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Jump to: Comedy | Community & Festivals | Film | Food & Drink | Geek & Gaming | Live Music | Performance | Readings & Talks | Visual Art

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COMEDY

Lone Wolves presents Back to School Night Remind Like List
Lone Wolves' seasoned comics have been howlin' since 2013 with smart, sharp sketch comedy performances, and they're heading back to the stage to teach us a lesson this time around. You might've already caught their routines at Portland Center Stage, the CoHo Theater, or the Portland Sketch Comedy Festival. For this "back to school" edition of the show, local laughers (Shelley McLendon, Paul Glazier, Lori Ferraro, and others) will pick up their pencils and sketch new scenes with help from their fellow wolves. Awooo! LC
Siren Theater, Boise (Sept 6–20)

John Early: The Album Tour Remind Like List
I'll be honest: Most of my knowledge of John Early comes from my diehard obsession with his longtime creative collaborator, Kate Berlant. But if you're anything like me (obsessed with alt comedians like Berlant, Jacqueline Novak, Tim Heidecker, Joe Pera, Jo Firestone, etc.) then Early needs no introduction. The absurdist visionary with a glittery, desperate gleam in his eyes will visit Portland with iced coffee in tow. LC
Revolution Hall, Buckman (Thurs Sept 12)

Tim Murray is Witches! Remind Like List
Tim Murray self-describes as being "like a gay Bo Burnham, but painted green, doing drag," which is the kind of pre-Halloween cheer I didn't realize I needed. He'll bring his creepy-crawly comedy hour Witches! to Portland, blending stand-up with original comedy songs about his favorite pop culture crones and enchantresses, from Sabrina to Anjelica Huston. There's a deeper meaning to the toil and trouble, too—the show is "a tribute to LGBTQIA people and how we discover our magic once we find our coven." If you can't get enough of Murray, never fear. His upcoming sketch comedy TV show Wish You Were Queer, produced by fellow magical queen Trixie Mattel, was announced last year. LC
Siren Theater, Boise (Thurs Sept 12)

David Cross: The End of The Beginning of The End Remind Like List
One is willing to risk a night of intense eye-rolling when a veteran funnyman such as Cross grips the mic. Don't underestimate the goodwill he's accrued by his acting stints on the sketch comedy series Mr. Show and the sitcom Arrested Development, or from his previous stand-up sets full of caustic left jabs against wrongheaded right-wingers and the cartoon-level evil of corporations and rank hypocrisy of politicians and Bible-thumpers. Cross has long been a master of transmuting incredulity and exasperation over the world's manifold sociopolitical idiocies into pointed humor. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR DAVE SEGAL
Revolution Hall, Buckman (Fri Sept 13)

Love Isn't Blind: A Comedy/Dating Show Where the Men Can't Speak Remind Like List
Comedy performer Allison Goldberg's dating show has made waves recently, showing up in LA Magazine, Thrillist, Time Out LA, and elsewhere. Let's do as the Angelenos do, shall we? The show should appeal to those of us who are sick of swiping—and sick of men's voices. In Love Isn't Blind, a handful of fellas will compete on stage for one bachelorette, with the little caveat that they can't speak. Like, at all. Instead, the audience will sort through the pickings by calling the boys' moms and unlocking their phones. The last man standing will go on a date with the bachelorette. Sound weird? Almost certainly!! No weirder than dating in general, though. LC
Helium Comedy Club, Hosford-Abernethy (Thurs Sept 19)

Mike Birbiglia - Please Stop the Ride Remind Like List
Stand-up master, actor, and storyteller Mike Birbiglia has more than his fair share of solo shows, books, and feature films to his credit—his "household name" status is years in the making. Fresh off a new Netflix special, The Old Man and The Pool, in which he chats about the perils of heart disease and cardio, Birbiglia will pop by Portland to seek out our best pizza and pancake places. LC
Newmark Theatre, South Park Blocks (Sept 23–25)

COMMUNITY & FESTIVALS

Oregon State Fair 2024 Past Event Like List
Save room for corn dogs and funnel cake—the Oregon State Fair returned in late August and run through Labor Day weekend with performances by Ludacris, Goo Goo Dolls, Yung Gravy, and more. You can also find classic livestock displays and horse shows, carnival rides, family entertainment, and all the quintessential fried fair foods your heart desires. SL
Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem (Sept 1–2)

