For anyone staying in Portland, OR over spring break looking for ways to spend their free time, look no further. There are plenty of entertaining activities to stay occupied during the week of March 23rd to March 31st.
Thrifting
Thriftapalooza is a local thrift convention taking place at the Portland Expo Center. It takes place on March 23rd, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm with early bird, general admission and happy hour timeframes. On March 24th the event takes place from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm with general admission and happy hour time frames offered.
The convention aims to provide a sustainable, environmentally friendly shopping experience through the promotion of buying second hand. The convention houses a wide collection of vendors selling a variety of thrifted items, ranging from clothing staples to fun accessories.
Thrifting offers a wonderful alternative to fast fashion. According to Retail Dive, a journalistic publication dedicated to retail news, CO2 emissions would be reduced by over two billion pounds over the course of a year if every person bought one thrifted clothing item in place of a new one.
About 92 million tons of textile waste is created by the fashion industry every year according to the website Good On You. If people continue to buy new clothes, the fashion industry is expected to generate roughly 148 million tons annually by 2030. Costs for Thriftapalooza range from $7 to $22 and ages 12 and under are free to attend.
Farmers Markets
Another popular activity for Portlanders are the acclaimed local farmers markets. There are a many of farmers markets, taking place throughout the year, including the PSU Farmers Market (1803 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201), People’s Farmers Market (3029 SE 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97202), Montavilla Farmers Market (7700 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97215) and Oregon City’s Farmers Market (between S Beavercreek Road and, Green Lot #1, Clairmont Drive, N Douglas Loop, Oregon City, OR 97045). They’re free to attend, but you will likely surrender to temptation and drop money on delicious treats. The farmers markets typically open as early as 9:00 am and close around 12:00 pm.
An important moment in Portland’s history was when the first ever farmers market took place in the parking lot at Albers Mills on June 13th, 1992. The markets are now a staple of the city. Of the four markets mentioned above, the closest one to Grant is the Montavilla Farmers Market, which is only a 10-15 minute drive or about a 20 minute bike ride. Portland farmers markets are a great place to source fresh produce and locally made items, and help to strengthen the surrounding communities.
Many of the markets host live music performers to accompany the array of locally sourced food and beverage live music. Visiting a farmers market over a regular grocery store allows shoppers to support both local businesses and sustainable food processes.
Art Showcases
If art is more your forte, there is a showcase of Jordan D. Schnitzer’s art collection of Helen Frankenthaler’s work at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the Pearl District in Portland. This art showcase takes place every Wednesday to Sunday through March 24th, 2024. The event costs $10 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for students and is free for members. The art pieces are abstract and the display is known as; “Helen Frankenthaler: Works from The Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.”
Jordan D. Schnitzer has been collecting art since he was 14 years old, when he first bought a piece of art from a contemporary art gallery his mom organized. Schnitzer’s art collection now includes over 20,000 pieces, making it the biggest private print collection in the US.
Schnitzer and his Family Foundation have put together around 160 exhibitions at 120 different museums all over the US. Additionally, Schitzer and the Family Foundation loan pieces from his collection to eligible establishments.
The mission of the nonprofit Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, which was established in 1997, is to bring access for eligible institutions and diverse communities to his artwork collections. The foundation also aims to bring awareness towards artist-based scholarships through printed texts, exhibit brochures and catalogs.
At the showcase featuring Helen Frankenthaler, you will find an abundance of abstract paintings that display an assortment of vibrant colors. You could also visit the Core Exhibitions that are always on display including, “Human Rights After The Holocaust,” “Discrimination and Resistance, An Oregon Primer,” “Oregon Jewish Stories,” and “The Holocaust, an Oregon Perspective,” if you are interested in expanding your knowledge on any of these topics. The museum’s cafe, “Sweet Lorraine’s at Lefty’s Cafe,” is open Friday through Sunday between 11:00am and 3:00pm and specializes in Jewish cuisine.
Another art showcase, “Craft, Community, and Care: The Art and Legacy of Bob Shimabukuro,” is being held at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon between February 17th and April 14th. Tickets for museum entry cost $5 for students, $6 for seniors and $8 for adults while kids 11 and younger get in free.
Bob Shimabukuro was a Japanese American who contributed to the Pacific Northwest Japanese American Redress Movement, an act striving to gain monetary compensation and a formal apology for Japanese-American displacement and internment during World War II.
