Travel Tales: Outdoor Portland, Oregon

Portland has a number of outdoor festivals that take place each year, many of which happen at Waterfront Park. Set against the Willamette River and with a great view of East Portland (and the somewhat new East Bank Promenade, which is great for walking, biking and general promenade merriment), the Waterfront Park is home to the summer-type events that occur in many cities (brew festivals, the Bite, and any carnival), along with a few uniquely Portland summer fests.

In the middle of the summer, people (and boats) flock to the south end of Waterfront park to get the blues at the annual Waterfront Blues Festival. The second-largest blues festival in the nation also serves as a benefit for the Oregon Food Bank. Well-known blues musicians aplenty can be found gracing the four stages at the festival, and fans attend in the hundreds of thousands.

The Portland Rose Festival takes place each year in May and June, and while not limited to Waterfront Park, many of the festival’s activities have some tie to the Park (Fleet Week, the Waterfront Village, the fireworks show, and the Dragon Boat race). The Rose Festival (recently voted Best Festival in the World) is such an integral part of Portland that some would even say you aren’t truly a Portlander until you’ve spent tireless hours gluing petals onto one of the floats for the Grand Floral Parade, watched your kids ride their bikes through the Junior Rose Festival Parade, or spent a chilly night watching the Starlight Parade from your lawn chair or blanket.

Portland’s Rose Gardens are actually three different gardens; the International Rose Test Garden, the Peninsula Park Rose Garden, and Ladd’s Addition Rose Garden. The International Rose Test Garden is perhaps the best known of the three gardens. Located in Washington Park, with its spectacular view of the city, incredible variety of rose color and scent (I’ve been told there is a rose that smells like ketchup), and large space makes it a perfect spot to take out-of-town guests, have a wedding, or listen to music at the Washington Park amphitheater.

Portland’s Japanese Garden is just a hop, skip, and a climb (or bus ride up a hill) away from the International Rose Test Garden or the Oregon Zoo. The garden covers more than five acres of land and is comprised of five different garden styles: the flat garden; the tea garden; the natural garden; the sand and stone garden; and the strolling pond garden. The Garden has year-round events such as festivals, art exhibits, and even tea ceremonies, and is a great place to take an afternoon stroll or just to sit and relax by one of the ponds.

Portland’s Classical Chinese Garden, nestled in the Old Town/Chinatown district of Portland, is open year round. In this garden, taking up a mere city block of space, you’ll find beautiful structures, water features (complete with Coy fish), and a wonderful array of plant life. An online plan of the garden demonstrates just how much is fit into this city block. The garden is definitely worth the less than 10 dollars you’ll pay to take a peek.

Travel Portland has info to help you get cycling around the city (which happens to be very bike-friendly) and also has links to help you hit the links (on the golf course, that is). You can’t truly be a “green” city without green modes of transportation and plenty of golf greens.

Portland Parks and Recreation is in charge of maintaining all of the Portland Parks. And with 250 locations, you’re sure to find a park nearby to enjoy a hike, run, picnic, sporting event, concert, bit of playtime, or whatever you are looking for. If you want to know what’s going on at the Portland Parks, check out the schedule of Portland Park events.