You know you want to get out… here’s where to go.
It’s said that New Yorkers never go to the Statue of Liberty and Parisians never go to the Eiffel Tower, because natives rarely take the time to do the things that make a place special to the tourists. That’s especially sad when it happens here. People come from around the world to see our Oregon, yet we all-too-often sit let the beauty and adventure they’re searching for just wash past us. Don’t let that happen to you this summer! The Oregonian recently had a wonderful guide to 53 activities that will take you around Portland and across the state to see the best we have to offer. Maybe all 53 would be a little too busy, but we bet that picking just a few items off the list will give you a Summer to remember…
53 things to do in Oregon this summer
By Lizzy Acker | The Oregonian/OregonLive | Posted May 20, 2019 at 07:05 AM
Only boring people get bored in Oregon during the summer. We’ve got lakes, rivers, festivals, beaches, music and food. There’s almost always something going on to get you outside, even on those hot days in the middle when you start thinking you might actually miss the rain. Start planning your epic summer of adventure now with our list of 53 events you won’t want to miss…
Portland Pickles baseball
You don’t have to spend too much to get the full baseball experience and the Portland Pickles lean hard into their name, with fried pickles at the concession stand and a pickle mascot named Dillion. Pre-season home games start June 1.
Walker Stadium at Lents Park, Portland; $8; portlandpicklesbaseball.com
Hillsboro Hops baseball
Hillsboro’s minor league team plays their first home game on June 21 against the Vancouver Canadians.
Ron Tonkin Field, Hillsboro; $7-$50; hillsborohops.com
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
This year Oregon’s famous Shakespeare festival in Southern Oregon is putting on Shakespeare classics “All’s Well That Ends Well” and “As You Like It,” among others, as well as modern place like “How to Catch Creation” and “Mother Road.”
Outdoor shows run through early October; Ashland; ticket prices vary; osfashland.org
The Rose Festival
Portland’s annual celebration of roses has everything — fair rides, parades, fireworks. And this year, it’s been happening for 111 years.
May 24-June 9; various locations around Portland, prices vary, many events are free; rosefestival.org
Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest
So you think you can build a sandcastle? Join this yearly competition in Cannon Beach and see how you stack up.
June 7-9, building happens June 8; Cannon Beach; free to watch, $5-$20 to compete; cannonbeach.org
Portland Scandinavian Midsummer Festival
Craft, eat and help raise the Midsummer Pole at this festival celebrating its 91st year.
June 8; Oaks Park; $7-$8; nordicnorthwest.org
Oregon Divisional Chainsaw Sculpting Championships
Watch experts turn logs into works of art at the 20th annual Oregon Divisional Chainsaw Sculpting Championships over Father’s Day Weekend.
June 13-16; Reedsport; $5; oregonccc.com
Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade
Portland’s annual Pride Festival and Parade celebrates the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans communities.
June 15-16; Tom McCall Waterfront Park; $8 donation; pridenw.org
Cider Summit Portland
Cider lovers, now is your time. This cider festival will feature over 150 ciders, as well as cider cocktails and apple spirits.
June 21-22; Fields Neighborhood Park, Portland; $25-$40; cidersummitnw.com
Tigard Festival of Balloons
Sure, the Festival of Balloons features hot air balloons, but that’s not all! There’s shopping, eating, carnival rides, games and live music.
June 21-23; Cook Park, Tigard; $5-$8 for three-day pass; tigardballoon.org
Summer Kite Festival
Take advantage of the windy coast with this free festival celebrating kites. Make your own kite or just watch other people’s kites soar through the air.
June 22-23; Lincoln City; free; oregoncoast.org
World Naked Bike Ride
One night every summer, people gather, remove their clothing, and then ride through the streets of Portland. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but if it’s yours, you are probably already making plans for the World Naked Bike Ride.
June 29; Portland, starting location TBA; free; pdxwnbr.org
World Beat Festival
You don’t have to travel the world all summer to experience music, food, dancing and traditions of different cultures. Just head to Salem’s Riverfront Park for the World Beat Festival.
June 28-30; Riverfront Park, Salem; $5; salemmulticultural.org
St. Paul Rodeo
In St. Paul, there will be roping, riding and racing. Is it even summer if you don’t watch a rodeo?
July 2-6; St. Paul Rodeo Grounds; $16-$26; stpaulrodeo.com
Estacada Timber Festival
Step into a world that involves competitive pole climbing, ax throwing and log rolling. Plus, there’s live music.
