Archives for October 2015

Portland Halloween Weekend Amusements 2015

October 29, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

I’m not a huge fan of Halloween, but I have kids now, so there you go. Lots of Halloweeny things going on this weekend – a few are highlighted below!

All Weekend

Dia De Los Muertos at Portland Mercado

Visit Portland Mercado to experience the important and festive holiday of Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. Dia de los Muertos, a holiday that originated in Mexico, is celebrated throughout Latin America to commemorate the lives of the deceased with activities we all enjoy in life: eating, drinking, music and celebrating with family and friends. We are excited to partner with community groups to honor our heritage throughout the weekend, and we hope you will join us to celebrate yours.

Friday

Squishing of the Squash

The Oregon Zoo’s annual Squishing of the Squash, in which some of the world’s largest land animals demolish some of the area’s largest pumpkins, will be held Friday, Oct. 30, at 10:30 a.m.

The Squishing of the Squash is a precursor to the zoo’s Howloween celebration on Saturday, Oct. 31. Events on Saturday include a fun scavenger hunt that directs trick-or-treaters to easily accessible activity stations throughout the zoo where they can collect candy and prizes.

Saturday

The Great Pumpkin Event

Join Portland Farmers Market for the annual Great Pumpkin Event at PSU! An all ages pumpkin carving contest will begin at 9 am, followed by a children’s costume parade starting at Noon. Goody bags will be provided to parade participants and costumes are highly encouraged!

Halloween Family Fun at the Portland Aerial Tram

Don’t be spooked by autumn! Head down to South Waterfront and enjoy some family time at the Portland Aerial Tram. There will be arts and crafts for the kids from noon to 4 pm. Our face painter will be on duty to make your little ones scary or adorable, depending on your trick-or-treat strategy.

And you won’t need a broomstick to fly above the rooftops – take a ride on the Tram and enjoy the views!

Need more Halloweeny events?

Horror Calendar – The Shadow over Portland
Halloween Events & Activities – PDXPipeline
Halloween events in and around Portland – Travel Portland

Photo credit: Tram photo by Wikipedia user Cacophony. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

Curse of the Haunted Curds – Pop-up Poutine Benefit (29 October 2015)

October 28, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

Curse of the Haunted Curds – the Brewer’s Revenge – takes place Thursday, 29 October 2015, at Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House (210 NW 11th). This pop-up poutine competition benefits Sisters of the Road.

From 11 AM to 8 PM visitors to the pub can order a special poutine sampler plate ($10 donation) featuring poutines from five chefs from area pubs (Deschutes, Fat Heads, Portland Brewing, 10 Barrel, Rogue). Each poutine features a gravy made with one of their beers, and event sponsor Face Rock Creamery‘s Vampire Slayer garlic-cheddar curds.

At 6 PM a judging panel including cheesemonger Steve Jones will decide on a winner. The “People’s Choice Award” will also be presented to the chef who received the most votes from diners who ordered the poutine sampler throughout the day.

Read the press release at Brewpublic for more details.

Portland Fermentation Festival (27 October 2015)

October 26, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

The 6th annual Portland Fermentation Festival takes place Tuesday, 27 October 2015, at Ecotrust’s Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center (721 NW 9th) from 6 PM to 9:30 PM. .

Bring your own homemade fermented foods – everyone can share. Nothing at this food fest is for sale – it’s all about sharing tastes, and knowledge. Plus there are doors prizes, give-aways and Fermentation Festival souvenirs!

Sample pickles, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, miso, and more from 30 different amateur and professional fermenters! On the rooftop enjoy beer, hard cider, and Bingo Sandwiches.

Admission is $10 for the 7 PM to 8 PM tasting sessions, or $20 for the session plus the 6 PM expert panel tasting – visit the Portland Fermentation Festival website for advance ticket information.

Local food writer Liz Crain, co-organizer of the festival with George Winborn and David Barber, shares more details and highlights of the 2011 event at Food Lover’s Guide to Portland. There’s a nice review of the 2014 event at Cooking up a Story.

History Pub: “How to Win with 24 Outlaws: A Presentation about the Legendary Portland Mavericks” (26 October 2015)

October 26, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

The home 1973 opener to the Portland Mavericks at Civic Stadium (now Providence Park). Portland went on to win the league title that season. (photo by Bob McCurtan, The Oregonian)

How to Win with 24 Outlaws: A Presentation about the Legendary Portland Mavericks, the latestHistory Pub at the Kennedy School Theater (5736 NE 33rd), takes place on Monday, 26 October 2015.

Hear these two former Mavericks’ first-hand stories and experiences about their days with “the battered bastards of baseball.”

While we can’t show the award-winning documentary Battered Bastards of Baseball (due to Netflix contractual rights), we will show the film trailer, followed by short presentations by Peters and Colton. Then we’ll open it up to the audience for Q&A and see where the night goes…

History Pub, presented by McMenamins, Oregon Historical Society, and the Holy Names Heritage Center, is free and open to all ages. Doors open at 6 PM, and the talk begins at 7 PM.

Portland Weekend Amusements (23-25 October 2015)

October 23, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

If you enjoy walking, craft beer, artisan spirits, books, and the Timbers – you’re in for a treat or three this weekend!

All Weekend

Friends of the Library Fall Used Book Sale 2015

The annual Friend of the Library Fall Used Book Sale takes place October 23-26, 2015 at the Lloyd Center DoubleTree Hotel Exhibit Hall (1000 NE Multnomah).

“100,000 Donated Books and Materials – Well Sorted

Gently Used Books
Children’s books, pocket-sized paperbacks start at $0.50
Hardcover books and large paperbacks start at $2.00

Saturday

Great American Spirits Festival

The Great American Spirits Festival takes place Saturday, 24 October 2015 from 2 PM to 10 PM at the Tiffany Center (1410 NW Morrison).

Over 40 distillers will be on hand – including 20 from Oregon – offering tastings, cocktails, and sharing recipes.

Killer Beer Fest

Brewpublic tops off the 7th annual Killer Beer Week with the Killer Beer Fest at Bailey’s Taproom (213 SW Broadway) on Saturday, 24 October 2015 from noon until 11 PM.

The beer list includes:

Finn River: Black Oak
Gigantic: Ginormous
Vertigo: Coconut Porter
Trinity: Menacing Huckleberry
Upright: Oregon Native . . .

Sunday

McMenamins’ 30th Anniversary of the First Brew

On October 25, 1985, McMenamins’ first beer was brewed in a small copper kettle at Hillsdale Brewery. It was a liquid malt extract brew, highly hopped for the era, brewed by the Hillsdale’s first brewer Ron Wolf and dubbed “Hillsdale Ale.” Falling loosely in the ‘Special Bitter’ classification of beer styles, Hillsdale Ale became McMenamins first bona-fide company standard beer, pre-dating Terminator, Hammerhead and Ruby.

Match Day: Portland Timbers vs. Colorado Rapids

After an exhilarating two match 6 points road trip, the Timbers return to Providence Park to host the Colorado Rapids on Sunday, 25 October 2015 for an afternoon match.

Though tied on points with the 3rd place team in the West, the Timbers are not yet assured of a playoff spot – a win Sunday could seal the deal.

Ongoing

Walktober

Walktober 2015, the greatest walking holiday of the year takes place in Portland throughout October.

“Walk anywhere, everywhere, for any reason, or for no reason at all. This is Walktober: walking fun October 6th through Halloween (the greatest walking holiday of the year).”

Inspired by Pedalpalooza, three weeks of bikey fun in Portland held every June, the Oregon Walks conceived Walktober to promote walking as a fun, healthy, ubiquitous activity in the Portland metro region.