric “trolley buses” while the old rails were buried under layers of asphalt.

The guest curators are Dan Haneckow (blogger at Cafe Unknown) and Richard Thompson, author of Portland’s Streetcars (Images of Rail) (2006) and Portland’s Streetcar Lines (2010). Regular AHC hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.