July 4; Estacada Timber Park; $5; estacadatimberfestival.com
Waterfront Blues Festival
Celebrate Fourth of July weekend with musical acts like Marchfourth, Shemekia Copeland and the California Honeydrops, all on the banks of the Willamette River.
July 4-7; Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland; festival passes start at $50; waterfrontbluesfest.com
“Wicked”
If you’re looking for some inside fun in July, try “Wicked” with Broadway in Portland. Experience the story, and music, of two witches who strike up a friendship. Also, there’s air conditioning.
July 10-28; Keller Auditorium, Portland; $59-$179; portland.broadway.com
Harefest
Two days, three stages and 22 tribute bands? Yep. This year’s Harefest will include a Journey tribute band, a Heart tribute band, a Guns N’ Roses tribute band and so, so many more.
July 12-13; Canby; $49-$65; harefest.com
Oregon Country Fair
The Oregon Country Fair will celebrate 50 years of music, food and yes, some nudity, in the woods this summer. Paint your face, put on your sandals and join the fun.
July 12-14; Veneta; $29-$36; oregoncountryfair.org
The Big Float
On a (hopefully) nice day in July, join a whole crowd of other people and float down the Willamette River in Portland. Don’t forget, it’s BYOFD (bring your own flotation device).
July 13; Tom McCall Waterfront Park; $5-$15; thebigfloat.com
da Vinci Days
Celebrate math, science, engineering, technology and arts with Corvallis’ annual festival named after Leonardo da Vinci.
July 19-21; Corvallis; free; davincidays.org
Cathedral Park Jazz Festival
Bring a picnic and listen to music under the St. Johns Bridge, all for free.
July 19-21; Cathedral Park, Portland; free; jazzoregon.com/cpjazz
Robin Hood Festival
This year is the 65th anniversary Sherwood’s annual Robin Hood Festival, an old timey celebration of the community that features a medieval parade, sword fights and lots of activities and music.
July 19-21; old town Sherwood; free; robinhoodfestival.org
PDX Pop Now!
Portland’s annual outdoor, under-the-bridge, free music festival returns this summer for its 16th year of local indie rock and roll.
July 20-21; Audiocinema, Portland; free; pdxpopnow.com
Concours d’Elegance
Music, food, beer, wine and of course, classic cars, make Concours d’Elegance the summer event for lovers of old time automobiles.
July 21; Pacific University, Forest Grove; $5-$20; forestgroveconcours.org
Dunefest
If you like extreme sports with your Oregon coast appreciation, Dunefest is the place for you. Want to race ATVs? Toss tires? Take monster truck rides? That’s Dunefest.
July 23-28; Winchester Bay, Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area; $20-$45; dunefest.com
Oregon Brewers Festival
This summer, the Oregon Brewers Festival will feature all craft beers and ciders from Oregon for the first time. Also exciting to beer lovers will be the fact that 85 of those beers and ciders will be first-release products debuting at the festival.
July 24-27; Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland; free to enter, $20 for a tasting package that includes a mug and 10 tokens; oregonbrewfest.com
Portlandia Mermaid Parade
This year is the fourth year that a parade of mermaids has walked through Portland. Not a mermaid? You can still go.
July 27; Tom McCall Waterfront Park; free; portlandiamermaidparade.com
Tualatin Crawfish Festival
If your love of crawfish (or crawdads) isn’t enough to entice you to this festival, what about the Tom Petty tribute band called Petty Fever is playing on Saturday?
Aug. 2-3; Tualatin Community Park; $5; hoodtocoastrelay.com/rs/crawfish-festival/
Pickathon
Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band is just one of the groups that are heading to the Pendarvis Farm for a weekend of music, food and even camping this summer.
Aug. 2-4; Pendarvis Farm, Happy Valley; $130-$160 for single-day admission; pickathon.com
Chinese Festival
Celebrate the culture and food of China with dances, musical acts, martial arts demonstrations and more at the first ever Chinese Festival.
Aug. 3; Pioneer Courthouse Square; free; pdxchinese.org/chinesefestival
Tillamook County Fair
This summer the Tillamook County Fair will make your ‘90s dreams come true with a show by Sugar Ray. Yeah, that Sugar Ray.
Aug. 7-10; Tillamook; $6-$10; tillamookfair.com
Junction City Scandinavian Festival
Celebrate Scandinavian culture and food in the central Willamette Valley this summer.
Aug. 8-11; Junction City; free; junctioncityscandia.org
Pan African Festival of Oregon
Oregon’s annual Pan African Festival celebrates the influence of the African Diaspora in Oregon with dancing, drumming, family entertainment and food.
