Fall is here, so of course in Portland that means summer weather! Don’t worry, you’ve still got over a month of great outdoor fests to take in before winter rains force us inside.
Ongoing
Chapman Vaux’s Swift Watch 2011
So here’s the deal. Every September thousands of Vaux’s Swifts come to Portland. They spend their days eating lots of bugs. In the late afternoon the Swifts begin flying in a giant undulating swirl in the sky about the school. Around sunset they swirl more tightly, like a ground pepper tornado, and begin disappearing, measure by measure, down the chimney. On the lawn below, hundreds of Portlanders gather on lawn chairs and blankets to stare at the sky, mesmerized. Boos erupt when opportunistic Peregrine falcons occasionally get lucky. The crowd cheers, however, when the predators are thwarted. Meanwhile unruly oblivious children scream and roll down the grassy hill. [more]
All Weekend
The 6th annual Muddy Boot Festival, a three-day grassroots event that promotes sustainable living, takes place Friday through Sunday, September 9 through 11, 2011 at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church (2408 SE 16th).
Health + Happiness: Sustaining Vibrant Communities is the theme of this year’s festival, which features live music, food vendors, workshops, panel discussions, activities for the kids, and an outdoor local vendor and exhibitor market. [more]
Saturday
This annual Portland multi-cultural festival is timed to coincide with the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Portland version features Dragon Dancers, lanterns, moon cakes, and food and games. Entertainment (pdf) includes Monmouth Taiko, Portland Chinese Children Choir, Auco Dance Troupe, and more. And you won’t want to miss the ping pong tournament! [more]
The 15th Annual Belmont Street Fair takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 from noon until 8pm. The fair extends from 20th to 48th on Southeast Belmont, with car free blocks from 33rd to 37th.
This is one of my favorite Portland street fairs. Car free streets make it more pleasant than the Hawthorne Street Fair. Most of the fair activities take place within a few car free blocks between SE 34th and 37th, so it’s easy to take in the whole thing. And the Belmont Street Fair is not nearly as crowded as the Mississippi Street Fair. [more]
The 7th annual Widmer Brothers Oktoberfest takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 3pm until 11:30pm at the brewery (929 N. Russell Street) – take the Yellow line MAX!
Widmer’s beers, brats, chicken schnitzel wraps, sauerkraut, and pretzels are available, but that’s where the similarities to most Oktoberfests ends.
Bands playing throughout the day include the Dr. Theopolis, The Quick & Easy Boys, Empty Space Orchestra, Hey Marseilles, and Colin Lake & Wellbottom – not a whole lot of oom-pah, but plenty of good beer! [more]
The annual KBOO Book and Record Sale takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 at the Eagle’s Lode (SE 50th & Hawthorne) from 2pm to 9pm.
Some of KBOO’s finest DJs will be on hand spinning some of the great records we have available. [more]
And for even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, PDX Pipeline, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.
The Stumptown Stories series, geared to everyone who loves this city we live in, takes place most Tuesdays at 
A heat wave hit the Northwest’s Inland Empire and Northeastern Oregon during the summer of 1898. The all-time record high was surpassed by 5 degrees in Walla Walla, Washington, when the thermometer reached 113. But the hottest spot on August 10, 1898 was Pendleton, Oregon, where the thermometer topped out at