Accordion — Page 7

Portland Polish Festival 2011

August 30, 2011 by Dave Knows 2 Comments

2012 details here!

The 16th annual Portland Polish Festival, my favorite local cultural event, takes place this year on Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25.

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 11am to 10pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm. 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

Pierogi ruskie, Gołąbki, and My Favorite: Placki Ziemniaczane (2008)
A Night At The Polish Fest (2009)

Dave Knows

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

Hawthorne Street Fair (28-August-2011)

August 22, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The 2011 Hawthorne Street Fair takes place Sunday, August 28, from 11am to 5pm.

For the third year in a row the fair coincides with the Southeast Portland Sunday Parkways, which intersects with Hawthorne at 32nd and 45th. Most of the street fair activities take place between 12th and 51st (take a look at the map). Clusters of arts, crafts, and food vendors pepper the side streets, sidewalks, and adjacent parking lots.

The Acoustic Stage is stationed at 41st and Hawthorne and features Pug Bernhard One Man Accordion Band, and others, throughout the day. The Showcase Stage at 34th features Sportin’ Lifers, Smilin’ Johns Bluegrass Band, and others.

Kids activities, including face painting, bubbles, kids music, puppet shows, and more, can be found (or avoided, as the case may be) at
35th.

Heather and I took in both the Sunday Parkways and Hawthorne Street Fair in 2009. The Hawthorne Street Fair does not really compare to Portland’s other renown neighborhood fests – the main drag is not closed to car traffic like it is during the Mississippi, Alberta, Belmont, and Multnomah Village street fairs. One pleasant surprise this year though, is the two beer gardens – one adjacent to Bazi Beierbrasserie (SE 32nd), and one at the Eagles Lodge (SE 50th).

Visit HawthorneStreetFair.com and the Facebook event page for more details, including the full music schedule and more activities.

Festa Italiana 2011

August 22, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The 20th Festa Italiana turns Pioneer Courthouse Square into a piazza Thursday through Saturday, August 25 through 27, 2011.

This is one of my favorite Portland festivals, and not just because of the strolling accordionists. Arrive early to secure a table in the beer and wine garden! You’ll have an excellent view of the stage in the middle of the square. Wine is available by the bottle or the glass; and you’ll find the Festa Italiana drink prices to be more reasonable than at most festivals. Beer is available too.

Festa favorite, Ray Massa’s Eurorythms will be back by popular demand. This year we are adding a second full band, Diamanti (Diamond in Italian), a great band from Chicago. Tenor Moreno Fruzzetti, a native of Pisa, Italy will entertain with a selection of Italian and American classics. John English, “The Voice” will sing Sinatra in a super smooth performance. And there is nothing like a little opera on a summer night. The Portland State University Opera Group will perform on Thursday night.

Visit the festa website for the full entertainment schedule. In addition to musical entertainment, enjoy the pizza toss, grape stomp, face painting, and The Carter Family Marionettes!

Fantastic food, mostly Italian, will be available from Ristorante Roma, Bastas Trattoria, a Cena and The People’s Pig. And of course gelato, dolce and Italian ice treats will also be available.

The fest runs from 11am to 11pm each day, and entry is free! Visit the Festa Italiana website or Facebook page for more details.

Cinco De Mayo Fiesta 2011

May 2, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Update: 2012 Cinco de Mayo details here!

Join tens of thousands this weekend at Waterfront Park between the Hawthorne and Morrison bridges to celebrate the Mexican army’s 1862 defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla:
It’s the 27th annual Portland Cinco de Mayo festival!

Sponsored by the non-profit Portland Guadalajara Sister City Association, enjoy the rides, music and dance, food and more from Wednesday, el Cinco de Mayo, through Sunday (. . . um, el Ocho de Mayo).

Luchadores! Fireworks!

This year’s festival also features Lucha Libre bouts on Saturday and Sunday, with “El Oriental”, “Hysteria”, “Mascarita Dorada”, “Mini-Alebrije”, California: “El Gato”, “Mega Boy” visiting from Mexico City and six wrestlers from Oregon.

And per tradition there will be a fireworks demonstration at 10pm on Friday.

Festival hours are 11am to 11pm. Admission is $6 if you’re 13 or older, $3 for those 6 to 12, $4 for seniors (62 and over), and kids under 6 get in free. Visit the Cinco De Mayo website for entertainment schedule, special deals, and other event details.

Cinco De Mayo Carnival from Andrew Curtis on Vimeo.

Portland Polish Festival 2010

September 26, 2010 by Dave Knows 2 Comments

The weekend I look forward too all year finally arrived, with bonus beautiful weather! But after tying one on Friday night at the Oaks Park Oktoberfest, I wasn’t sure how much enjoyment I could endure at my favorite Fall event, the Portland Polish Festival. But I had no need to worry – once again the experience lived up to my exalted expectations!

Heather and I had noted last year that the Polish Festival crowds start to thin around sunset, which also means the wait in the placki ziemniaczane (potato pancake) line becomes tolerable, and walking from point A to point B does not necessitate time consuming and frustrating navigation around multiple double-wide strollers and dawdling perambulators. Despite knowing this, however, we arrived around 5:30pm. We endured, however, with the help provided by a couple bottles of piwo.

With the help of said beer we perused the offerings of the fest.

In the vendor village we were tempted, but did not give in to, the Kiss Me I’m Polish wear. For one thing, neither of us are Polish. But when at the Polish Fest, we wish we were!

Because of the crowds, we decided the best course of action was to find a comfortable spot to establish a home base, and wait until sunset for things to open up a bit.

Fortunately we secured a couple seats at the back of the main tent with our friends Brent and Lesley.

We fueled up for the rest of the evening with potato pancakes.

From our vantage point we watched and listened to the Polka Beats perform during the polka contests.

The Polka Beats have played every year we’ve been going to the Polish Festival. They, needless to say, rock.

After the polka contests, they played until dark, at which point they moved into the Polish Hall building to play for the rest of the evening.

Next up on the outdoor stage were the headliners, Chervona!

Heather and I first heard Chervona play at last year’s Polish Festival. We were blown away, so to speak. This band is amazing. They play every Last Thursday at the Alberta Street Public House, and lots of other places. Follow them on Facebook!

We had a fantastic time. And we learned that bouncing up and down to Chervona while photographing yourself leads to blurry photos.

See you next year! The Portland Polish Festival in 2011 takes place Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25!

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