Wine

Portland Weekend Amusements (12-14 August 2016)

August 12, 2016 by Dave Leave a Comment

This weekend’s activities: Bridge Pedal, Alberta Street Fair, Seaport Celebration, Taste of Croatia, Timbers Army Block Party, India Fest – and more!

The Bite of Oregon takes over Waterfront Park all weekend with Oregon food, wine, and beer. The Bridge Pedal take place Sunday, August 14, 2016.

Saturday

Alberta Street Fair

The 19th Annual Alberta Street Fair, presented by Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care, is Saturday, August 13, 2016. The Fair offers an eclectic mix of activities and events that could only be found on Alberta Street and showcases the best of the Alberta Street community. The event features entertainment, music, vendors, food and drink for people of all ages.

Seaport Celebration

Join the fun on the waterfront at the family-friendly event of the summer!

The Port of Portland’s Terminal 2 will open up for a unique opportunity to go inside the fences of a working marine terminal, normally closed to the public. Best of all, parking and admission are free!

Experience Portland’s thriving working harbor by jumping on a jet boat ride, or throw on a helmet and try your hand at welding. Enjoy interactive booths from harbor businesses. From great musicians and delicious food, to thrilling activities for all ages, Seaport Celebration is the event not to be missed!

Taste of Croatia

The Taste of Croatia festival takes place Saturday, 13 August 2016 at the St. Birgitta Catholic Church in Linnton (11820 NW St. Helens Road, Portland, OR) from 11 AM to 9 PM.

Enjoy delicious Croatian food including roasted lamb and pork, traditional pastries – plus imported beer and wine while taking in Croatian folklore, music, and much more. There are kids activities too.

Timbers Army Block Party

Hey, kids! Time for our annual block party!

As in years past, we’ll take over the block in front of the Fanladen with match viewing, music, a dunk tank and bouncy house, and many options for beer, cider, and food.

Festivities go from 1 to 9pm. The match is at 4pm.

Sunday

India Fest

Bring your friends and family and come to Pioneer Courthouse Square for a free taste of Indian Culture! Get ready to experience a day of back-to-back dances, musical performances, and food from Portland’s finest Indian restaurants.

Don’t miss out on a memorable event that draws crowds from all over the West Coast!

Ongoing – in the Parks

Movies in the Park

Fri, August 12 – Dawson Park (N Stanton St & Williams Ave) – Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Fri, August 12 – Kenilworth Park (SE 34th & Holgate Blvd) – Big Hero 6 (2014)
Sat, August 13 – Parklane Park (SE 155th & Main St) – Big Hero 6 (Spanish with English Subtitles)
Sun, August 14 – April Hill Park (SW 58th & Miles St) – Star Wars – The Force Awakens (2015)

Flicks on the Bricks – and Pioneer Courthouse Square

Fri, August 12 – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (G)
with pre-movie entertainment by Kory Quinn

Concerts in the Park

Sunday, Aug 14 – Washington Park – Portland Festival Symphony

OMSI After Dark: Gaming (24 February 2016)

February 21, 2016 by Dave Leave a Comment

OMSI AFter Dark, a night at the museum for the 21-and-over crowd filled with food, drink, and science fun presents Gaming on Wednesday, 24 February 2016.

Shoot off water rockets, concoct chemical creations, and explore the wonders of OMSI with no kids in sight! Enjoy a glass of wine while learning about robots, tornados, or fossils. Talk to a brewer about the science behind beer, or taste how an extra 10% cacao can make a difference in chocolate.

Featured demonstrations and activities include Musical Tesla Coils, Atoms & Bits panelist discussions, Colorblind Challenge, and more.

Hours are 6 PM to 10 PM. Admission is $15 for non-members, $7.50 for OMSI members, and free for OMSI After Dark members. OMSI recommends buying tickets in advance for this one since it may sell out.

Portland Weekend Amusements (5-7 February 2016)

February 3, 2016 by Dave Leave a Comment

Sausage, seafood and wine, Chinese food and culture – and a parade! Plenty to do beside watching football this weekend.

Friday-Saturday

Portland Seafood & Wine Festival

Come join us and sip some of Oregon’s best wines while indulging in all the fresh coastal seafood and culinary delights at the 11th Annual Portland Seafood & Wine Festival! What luck that this Portland Tradition falls right in the middle of Dungeness Crab season. We encourage you to bring the whole family! With face painters, balloon artists and so much more your everyone is sure to look forward to coming every year!

