Around the Sun: A Blog About Saving Money in Portland, Oregon, and beyond

Free Events This Weekend in Portland: Feb 22–24

February 22nd, 2008

Admission is free for all of these events. I highly recommend catching the Dimes at Music Millennium on Friday night. Have a great weekend!

Friday, February 22

• Ski for free at Timberline courtesy of vitaminwater. Click here for details.

• Portland Jazz Festival is offering a ton of free jazz shows around the city. Too many to list. Go to the Portland Jazz Festival website to see the complete schedule. Unless otherwise noted, performances are free and open to the public. 

• The Dimes will be performing at Music Millennium at 6:00 pm. For more information, visit the Music Millennium website.

• The Rainy States are celebrating the release of their debut album. They’ll perform at Kelly’s Olympian with The Morals and Church. For more information, visit Kelly’s Olympian.

• Paul Barkett (folk/rock singer) will perform at Borders in Beaverton at 7:00 pm. For more information, visit the Borders website. 

• Lew Jones will be playing at Borders in Vancouver at 7:00 pm. For more information, visit the Borders website.

• Mark Alan will be performing at Edgefield at 7:00 pm. Ages 21 and older. For more information, visit the Edgefield website.

• Scotland Barr & the Slow Drags will be performing at Rock Creek Tavern at 9:00 pm. All ages until 10:00 pm. For details, visit the Rock Creek Tavern website.

• Nigerian film The Narrow Path will be showing at 7:30 pm at PCC Cascade Moriarty Bldg. 104. This event is part of the 18th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films. All CFAF films are free and open to the public.

• King Arthur Flour will be teaching two-hour classes on breadmaking at Celebrate! Catering, 15555 Southwest Bangy Road in Lake Oswego, 503.603.4516 (for directions only):

  • Yeast Breads: Sweet & Whole-Grain
    12 noon to 2:00 pm
  • Crusty Artisan Breads
    7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
  • Door prizes, recipes and coupons.
  • For more information, visit the King Arthur Flour website.
     

• Christopher Huessy from Professional Ice Carving will demonstrate his ice carving prowess at Pioneer Courthouse Square from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. For more information, visit the Pioneer Courthouse Square website.

• Local authors Tony Wolk and Molly Gloss will talk about their new books at Portland State University Branford P. Millar Library at 7:00 pm. Wolk’s new novel is Good Friday, and Gloss recently released The Hearts of Horses. For more information, visit the Willamette Week website.

• Vikram Chandra will talk about his new book Sacred Games at Powell’s City of Books on Burnside at 7:30 pm. For more information, visit the Powell’s website.

• Twisted, a yarn and craft shop on NE Broadway, will be showing the ’80s flick Gleaming the Cube starring Christian Slater at 6:00 pm. For more information, visit the Twisted website.

Saturday, February 23

• Bagdad Theater is celebrating its 81st birthday with free movies, live music, kids’ activities and cake. Free movies: Labyrinth, 2:00 pm (all ages); True Romance, 10:45 pm (21 & over). The Wherewithals, Giant Bug Village and Hungry Holler will perform from 7:00 pm–9:00 pm (all ages). Family fun from 3:00 pm–6:00 pm. The party starts at noon and runs until midnight. All ages welcome until 9:00 pm. For more information, visit the Bagdad Theater website. 

• 4th Annual Black History Celebration: Celebrate Black History Month with an evening of free food, music, poetry, and arts & crafts. The event will feature performances by No Kidding Choir, Liquid Moves Entertainment (hip hop dance), and Derrell “Sekou” Walker (West African dance, drumming and story telling), as well as poetry readings and spoken word. Matt Dishman Community Center (77 NE Knott, 503.823.5200), 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. For more information, visit the Portland Parks website.

• Portland Diabetes EXPO is happening at the Oregon Convention Center from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The event offers free screenings, one-on-one consultations with medical professionals, demonstrations and seminars, more than 75 exhibits, and free product and food samples. For more information, visit www.diabetes.org/OregonEXPO.

• Portland Jazz Festival is offering a ton of free jazz shows around the city. Too many to list. Go to the Portland Jazz Festival website to see the complete schedule. Unless otherwise noted, performances are free and open to the public.  

• Milagros, a boutique for kids and their moms, is throwing a party to celebrate its fourth birthday. There will be free balloon art and face painting, complimentary refreshments, giveaways, a kids’ climbing wall and more. 5433 NE 30th Avenue, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Visit the Milagros website for more information.

• Yoav will be performing at Music Millennium at 3:00 pm. For more information, visit the Music Millennium website.