Chapman Swift Watch Remind Like List
Because you live in Portland, you are surrounded by folks whose idea of a good time is gazing at Vaux's swifts—a species of dark, tiny-bodied aerialists that like to roost in hollow spaces—as they gracefully funnel into an elementary school chimney each sunset in September. Their numbers vary; sometimes you'll see 5,000, and in mid-September, up to 15,000, as they migrate to Mexico and Central America. Their evening ritual is nothing short of poetic, a visual display that would make Mary Oliver weep. Therefore, arrive early and anticipate fighting for parking. (If you're as lucky as I was last year, you might also witness a Cooper's hawk tucked to one side of the chimney, awaiting a teensy swift snack.) LC
Chapman Elementary School, Northwest Portland (Approximately Sept 1–30)

Portland Dragon Boat Festival 2024 Past Event Like List
Watch over 90 teams cut through the Willamette River in colorful Hong Kong-style dragon boats at Portland's annual dragon boat festival. Teams travel from all over the world to compete here as spectators cheer them on from the RiverPlace Marina. It's not only boat racing—there's other entertainment, a beer garden, and local food vendors like Pidgin Hole, Spice of Africa, and Yoonique Phở & Grill. SL
Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Downtown (Sept 7–8)

Serbian Fest Portland Past Event Like List
Serbian hospitality will be on full display as you learn about the culture, customs, and spirit of the Balkan country at this annual festival. Try traditional Serbian roast pig and lamb dishes, and watch (or join in on!) traditional kolo dancing and singing. If you need some liquid encouragement to participate, there will also be beer and wine. SL
St. Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church, Milwaukie (Sept 7–8)

El Grito Remind Like List
El Grito has plenty planned for its annual two-day fest: folkloric dance performances, mariachi tunes, traditional food offerings from Latinx businesses, community resource booths, and more. The 20th-anniversary celebration kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month; September 15th the independence days of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, plus those of Mexico and Chile on the 16th and 18th, respectively. El Grito invites Portlanders to join in and celebrate the traditions passed from generation to generation in the Latinx community and their indigenous roots. SL
Rose Quarter Commons, Lloyd District (Sept 15–16)

Oktoberfest 2024 Remind Like List
Don your lederhosen and get ready to find out what happens when you combine German tradition with Portland quirk. This 21-and-up Oktoberfest celebration spans two days and offers everything you might expect—beer, bratwurst, and soft pretzels—and everything you might not—permanent tattoos, mechanical bull riding, and a Saturday night dance party with DJ Sappho. If you drink enough beer to want to get on stage yourself, there will be a costume contest and stein-holding competition. Even the most shy among us can't resist foot-stomping to live traditional polka music. SL
Pioneer Courthouse Square, Downtown (Sept 20–21)

MLK Dream Run Remind Like List
Enjoy live music and tasty eats as you browse the Soul-Ful vendor market at the MLK Dream Run’s kick-off celebration on Saturday, or sign the kiddos up for a free youth race at 10:30 am. The actual run goes down on Sunday, with 5K, 10K, and 15K options. All racers will be greeted with a swag bag and an energy-replenishing Dave's Killer Bread grilled cheese at the finish line. Looking to win it all? The overall fastest times for each race will win a round-trip Alaska Airlines ticket. SL
PCC Cascade Campus, North Portland (Sept 21–22)

Portland Zine Symposium Remind Like List
Don't forget to bring a tote bag for this celebration of Portland's unique DIY spirit—you'll wanna fill it with self-published and handmade goodies from small letterpress shops, independent magazines, cartoonists, and more, Zinezilla style. The long-running Portland Zine Symposium is a solid way to get to know local zinesters, so pop by the free affair to buy from tablers like Antiquated Future, emi koyama, Secret Room Press, Outlet PDX, Sola Habibi, sound grounds wreckin' crew, That Deaf Zinester, Molly Lecko Herro, and dozens of others. You'll find publications on every theme under the sun, from autobiographical comics to disability awareness tomes and pop culture goodies. LC
PSU's Smith Memorial Student Union, South Park Blocks (Sept 21–22)

FILM

CatVideoFest 2024 with Catnip Magazine Past Event Like List
There's nothing you could say to convince me that you don't already watch cat videos at home. The question, therefore, is this—why shouldn't you watch cats do their weird, wonderful thing on a big screen? Oscilloscope Laboratories' annual fest compiles the most exemplary cat videos from unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and Internet icons, creating a program that appeals to the kitty video connoisseur in all of us. If you truly need another reason to attend, a portion of ticket sales support the Animal Rescue & Care Fund, and Catnip magazine will be on-site to share copies of their feline-inclined publication. LC
Tomorrow Theater, Richmond (Sun Sept 1)

