📅 August Events That Have My Attention
🎶 Remaining Lake Oswego Concerts in the Park | Wednesdays, Aug 12, 19 & 26 + Saturday, Aug 22 | Westlake Park & Foothills Park, Lake Oswego
The Wednesday series wraps up its run at Westlake Park, 6:30–8:30 p.m., with high-energy dance and tribute bands. Then the season closes out with a special Saturday Twilight Show on Aug 22 at Foothills Park, featuring the Portland Festival Symphony (7–8:30 p.m.). Bring a blanket or low chair, pack a picnic (beer, wine, and cider are welcome), and catch the last of one of Lake Oswego's best summer traditions.
ci.oswego.or.us/concerts
🎸 Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Play the Grateful Dead | Aug 14–17 | Revolution Hall, Portland
Can't wait for this one! Gillian Welch and David Rawlings bring their Grateful Dead Acoustic Reckoning tour — honoring the 45th anniversary of the Dead's live album Reckoning — to Revolution Hall for a four-night run. Stripped-down, acoustic takes on Dead classics from two of the most respected voices in Americana. Some nights are already sold out, so don't wait too long if you want in.
revolutionhall.com
🎭 Original Practice Shakespeare Festival in Parks | Remaining shows Aug 14, 15, 19, 22 & 29 | Parks across the Portland metro area
I caught Comedie of Errors in July and it was a blast — if you haven't been yet, make time before the season wraps. OPS Fest's 18th season finishes strong with Julius Caesar at Washington Park (Aug 14), Romeo and Juliet and A Midsommer Nights Dreame at Washington Park (Aug 15), Comedie of Errors in Beaverton (Aug 19), an Apprentice Showcase and Hamlet at Mt. Tabor Amphitheatre (Aug 22), and Loves Labour's Lost at the Tillamook Library (Aug 29). Free, unrehearsed, and never the same show twice.
opsfest.org
🏎️ PDX Adult Soapbox Derby | Saturday, Aug 15 | Mt. Tabor Park, Portland
Portland's beloved gravity race returns for its 27th year — dozens of homemade, gravity-powered cars (some engineered, some pure chaos) barreling down Mt. Tabor for speed, style, and bragging rights. Free and open to all ages, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
soapboxracer.org
🌸 Swan Island Dahlia Festival | Through Sept 30, Wed–Sun (and Labor Day) | Canby
Still going strong — almost 50 acres and 375+ varieties of dahlias in bloom, with live music on weekends and food carts on-site. Free admission and parking. A gorgeous, easy day trip from Lake Oswego.
dahlias.com
🐦 Wildwood: Follow the Crows Art Trail | Through Oct 31 | Downtown Portland & Forest Park
Thirty giant, hand-painted crow sculptures are perched around the city celebrating LAIKA's new stop-motion film Wildwood (based on the book by Portland's own Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, in theaters Oct 23). I loved the books, so I'm making a point of tracking down as many crows as I can before the film comes out — proceeds from the eventual sculpture auction benefit OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.
downtownportland.org
🌊 Ongoing & On My List This Summer
A few things that aren't one-day events but are absolutely worth your time before summer winds down:
Ebb & Ember Floating Sauna — Portland's first floating sauna and cold plunge, docked on the Columbia River in North Portland. Traditional sauna heat, river dips, and one of the more unique ways to unwind in this city.
ebbandember.com
Farmers Markets Around the PDX Metro — from Lake Oswego to St. Johns, there's a great market nearly every day of the week right now. Here's a full roundup:
pdxparent.com/farmers-markets-portland-oregon
Sellwood Community House Live Music in Sellwood Park — two free weekly series through the end of summer: solo piano performances Thursdays through Aug 20 (6:30–8 p.m.), and the Summer Sellwood Sessions concert series Fridays through Sept 11 (6:30–8 p.m.), featuring local acts like The County Fools on Aug 14.
sellwoodcommunityhouse.org
More Hiking & Hot Springs, Please — ***assuming it doesn't start burning!!*** I'm determined to get out to Bagby Hot Springs before summer's over: an easy 1.4-mile old-growth forest hike to rustic wooden soaking tubs ($5 fee at the trailhead).
Where have you hiked or do you plan to hike this summer? I'd love to hear your favorite trail or hot spring — send me your recommendations!
| 