Aug. 10; Pioneer Courthouse Square; free; panafricanfestivalor.org
Bridge Pedal
If you’ve ever wanted to ride your bike over a freeway bridge in Portland, this is your one chance of the year.
Aug. 11; bridges across Portland; $35; providence.org/bridge-pedal
India Festival
Experience the sights, tastes and sounds of India at the annual India Festival, which features dance, music and food.
Aug. 11; Pioneer Courthouse Square; free; icaportland.org
Grand Ronde Contest Powwow
Watch Native dancers compete for more than $35,000 in prize money in 20 categories are during this weekend celebration.
Aug. 16-18; Uyxat Powwow Grounds, Willamina; free to watch, $1 for parking; crazycrow.com
PDX Adult Soap Box Derby
Watch full-grown adults fly down Mt. Tabor in homemade derby cars. Stay alert. There will be crashes.
Aug. 17; Mount Tabor Park, Portland; free to watch; soapboxracer.com
Airshow of the Cascades
The Airshow of the Cascades doesn’t just have airplanes — there are also cars, bikes, fireworks, drones and all kinds of entertainment.
Aug. 23-24; Madras Airport; $6-$20 for admission; cascadeairshow.com
Hood to Coast
Watch runners compete in this awesome feat of strength — a team run literally from Mount Hood to the Oregon coast — from the sidelines.
Aug. 23-24; Timberline Lodge to Seaside; free to watch; hoodtocoastrelay.com
Faerieworlds
Art, music and fantasy collide at Horning’s Hideout during Faerieworlds. Don’t forget to bring your wings.
Aug. 23-25; Horning’s Hideout, North Plains; tickets start at $45 for adults; faerieworlds.com
Oregon State Fair
Enjoy the rides on the midway, eat some classic fair food, check out the prize-winning animals and listen to the Beach Boys, all at the Oregon State Fair.
Aug. 23-Sept. 2; Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem; $5-$8; oregonstatefair.com
Dahlia Festival
Revel in colorful displays at this annual free celebration of dahlias in bloom.
Aug. 24-26 and Aug. 31- Sept. 2; Swan Island Dahlias, Canby; free; dahlias.com
Dragons in The Wallowas
Watch dragon boats race on Wallowa Lake, in the shadow of the majestic Wallowa Mountains.
Aug. 24-25; Wallowa Lake; free to watch; wallowa7wonderscup.com
Sisters Folk Festival
This year’s Sisters Folk Festival will feature Bruce Cockburn, Le Vent Du Nord and more, playing folk and more on eleven different stages across town.
Sept. 6-8; venues across Sisters; $55-$170 for festival pass; sistersfolkfestival.org
Cycle Oregon
This year, the week-long bike ride through Oregon travels over 400 miles around the rim of Crater Lake and through Central Oregon.
Sept. 7-14; beginning and ending in Oakridge; $1,050; cycleoregon.com
Pendleton Round-Up
The Pendleton Round-Up is more than just a rodeo — it features parades and a concert too!
Sept. 11-14; Pendleton; $17-$24; pendletonroundup.com
Feast Portland
The Pacific Northwest’s marquee food and drink festival will welcome a new lineup of celebrated chefs from around the world for its eighth year in Portland.
Sept. 12-15; venues across Portland; ticket prices vary; feastportland.com
Rose City Comic Con
Rose City Comic Con is one of the city’s largest celebrations of geek culture.
Sept. 13-15; Oregon Convention Center, Portland; $25-$40 for single-day passes; rosecitycomiccon.com
Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire
Put on your finest pantaloons and head to this “faire” set in the historic renaissance of 1558 to 1603.
Sept. 14-15; Kings Valley; $7-$14; shrewfaire.com
Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival
Publicly demonstrate your skills with the chalk, or just watch other people do it, at this festival in Forest Grove.
Sept. 21; downtown Forest Grove; $7-$12 to participate, free to observe; valleyart.org
Komen Oregon and SW Washington More Than Pink Walk
This year, Susan G. Komen Oregon and SW Washington is expanding beyond pink during their annual fundraiser walk, which raises money to reduce breast cancer deaths in the United States.
Sept. 22; Portland; $20-$35 to register as an individual; komenoregon.org
Oregon Alpenfest
The Oregon Aplenfest promises “a rousing a good time with beer, bratwurst and Swiss and Bavarian entertainment.”
Sept. 26-29; Venues around Joseph, Enterprise and Wallowa Lake; many events are free; oregonalpenfest.com
