Labor Day weekend is over. Students and teachers are back to school. It can feel a lot like fall š
But hereās your tip for the month: āļø Thereās still going to be plenty of warm, sunny days ā for biking, hiking, and a sunset in the park!
Hereās some ideas for els what to do this month:
Portland Classics
There are a couple of events this month that are classically Portland:
š Dragon Boat Festival
This coming weekend, you can watch the dragon boats race along the Willamette River near Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Bonus: thereāll be a beer garden and food trucks to round out the festivities. Registration for the race has closed, but hereās a chance to be inspired to go into training for next year or just cheer on the racers.
š¦ Vauxās Swifts
For the uninitiated: You can join the crowds of Portlanders who come to watch a swarm of migrating birds as they swirl into a chimney above Chapman Elementary School. The Bird Alliance of Oregon keeps a count each night, so you can figure out when to go. And stay tuned for a City Cast Portland podcast with the bird experts later this month.
Music and Other Festivals
The season of music and other festivals isnāt over just yet:
September has become a local music fest month. PDX Pop Now!, this weekend, highlights local talent each year. Lose Yr Mind Fest, starting the 13th, skews toward psychedelic rock. And Bridge City Fest, also starting the 13th, is punk.
Portland loves its comic superheroes (and villains), not to mention cosplay. We have an abundance of talented graphic novelists. Rose City Comic Con comes to Portland this weekend. Itāll be followed by Geek Week, a new citywide comic convention. Cosplay ice-skating anyone? Beginning Sept. 27, one of the largest conventions for old-school video and arcade games comes to town.
Plus, nothing tastes more like September to me than fresh grapes, by the bunch. I plan to visit the farmers markets this month to get my fill of the end of summer. Maybe Iāll pick up a bouquet of bright dahlias, too. Join me.