Hanabi Film Festival Remind Like List
This fest isn't for those expecting screenings of Ponyo and Ringu—not that there's anything wrong with those flicks, but the Hanabi Japanese Film Festival shirks typical Japanese film fare in favor of cult cinema and lesser-known tales. I'm eagerly anticipating the Mieko Kaji double feature Lady Snowblood and Song of Vengeance, Kurosawa's brilliant thriller High and Low, and Yasujirō Ozu's crowning achievement Tokyo Story. Church of Film's screening of the moody, dreamlike August in the Water will be another winner. I recommend grabbing snacks from Kashiwagi's conbini beforehand. LC
Clinton Street Theater, Hosford-Abernethy (Sept 1–13)

Conner O’Malley’s Rap World Past Event Like List
I might have learned about Conner O'Malley's comedy through the dulcet tones of Joe Pera Talks With You, but the NYC-via-Chicago writer and comedian's energy is essentially the anti-Pera: He's frenetic, high-energy, and desperately weird. In his first feature film, O'Malley's anxious, post-internet approach to comedy translates to the screen in this mockumentary about a hapless Midwest suburban rapper and his friends, who attempt to write and record a rap album in a single night in 2009. O'Malley and the Rap World cast and crew will offer a Q&A session after this Pacific Northwest premiere screening. LC
Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District (Mon Sept 2)

2024 HUMP! Part Two Remind Like List
Dan Savage's pioneering erotic film fest premiered an all-new lineup of sexy films featuring all genders and orientations at Revolution Hall earlier this year. Since 2005, HUMP! has brought inclusive, creative, and kinky films to the big screen—and since this year's fest features not one but two feature-length lineups, you can scope out the sex-positive fest yet again for a tantalizing treat. Part two includes a feast of 25 brand-spanking-new feasts for your eyeballs, including "smokin' hot paranormal encounters, a mind-bending space carnival, spine-tingling ASMR, [and] all the thermal eye candy you can eat." It's worth a venture outside of your sex dungeon, but you can still wear the latex catsuit. LC
Cinema 21, Nob Hill (Sept 6–21)

Daisies with woo-woo: Self-Care Sunday Remind Like List
Once banned in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the gleeful, surrealist Daisies is chock-full of hedonistic splendor, revolving around two young women who shrug off stereotypes in pursuit of debauchery and pleasure. Who says anti-patriarchal antics can't be fun?! Stop by Tomorrow Theater for the screening of the '66 flick, which will be preceded by a "self-care moment" with local wellness experts woo-woo. (They'll host a Bodyroll session, described as an "all-levels dance practice to heal your inner dancer and enliven the collective spirit," so come prepared to sweat a little.) LC
Tomorrow Theater, Richmond (Sun Sept 15)

Wyrd War Presents: The Beyond and Zombie with Fabio Frizzi Remind Like List
Wyrd War's 10th-anniversary festivities will continue with the ultimate in Halloween pregaming. On September 20, the Hollywood will screen Lucio Fulci's malevolent meltdown The Beyond, which should put some fear in your heart—chilly composer Fabio Frizzi will perform a live score for the film as you peer into the abyss of hell's seven gateways, complete with flesh-munching tarantulas, zombies, and demonic dogs. Then, on September 21, he'll return to perform a live score for similarly terrifying '79 Fulci flick Zombie, a gross and graphic tribute to the "walking (and swimming!) dead of Haitian voodoo lore." Don't say I didn't warn you. LC
Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District (Sept 20–21)

Eighth Annual Portland Dance Film Fest Remind Like List
Spotlighting films from France, Vietnam, Greece, India, Iran, Japan, and many other countries this year, the Portland Dance Film Festival will return to cultivate more poetic connections with "the language of our bodies." Three screenings of curated picks include between eight and 10 short films, so you can return for each evening of the multi-day festival and have a completely different experience. Passholders can meet-cute with other dance fanatics at informal after-screening gatherings, too. LC
Tomorrow Theater, Richmond (Sept 26–28)

PDX Recovery Film Festival Remind Like List
Presented by Portland peer-led recovery support nonprofit Bridges to Change, this annual festival spotlights films centered around homelessness, substance use, mental health, and incarceration, aiming to increase visibility, create space for storytelling, and inspire some much-needed hope. Last year's line-up included Emmy-nominated filmmaker Moni Vargas' Audrey's Poem and activist Mark Horvath's Peer Supervised Drug Consumption Site, so I'm looking forward to this year's thought-provoking flicks. LC
Revolution Hall, Buckman (Sun Sept 29)