• Road to Real will be performing at Borders in Bridgeport Village at 7:00 pm. For more information, visit the Borders website.

• Paul Barkett (folk/rock singer) will perform at Borders in Gresham at 7:00 pm. For details, visit the Borders website.

• Eric John Kaiser will be performing at Edgefield at 7:00 pm. Ages 21 and older. For more information, visit the Edgefield website.

• Acoustic Minds will be playing at Rock Creek Tavern at 9:00 pm. All ages until 10:00 pm. For more information, visit the Rock Creek Tavern website.

• 18th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films is showing three documentaries at PCC Cascade Moriarty Bldg. 104:

  • In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema at 2:00 pm.
  • This Is Nollywood at 3:00 pm.

  • Kinshasa Palace at 7:30 pm.

• Symphony Storytime at the Central Library, 2:00 pm–3:00 pm: Enjoy music, storytime and hands-on crafts. A member of the Oregon Symphony will play and discuss orchestral music. Free tickets for seating will be available 30 minutes prior to the program. For more information, visit the Multnomah County Library website.

• King Arthur Flour will be teaching two-hour classes on breadmaking at Red Lion Hotel on the River, 909 N. Hayden Island Drive in Portland, 503.283.4466 (for directions only):

  • Yeast Breads: Sweet & Whole-Grain
    11:00 am to 1:00 pm
  • Crusty Artisan Breads
    3:00 pm to 5:00 pm 
  • Door prizes, recipes and coupons.

  • For more information, visit the King Arthur Flour website.

• Free Dance Skirt Sewing Workshop, 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm at Center for Movement Arts: Members of Columbia River Sewing will show you how to cut out, fit, and make either a wrap skirt or a pull-on knit dance skirt in about 30 minutes. For more information, visit DIY Alert.

Sunday, February 24

• Actors from Profile Theatre will perform a preview of the play Landscape of the Body at the Central Library at 1:00 pm. For more information, visit the Multnomah County Library website.

• Hollywood Library will offer a workshop on how to trace your family history using resources from the library and elsewhere. Genealogists Janet Irwin and Stephen Hanks will lead the class. Janet is a librarian at Multnomah County Library, and Stephen is the author of Akee Tree: A Descendant’s Search for His Ancestors on the Eskridge Plantations and specializes in African American genealogy. 2:00 pm–4:30 pm. Visit the Multnomah County Library website for details.  

• Oregon Shadow Theater will perform an original shadow play based on the adventures of Anansi the Spider. The play includes marimba, Ghanaian hand drum and thumb piano sound effects. Midland Library, 2:00 pm–2:45 pm. Free tickets for seating will be available 30 minutes prior to the program. For more information, visit the Multnomah County Library website. 

• Nick Jania, Michael Apinyakul and Michael the Blind will perform at Towne Lounge at 9:30 pm (doors open at 9:00 pm). For more information, visit the Towne Lounge website. 

• Billy Kennedy will be performing at Edgefield at 5:00 pm. Ages 21 and over. For more information, visit the Edgefield website. 

• A Celebration of Vi Gale, Poet and Publisher: Oregon poets and writers will come together to celebrate the work and life of Vi Gale, who passed away last year. Speakers include Walt Curtis, Barbara Drake, Anita Helle, Lawson Inada, Lars Nordstrom, Carlos Reyes, Vern Rutsala, Ralph Salisbury, Peter Sears, Kim Stafford, Lisa Steinman, Primus St. John and Ingrid Wendt. First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Avenue, 3:00 pm. For more information, visit the Oregonian website. 

• It’s Family Discovery Sunday at the Museum of Contemporary Craft from 1:00 pm–4:00 pm. You’ll learn how to create wearable art from simple materials. For more information, visit the Museum of Contemporary Craft website.

• Mission Theater will be showing Casablanca at 2:30 pm. Then stay for the Academy Awards at 4:30 pm. For details, visit the Mission Theater website.

• Sharan Newman will be signing her new book The Shanghai Tunnel at Murder by the Book at 5:00 pm. For more information, visit the MBTB website.

If you know of any other free events happening this weekend, please write a comment about it. If you’d like me to include an event in a future round-up, feel free to contact me.

Other articles from Around the Sun:

• December 28, 2008 -- How to Get a Discount From Comcast: Ask for It
• August 20, 2009 -- Taking a Break
• August 14, 2007 -- “…making a big fuss out of an adult shopping in a junior’s section”

Entry Filed under: Art, Books, Children, Classes, Entertainment, Events, Food, Free, Frugal living, Kids, Literature, Movies, Music, Portland, Theater, Wellness, Workshops