As a woodworker and furniture maker, Shimabukuro helped design the Portland restaurant, Tanuki,(which he later co-owned). He also worked for The Pacific Citizen and the International Examiner as both an editor and columnist. In 2001 his book, “Born in Seattle: The Campaign for Japanese American Redress,” was published. The book is about Seattle activists who came together to form the Redress movement.
At the museum you will find a variety of Shimobukuro’s carpentry pieces on display, as well as some of his articles and his book. Many quotes and didactics about his life story are showcased in the exhibit, along with pictures of important people in his life such as his family, wife and close friends.
There is also a permanent exhibit known as, “Oregon’s Nikkei: An American Story of Resilience.” If you are on the lookout to learn more about Japanese-Americans’ experience during World War II, this exhibit offers informational content regarding American concentration camps and their history in Portland. In this display you can listen to stories about Japanese American displacement, incarceration and the conditions in the concentration camps. Furthermore, there are displays designed to represent the living conditions of Japanese Americans around the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, with a featured display of a life size wooden room at the concentration camps.
Sports
On Saturday, March 23rd at 7:30 pm, the Portland Timbers will play the Philadelphia Union at Providence Park. Tickets start at $30.
The Portland Timbers is a men’s professional soccer club founded in 1975. The Timbers have been awarded a total of three coach of the year awards and have received 18 all-league selections. At the moment Antony Alves Santos is the highest ranking player on the team, having scored 2 goals so far in the regular season, which began on Feb. 21st.
The last time the Timbers played Philadelphia was on May 22nd, 2022, where they lost 2-0. This season, the Timbers have 2 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw in Major League Soccer (MLS). As of March 2023, the Timbers are currently ranked 6th out of the 29 MLS teams.
If basketball is more eye-catching to you, there is also a Portland Trail Blazers game against the Denver Nuggets taking place at the Moda Center on Saturday March 23rd at 7:00pm. Tickets start at $29.
The Blazers played the Nuggets earlier this year, on February 23rd, 2024 and lost 127-112. The Nuggets are currently first in the NW Division while the Blazers rank fifth.
Adding to the intrigue, the Blazers are suffering from the loss of one of their most talented players of all time; Damian Lillard. Lillard was the Blazers top offensive player during his time on the team, with the record of the most points from free throws and 3-pointers for the Blazers.
Women’s basketball games will also be going on as a part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s Basketball Championship. The championship is being hosted at the Miss Center, Lloyd District on March 29th at 4:30pm, March 30th at 2:30pm and March 31st at 12:00pm. The cost for tickets starts at $21.
The NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship is an annual tournament between 64 women’s college basketball teams as a part of March Madness. If you want to get in on the college basketball fun, you can fill out a bracket with your predictions for the tournament.
There will be two Sweet 16 games on March 29th, another two on March 30th, and two Elite 8 games — one on March 31st and one on April 1st.
Music
For country music fans, Ashley McBryde is going to be in concert at the Roseland Theatre on March 23rd at 8:00pm. Tickets range between $39.50 and $45.
McBryde is an American country singer and songwriter originally from Waldron, Arkansas. Early on, she discovered her love of music and decided to move to Nashville to follow her dreams of becoming a country artist.
McBryde received a Grammy Award in 2023 for best country duo/group performance for her song “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” along with 5 other Grammy nominations spanning across her music career.
McBryde’s music is heartfelt and comforting, with messages of self love and overcoming difficult times interwoven throughout many of her songs. The instrumental portion of her songs includes a wide variety of different instruments that creates an additional layer to her music.
If R&B is your taste, Destin Conrad is also performing in Portland on March 25th at 8:00pm at Revolution Hall. Tickets are reasonably priced at just $29.50 a ticket.
Destin Conrad is an up-and-coming R&B artist from Tampa, Florida. His fame came from Vine where he gained over a million followers. Conrad’s debut album “COLORWAY” was released on March 5th, 2021.
Since the release of “COLORWAY” Conrad has released three more albums, his latest being “SUBMISSIVE 2.” He has 16 singles, the most recent called “SAME MISTAKE” which was released January 12th, 2024. Destin Conrad’s upbeat and calm music makes for great background music, perfect for listening to while studying or doing chores.
With countless events occurring in Portland over spring break, there’s truly something for everyone to stay occupied and have some fun.