FOOD & DRINK

Third Annual Lagerfest Past Event Like List
Take your pick of lagers at this family-friendly beer extravaganza with everything from pilsners to bocks, complemented by food from vendors like Chonghi Pizza, Shorty's Hot Dogs, and Mid City SmashedBurger. Browse offerings from sought-after breweries such as Binary, Great Notion, pFriem, Steeplejack, Von Ebert, Migration, and more. The 21-and-under crowd can enjoy cotton candy, bubble tea, and arts and crafts, and adventurous guests can participate in physical activities like yoga, Zumba, and obstacle courses. JB
Downtown Beaverton (Sat Sept 7)

Andy Ricker Takeover: Pok Pok's Greatest Hits Past Event Like List
Many a Portlander shed a tear when chef/owner Andy Ricker closed his iconic Pok Pok restaurant empire in 2020 to move to Thailand, where he now resides on a farm with his wife and menagerie of cats (living the dream). This September, you have an exceedingly rare chance to catch him at a two-night pop-up at Peter Cho and Sun Young Park's restaurant Jeju. He'll serve a five-course menu featuring some of Pok Pok's most popular dishes (fish sauce wings, we're looking at you), with additional beverages available for purchase. JB
Jeju, Buckman (Sept 8–9)

Fourth Annual Tomato Fest Remind Like List
Each year, the specialty grocer Wellspent Market teams up with the Culinary Breeding Network to throw this end-of-summer bash uplifting everyone's favorite fruit masquerading as a vegetable. Channel your inner tomato girl with cooking demos, tastings, samples, BLTs, and savory tomato-based treats. JB
Wellspent Market, Kerns (Sat Sept 14)

SnackFest Remind Like List
I don't know about you, but I feel that humanity really peaked when we came up with the concept of snacking. This festival from the people who brought you Portland Night Market is of the same mind, featuring hot food vendors, food trucks, vendors, live entertainment, demos, educational breakout sessions, special pop-ups, and much more, all revolving around bite-sized munchies. Go forth and live deliciously. JB
Alder Block, Central Eastside (Sept 19–21)

GEEK & GAMING

Rose City Comic Con Past Event Like List
It doesn't matter if you're a gamer, sci-fi nerd, anime fan, fantasy fairy, or cosplay artist, Rose City Comic Con is for you! Programming highlights include author signings at the Powell's-powered book fair, an immersive Star Wars fan experience, aspiring creator workshops, and even a cosplay parade for kids. Anime Yokocho, a space dedicated to all things anime and manga with shopping, trivia, and a panel from Naruto voice actors, makes its debut this year. Other celeb appearances include Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Rosario Dawson, and cast members from Our Flag Means Death and Breaking Bad. SL
Oregon Convention Center, Lloyd District (Sept 6–8)

Portland Weird Fest Past Event Like List
The inaugural Portland Weird Fest offers up "unapologetic oddities" and "offbeat entertainment." Portland is no stranger to the curious, and a day featuring workshops on pickle sculpting, cryptozoology, and discovering your inner extraterrestrial fits right in. Live entertainment includes convention-defying circus stunts and interactive theater, alongside music from bands who march to the beat of their own drum. The event also promises roaming characters, which I expect will be a lot more amusing and less terrifying than the ones you might find around Halloween. SL
Oaks Amusement Park, Sellwood-Moreland (Sat Sept 7)

Geek Week PDX Remind Like List
The Rose City Comic Con brings all the geeks and gamers to Portland annually, and this year the fun continues in the days following Comic Con with Geek Week PDX, a new pop culture festival featuring activations across the city. You can partake in over 300 different events hosted at 100+ nerd-focused small businesses, ranging from film screenings to game tournaments and cosplay parties (one of which is on an ice rink). There are multiple options for celebrating the 50th anniversary of beloved role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, including a progressive seven-day campaign hosted by TPK Brewing Co. If you prefer a more IRL adventure, the Treasure Quest photo scavenger hunt leads you on an exploration of the city; each quadrant of which the organizers promise will be "transformed into a new mythical realm." SL
Various locations (Sept 9–15)

LIVE MUSIC

Gracie Abrams: The Secret of US Tour Past Event Like List
Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams (we’ll save you a Google—director J.J. is her dad) makes emotional pop songs about heartbreak full of quivering vocals and sparse arrangements. Her star has risen in recent years after clinching an opening slot on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and subsequently collaborating with the pop superstar. Although her nepo baby status has helped her break through to the mainstream, her sheer talent for songwriting stands on its own. Prepare for the show by listening to her stirring sophomore album, The Secret of Us. AV
Moda Center, Lloyd District (Thurs Sept 5)