Wurstfest (in Mt. Angel)

The Best of the WURST a celebration of German Sausage

Celebrate Mount Angel’s German heritage at Wurstfest, where you will find the best handcrafted German sausages as well as local and German beers. Enjoy other great food, live German music, dancing, games and demonstrations.

Special events include Senior Day for 65 and over, with special give-aways on Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

So dust off your lederhosen, starch up your Bavarian dirndl, and join the happy folk of Mt. Angel for a fun-filled, two-day celebration of the Wurst.

Saturday

年宵會 Chinese New Year Cultural Fair

Chinese New Year Cultural Fair will be celebrating the Year of Monkey with you on Feb. 6, at Oregon Convention Center Hall B.

This year with the sponsorship from ACHIEF Fund and the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, and the local Chinese Restaurants, and Food supply Companies, we will be able to give out 1,000 FREE NEW YEAR LUNCH to our audience. Free lunch will be given at around 1pm after our Grand Opening at 12pm. You have to present the WHOLE ticket to get the lunch.

Sunday

Dragon Dance and Parade

Kick off the Chinese New Year with a fabulous mile-long parade through Portland! The Dragon Dance will begin at 11am on the corner of NW Davis & 4th Ave., continuing through Chinatown, down 3rd Ave., and up SW Jefferson. The celebration continues at OHS when the parade arrives around noon, where we will host tea, sweet treats, and special performances by local Lion Dance teams!

Oaks Park Oktoberfest (25-27 September 2015)

September 22, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

The 2015 Oaks Park Oktoberfest takes place Friday through Sunday, September 25 through 27.

Bier! Main sponsor Paulaner will be offering a festival lineup of Oktoberfest, Hefeweizen, Paulaner Salvator, and their Pilsner. Wine and non-alcoholic beverages will be available too.

Multiple food vendors offer their take on Oktoberfest food, including Taste of Oktoberfest by Scandinavian Cafe, Schnitzel Haus, Edelweiss Deli, Urban German, Eis Hutte, Deutsche Desserts, and more – everything is reasonably priced, and two festhallen and a multitude of outdoor picnic tables means there are plenty of places to sit down with your beers and friends.

If you love accordion music you’re in for a treat (if you don’t love accordion music, I pity you). Performers include Alpine Echoes, Edelweiss Tanz Gruppe, German International School, Joe the Accordion Man, The Kleinstädtlers, Leikarringen of Portland, Polkatones, Rose City Accordion Club, and more. There are three stages – the Main Festhalle, the Family Festhalle, and the Comcast Stage. Visit the fest website for the full performance schedule.

Compete in (or, as I do, watch and guffaw at) the Main Festhalle Games like the pretzel toss, condiment art, and the chicken dance throughout the weekend.

Additionally there’s a Craft and Import Vendors village where you can buy lederhosen and dirndls, and plenty of knick knacks and stuff for the kids.

Admission is $5 for adults 16 to 61, $3 for 62 and over, and kids get in for $2. Friday the fest goes from 3 PM to midnight, Saturday, 11 AM to midnight, and Sunday 11 AM to 7 PM. (Friday from 3 PM to 6 PM is Senior Excitement Night at the fest; guests 55 and older receive FREE admission and discounts at some vendors.)

This is one of Heather‘s favorite Portland festivals, because of the weiner dog races of course.

To give you an idea of what to expect, check out our reviews from past years:

Heather’s:

Mine:

Oaks Park Oktoberfest 2009
Oaks Park Oktoberfest 2010 by me

And here’s a weiner dog race video!

Weiner Dog Race! from Mile73 on Vimeo.

Festa Italiana (27-29 August 2015)

August 24, 2015 by Dave Leave a Comment

The 24th annual Festa Italiana tranforms Pioneer Courthouse Square into an Italian piazza Thursday through Saturday, August 27 through 29, 2015.

Arrive early to grab a table in the beer and wine garden (in my experience the beer and wine prices are very reasonable) where you’ll have an excellent view of the stage. Entertainment runs the gamut from marionettes, ballet, and opera to Sinatra tributes and of course (of course!) plenty of accordions!

Fantastic food, mostly Italian, will be available from several local restaurants and food carts. And of course gelato, dolce and Italian ice treats will also be available.

Admission is free. Visit Fest-Italiana.org for more details.