CupcakKe Past Event Like List
CupcakKe's new album, Dauntless Manifesto, contains multitudes. The album zig-zags from touching, emotional tracks about depression like "Rock Paper Scissors" to humorous sex-positive anthems like "Queef" (which includes pearl-clutching poetry like "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, He gon’ make this pussy fart.") Despite covering such varied topics, the album is impressively cohesive in its delightfully dreamy production reminiscent of Beyoncé's Lemonade. She will return to Portland with support from local rapper Karma Rivera. AV
Wonder Ballroom, Eliot (Fri Sept 6)

Portland Taiko Farm Festival Past Event Like List
Portland Taiko blends traditional Japanese taiko drumming with exciting choreography and storytelling. Celebrate the end of summer with this year's annual family-friendly outdoor concert, where you can take a tour of the farm before the show! Bring your own picnic blanket, lawn chairs, and snacks; they will have beer and wine, shave ice, mochi donuts, and fresh produce available for purchase. SL
Triskelee Farm, West Linn (Sat Sept 7)

PDX Pop Now! 2024 Past Event Like List
PDX Pop Now! is your annual reminder of the vibrant music scene that exists within our city. The donation-based, all-ages festival is back for its 20th year with a weekend-long schedule of local musicians performing at Portland's oldest food cart hub. Highlights from this year's lineup include synth-pop quartet Reptaliens, indie rock project Queen Rodeo, dreamy punk trio Public Pleasure, and beloved rockers the Mistons. I am also excited to see the Eugene-based indie rock outfit Growing Pains on the bill, whose 2023 EP Thought I Heard Your Car evokes the swirling harmonies and cathartic buzzing of shoegazers like Lush and Slowdive. AV
Midtown Beer Garden, Downtown (Sept 7–8)

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Past Event Like List
Many have claimed that Saltburn made Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 2002 bop "Murder on the Dancefloor" a success, but I would argue it was the other way around. I hated the film until that infamous closing scene. The neo-disco song choice was a huge exhale at the end of the film, nudging the viewer to rethink the narrative as pure camp rather than an earnest psychological thriller. While many will attend this concert to hear the one song, I hope this tour brings more of Ellis-Bextor's infectious dance tracks to the masses. Her sophomore album Read My Lips is up there with Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor and Kylie Minogue's Fever. AV
Wonder Ballroom, Eliot (Mon Sept 9)

Remi Wolf Remind Like List
Remi Wolf is a firecracker, both live onstage and in her recorded music. Her 2020 EP I'm Allergic To Dogs! exploded onto the scene with cheeky lyrics and boppy beats, and her pop dominance has only grown since. Big Ideas, her second full-length, was released in July of this year and showcases a broad range of genres and influences in her music, from psych rock to R&B. Her show calls for barefoot dancing in the grass in your brightest threads and chunkiest jewelry. Groovy alt hip-hop artist Lava La Rue opens the show. SL 
Edgefield, Troutdale (Fri Sept 13)

ESG Remind Like List
If you're a man giving me a long-winded speech and I look distracted—my eyes glassy, my foot tapping, my blinks slow—it's probably because "You Make No Sense" by ESG is booming through the corridors of my brain. The track, which repeats its sassy title on a loop atop a bouncing bassline and interspersed drum fills, embodies the band's ethos of turning rage into something fun, cathartic, and free. The trailblazing sister-led dance-punk band will dance through Portland for one last party alongside DJ crew Strange Babes and rock 'n' roll outfit Dirt Twins. AV
Wonder Ballroom, Eliot (Sat Sept 14)

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio Remind Like List
I’ll admit it; jazz can feel very intimidating! There are so many subgenres to learn, names to remember, and history that feels gatekept by boomers with hi-fi equipment. However, nothing compares to hearing a skilled jazz ensemble play live. It's truly transcendental. If you haven't had the pleasure, Seattle-based ensemble Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio is an excellent entry point into the jazz world. The trio employs Jimmy Smith-style organs, Motown-spiced rhythms, and Jimi Hendrix-hazed guitars for timeless, feel-good soul-jazz you can dance to. AV
The Get Down, Buckman (Tues Sept 24)

Orville Peck: Stampede Tour Remind Like List
After taking the world by storm with his Sub Pop-released debut album, Pony, the mysteriously masked cowboy known as Orville Peck found himself collaborating with country-pop queen Shania Twain, modeling for fashion labels such as Dior and Ivy Park, and rubbing elbows with mainstream names on the Grammy red carpet. Now, supporting his third album, Stampede, Peck will lasso his way right into your heart with his deep baritone vocals and cinematic queer-anthems. Don't miss opening sets from country queens Nikki Lane and Emily Nenni. AV
Hayden Homes Amphitheater, Bend (Tues Sept 24)

Dreamgaze PDX Remind Like List
This year's inaugural Dreamgaze Festival will seep dreamy sounds through the St. Johns neighborhood for two days of experimental post-punk, shoegaze, and psych-rock tunes. Don't miss a performance from pioneering shoegaze band the Veldt, whose unique R&B-infused dream pop has led them to tour alongside goth household names like Cocteau Twins, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Echo & the Bunnymen. If you're unfamiliar with the Veldt's music, I recommend you check out their 1994 debut, Afrodisiac, which Pitchfork hailed as one of the top 50 shoegaze albums ever released. Other highlights from the lineup include the Prids, Mint Field, Somesurprises, Dead Leaf Echo, and Citrus Clouds. AV
The Fixin' To, St. Johns (Sept 28–29)

Faye Webster Remind Like List
Faye Webster's star has been steadily shining since her 2013 debut Run and Tell, released when she was just sixteen years old. But it wasn't until her 2021 album, I Know I'm Funny haha, that things really began to take off. Seriously, "In A Good Way" has nearly 50 million streams on Spotify. The album mixes soft R&B with a country-folk twang while utilizing her whispery soft vocal quality to deliver cheeky lyrics about basketball, falling in love, greedy landlords, and owning your sense of humor. Webster will play songs from her highly anticipated follow-up album, Underdressed at the Symphony, alongside Japanese indie pop artist Mei Ehara. AV
Edgefield, Troutdale (Sun Sept 29)

Cigarettes After Sex Remind Like List
Yes, the band name Cigarettes After Sex is extremely cringy, but their music is so lovely that it almost makes up for it. The trio revives the reverb-heavy dream pop of Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, and Julee Cruise in an accessible fashion, garnering an impressive list of famous fans including Kylie Jenner, David Lynch, Lana Del Rey, and Françoise Hardy (this band might be the only thing these four have in common). The band will support their third album, X's, which marks their first new music in five years. AV
Moda Center, Lloyd District (Mon Sept 30)

PERFORMANCE

Te Moana Meridian: How the Prime Meridian Shapes the World, and the Case for Relocating It Past Event Like List
Presented in partnership with this year's Time-Based Art Festival, Te Moana Meridian: How the Prime Meridian Shapes the World, and the Case for Relocating It is an experimental operatic performance "based on a proposal to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution to formally relocate the international Prime Meridian to the South Pacific Ocean." New Zealand-born, Portland-based artist Sam Tam Ham (Sam Hamilton) devised the two-vocalist work, which features "minimalist movement" by artist sidony o’neal, an "intergenerational choir" directed by Crystal Meneses, and a delicate interplay of language—Holland Andrews performs in English, and Mere Tokorahi Boynton in Māori. LC
Kridel Grand Ballroom at the Portland Art Museum, South Park Blocks (Sept 6–9)

CoHo ClownFest 2024 Remind Like List
Whether you're a literal clown or a simple clown appreciator, you'll want to honk your horn and slap on a gigantic pair of shoes for this year's edition of this four-week fringe festival celebrating all things clownery. CoHo's ClownFest includes an absurdist mix of physical comedy, workshops, and movement performances, building community between artists and audiences with a wide range of jolly performances. It transforms CoHo's little black box theater into a central hub for circus artists across the country to engage in "playful whimsy," which sounds good for the soul. Go forth and get your clown on. LC
CoHo Productions, Slabtown (Sept 6–Oct 6)

Dungeons and Drag Queens: The Flamboyant Fall! Past Event Like List
Hear ye, hear ye, theydies and gentlethem: Described as "fantasy and hilarity on a magical journey" by the South Seattle Emerald, drag queens of the bard, druid, and paladin variety will play the legendary tabletop game of monsters and mayhem in this recurring show. Dungeons and Drag Queens has been making waves from the West Coast to NYC, and it's what the high-fantasy fashion queens deserve. Mysterious Dungeon Master Paul Curry will lead the way through the "rollicking, frolicking" improvisational fantasy drag comedy show, which will include improvisational tunes by Carson Cutter this time around. LC
Alberta Abbey, King (Sat Sept 7)

Live Wire with Luke Burbank Remind Like List
Live Wire's fall offerings will kick off with another edition of the honest and funny conversational show hosted by Luke Burbank. This time around, featured guests will include Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum and stand-up comedian Sean Jordan (co-host of the All Fantasy Everything podcast with Ian Karmel), whose comedy special Girl Dad talks fatherhood and vasectomies. Portland genre-defiers Pink Martini will reflect on their 30-year career with some groovable hits. LC
Alberta Rose Theatre, Concordia (Thurs Sept 12)

Diné Nishłį (i am a sacred being) Or, A Boarding School Play Remind Like List
When a group of high schoolers is offered the chance to sing the Navajo national anthem at the 2002 Winter Olympics, they're understandably stoked, but a teacher throws a wrench in the works with a (false?) accusation. The group forms a plan to save their trip, and what unfolds is an "exuberant, sunny, and just a little bit haunted" comedy that celebrates the lives of young Native women. (We've got the brilliant Diné storyteller and playwright Blossom Johnson to thank.) After a run at Hillsboro's Vault Theater, the production will tour throughout the greater Portland area, with performances at the Native American Youth and Family Center October 4-6 and the PSU Native Student and Community Center October 10-13. LC
The Vault Theater, Hillsboro (Sept 18–29)

READINGS & TALKS

Khushbu Shah in Conversation with Erin DeJesus Past Event Like List
With her debut cookbook Amrikan: 125 Recipes From the Indian Diaspora, Food & Wine writer and editor Khushbu Shah asks the question, “What is Indian food in America?” She delves into the answer not only with irresistible-sounding recipes I'm eager to add into my rotation, like saag paneer lasagna, achari paneer pizza, spinach tadka dal with rice, panipuri mojitos, and masala chai Basque cheesecake, but also with images and essays that meditate on the connection between food and identity. As Shah told the New York Times in a 2019 interview, "Food is undeniably intersectional. It’s impossible — it’s irresponsible — to deny it." She'll chat about the release with Eater executive editor Erin DeJesus. JB
Powell's City of Books, Pearl District (Sun Sept 8)

Willy Vlautin Remind Like List
Willy Vlautin was born in Reno, but his artistic output found its footing in the Pacific Northwest—for over 20 years, he's been the singer-songwriter and guitarist for the Portland-grown alt-country band Richmond Fontaine. The experience still informs his writing style and character development in fiction. (His last novel, The Night Always Comes, explored gentrification, greed, and opportunism within Portland's housing crisis.) His new tome, The Horse, centers the working class again but adds in fantastical elements and dream sequences that might pique the interest of new readers. Vlautin will offer a reading and sling some tunes at this celebration. LC
The Fixin' To, St. Johns (Wed Sept 18)

Chelsea Bieker in Conversation with Kimberly King Parsons Remind Like List
If authors like Flannery O'Connor, Shirley Jackson, Alissa Nutting, and Melissa Broder are your literary jam, local author Chelsea Bieker should definitely be on your TBR list (that is, if she isn't already). Bieker evokes a unique "California gothic" aesthetic all her own with her 2020 debut novel GODSHOT, an unsettling Ethel Cain-esque story about a young girl trapped in a cult led by a power-hungry pastor, and her 2022 short story collection Heartbroke, a collection of tales about down-on-their-luck dreamers. Her highly anticipated novel Madwoman follows Clove, a wife and mother of two whose dark past threatens to upend her idyllic present-day life in Portland. We Were the Universe author Kimberly King Parsons will join Bieker for a conversation about the new book. JB
Powell's City of Books, Pearl District (Thurs Sept 19)

VISUAL ART

Art In The Pearl Fine Arts & Crafts Festival Past Event Like List
A longstanding Portland favorite, Art In The Pearl is the city's largest art fair. On Labor Day weekend, thousands of visitors will gather to celebrate the winding-down days of summer under the shady canopy of the North Park Blocks, engaging directly with local artists at dozens of freestanding exhibits. Seasoned art collectors and newbies alike will find too-cool creations up for grabs, and an education pavilion will offer hands-on art activities for children and adults. LC
North Park Blocks, Pearl District (Sept 1–2)

Orbit Remind Like List
How do we consume moving images? Portland art collective WAVE Contemporary and Well Well Projects have teamed up to present this curatorial project, which installs "film, animations, and moving images" on the walls of Oregon Contemporary, to ponder that question. Orbit includes works by over a dozen international and local artists to "explore images as political agents in contemporary life," interrupting the use of moving images as constantly consumed, purely communicative tools and considering their conceptual impacts. Orbit proposes a space where the "porosity of the media could be rethought in terms of reterritorialization," organizers Marcelo Fontana and Chris Ticas explain. LC
Oregon Contemporary, Kenton (Sept 1–29)

Coraline's Curious Cat Trail Remind Like List
Google doesn't often classify movies as "family/horror," but Coraline is one of the few flicks that fits the bill. The 2009 LAIKA film, which follows an audacious 11-year-old who finds an alternate world populated by strange characters (including a button-eyed Other Mother), is based on the creepiest, most addictive Neil Gaiman book I read as a seventh-grader. If the book/movie's lanky black cat elicits your nostalgia, I recommend spending an afternoon with Coraline’s Curious Cat Trail, LAIKA's path of six-foot Cat sculptures stationed throughout downtown Portland. LC 
Various locations (Sept 1–30)

Color Outside the Lines: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation Remind Like List
Form or color: When you're looking at an art piece, what takes precedence? I'd argue that they're equally valuable, but Color Outside the Lines thinks more carefully about the question. Derived from David Batchelor's book Chromophobia, in which he makes the case that "color is often linked with groups that have traditionally faced discrimination within mainstream society, including women, people of color, and queer communities," this group exhibition explores how artists from marginalized groups might claim color as a method of challenging sociocultural norms. Among the artists exhibited are some major stars, including Jenny Holzer, Anish Kapoor, Faith Ringgold, Andy Warhol, and Polly Apfelbaum, plus many others. LC
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, South Park Blocks (Sept 1–Dec 7)

Orlando Almanza Remind Like List
Drawing from ethereal memories and myths, Froelick Gallery's recently signed painter Orlando Almanza constructs natural worlds in his works, with embedded narratives that feel pulled from his own mysterious folklore. Last year, the gallery paved the way for his first official solo show with a display of lithographs printed in Havana, Cuba, followed by a showcase of his "deep dedication to nature" with portraits and vivid oil works overflowing with flora and fauna. His latest body of work, Gente de Río, features more Havana influence and "monumental-sizedgroup-portraiture paintings based on precious moments of rest." LC
Froelick Gallery, Pearl District (Sept 3–Oct 12)

Time-Based Art Festival—TBA:24 Remind Like List
Last year, PICA's reimagined its iconique Time-Based Art Festival as Time-Released, a series of performance artworks scheduled in a more spread-out format. This year, the “best contemporary summer festival in the country” (according to the New York Times) will take back its original name, but has been "thoughtfully built to span three weeks, allowing audience members to be fully immersed in a wide variety of programs on weekends, with some breathing room between the busier days." I'll take it! PICA's Time-Based Art Festival is your yearly reminder to question everything—buckle in for a packed month of experimental art, temporal performances, and interactive lectures from local and far-flung artists (Kye Alive, JJJJJerome Ellis, Carla Rossi, Timothy Yanick Hunter, and others) who'll challenge your preconceived notions of art. There are always some pretty cool dance parties, too. LC
PICA, Eliot (Sept 5–22)

Carson Ellis: One Week in January Remind Like List
While looking through some old boxes, illustrator, and author Carson Ellis discovered several pages of diary entries from 2001, which documented her first week living in Portland. The journals detailed 25-year-old Ellis’ new life in the city, as she moved into a “scrappy but cheap and fabulous” Southeast Portland warehouse, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and hung out with her housemates and fellow artists, including her future husband and Decemberists’ frontman Colin Meloy. Ellis got a kick out of the old entries, which offer a snapshot of Portland during a time of creative abundance and cheap rent. She painted 30 new pieces of art to go along with the diary entries from 23 years ago, and compiled them into a book, One Week in January: New Paintings for an Old Diary, which will be published by Chronicle on September 10. PORTLAND MERCURY NEWS REPORTER TAYLOR GRIGGS
Nationale, Buckman (Sept 14–Oct 19)

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm Remind Like List
When I hear the words "photography" and "Paul McCartney," I typically think of works by his late wife, the legendary photog Linda McCartney, whose images feel uniquely charming and immediate. But it turns out Paul took stellar shots, too. This exhibition is proof. Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm includes over 250 images McCartney captured from 1963-64, lending new insight into his life from inside the Beatlemania phenomenon. The results blend references to New Wave aesthetics, documentary filmmaking, and photojournalism, proving that McCartney had his eye on pop culture of all kinds. LC
Portland Art Museum, South Park Blocks (Sept 14–Jan 19, 2025)