Skip to main content
Hope y’all don’t mind if we heat things up a little bit…like, sunshinewise. That’s right, we’re springing forward and looking ahead to 2025. The future of Portland springtime holds a parade of roses, a rainbow of tulips, an abundance of art, barrels of homebrewed beers, oodles of aliens, legions of Lego lovers, Mormons (theatrical ones), and giant (like, truly giant) inflatable crabs. Happy spring!
Portland Seafood & Wine Festival
Let us know if you’ve heard this one before: 30-plus award-winning Oregon vintners, the guy from Deadliest Catch, and a 22-foot-tall inflatable crab walk into the Portland Expo Center…no? Well, then, you’ve probably yet to experience the amazingness that is the Portland Seafood & Wine Festival. This March, shell-ebrate (sorry) the festival’s 19th year with the whole fam—there’ll be fresh Oregon seafood samples, tastings from the state’s finest wineries, craft beer and spirits, more than 175 vendors to shop, plus live entertainment, face painting and balloon artists for the littles. Oh, and Louie, the aforementioned enormous inflatable crab…can’t forget about him. Portland Expo Center, 2060 Marine Drive W, 503-736-5200, pdxseafoodandwinefestival.com. Noon–9 pm Saturday, 11 am–5 pm Sunday, March 1–2. $12–$18.
SheBrew Festival
Portland beer girlies: Now it’s our turn to drink 1 million beers. This Women’s History Month, SheBrew—the leading female-identified professional and amateur beer and cider nonprofit—brings back its annual Brew Festival for its 10th year in Portland. Organized by the Human Rights Campaign and the Oregon Brew Crew, the 2025 festival will showcase more than 40 female professional brewers and 10 homebrewers from across the Pacific Northwest. Tix include beer samples, a commemorative SheBrew tasting glass, an annual HRC membership, and a punch card for “People’s Choice” homebrew voting—the winner of which gets to brew with Madeleine McCarthy of Von Ebert Brewing. The Leftbank Annex, 101 N Weidler St., 503-937-1069, shebrew.beer. Noon–7 pm Saturday, March 8. $30+.
Shamrock Run
How quick do you have to be to catch a leprechaun? We’re not entirely sure. But at Portland’s Shamrock Run, you’ll be sure to get a glimpse of one speeding by—especially if you spend enough time at the green beer garden first. You’ll find the most dedicated of leprechauns jiggin’ and runnin’ at the half marathon, or the Shamrock 8k, while the majority of the rest of the wee lads embark on a “3.1-mile block party in the streets.” The most sane leprechauns, however—i.e., those whose ideal Sunday morning does not include running—usually do the Stride Walk, while the littlest of leprechauns kill it at the Doernbecher Leprechaun Lap 1k. Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 98 SW Naito Parkway, shamrockrunportland.com. Sunday, March 16. $20+.
Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival
Ah, yes, the pinnacle of Portland spring…the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival. OK, yes, technically the festival is in Woodburn, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyways, the seeds have been sown (literally…like 40-plus acres of tulips have been planted), and Wooden Shoe says it’s excited to see what 2025—the farm’s 50th year growing tulips—has in store. Other than the rainbow of tulips in every color imaginable (plus variations you probably didn’t even know existed), there’s gonna be: hot air balloons, a precious pink tractor, a “Berry-Go-Round” and other carnival rides, wooden shoemaking demonstrations, a gift shop that gets two WW-certified thumbs up, food, drinks, vendors and more. Fr though, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival is truly a never-ending photo opp—everything is that beautiful. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, 33814 S Meridian Road, woodenshoe.com. Friday, March 21–Sunday, April 27.
Fertile Ground Festival
You may know the Fertile Ground Festival as a winter event, typically held to align with the Winter Lights Festival. In 2025, however, the citywide festival—aimed at increasing accessibility by highlighting new performance work exclusively by Portland artists—will be held over the course of 16 days (to celebrate 16 years!) in the spring, which makes sense to us, as “Fertile Ground” sounds especially spring-y. A program of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance, Fertile Ground projects can range from fully staged world premieres, to theatrical workshops, to musicals, to play readings, to dance, to clowning and so much more. Various locations across Portland, fertilegroundpdx.com. April 4–19.
McMenamins UFO Festival
RIP FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully…y’all would have loved the McMenamins UFO Festival. Well, Mulder would have—although the speakers at last year’s UFO Fest would have turned even the most skeptic of Scullys into believers. Seriously, 2024 festivalgoers heard incredible accounts of UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena, government-speak for UFO) from a literal former U.S. Navy pilot…insane. 2025 will mark the UFO Fest’s 25th anniversary, and as always, there’s plenty of fun to be had in McMinnville, alien-related (a parade, a costume ball, parties) and otherwise (antiquing, good food, wine <3). Oh, and word to the wise: Dress up and out of this world! McMenamins Hotel Oregon, 310 NE Evans St., 503-472-8427, mcmenamins.com/ufo-festival. Friday–Saturday, May 16–17.
Bricks Cascade
You don’t have to be a Lego lover yourself—who are, apparently, officially known as AFOLs (adult fans of Lego)—to enjoy Bricks Cascade. Seriously, take it from someone whose only previous Lego lore is unexpectedly really enjoying The Lego Movie: Bricks Cascade is awesome. Last year’s convention included a section for selling custom Lego minifigures, light-up displays, and vintage Legos; a section full of Lego artwork on display; and even an area where kids could create their own cars and race them. Perhaps most impressive, though, were the insane MOCs (My Own Creation)—think enormous, intricate custom scenes, made up of thousands of Legos and created without any instructions. Awesome, right? Told ya. Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-235-7575, brickscascade.com. Saturday–Sunday, May 17–18.
Portland Rose Festival
Does anyone know why they call Portland the Rose City?…No? Well, while you look that up for us, here’s the 411 on the 2025 Rose Festival: From late May to early June, Tom McCall Waterfront Park will be filled with carnival rides, live music, fair food, vendors, drinks, kids, clowns and characters galore. Oh, and there’ll be: the Starlight Parade, the Junior Parade, Fleet Week ship tours (list of visiting shifts TBA), the Queen’s Coronation (the queen of Rosaria, that is), and the Grand Floral Parade—including a whole bunch of roses, which, as you may or may not have discovered via Google, are our city’s namesake due to Portland’s ideal climate for growing roses, its history of growing roses and, whaddya know, its annual Rose Festival. Nice. Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 98 SW Naito Parkway, rosefestival.org, Various times May 23–June 7. Free.
The Book of Mormon at the Keller
Y’all ever heard of “God’s Favorite Musical”? Well, apparently, according to bookofmormonportland.com anyways, God’s favorite musical is The Book of Mormon, which is certainly high praise (although, given the musical’s entirely satirical depiction of religion, is likely untrue). Anyways, the musical comedy follows the story of two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who find themselves at a loss as they attempt to preach the faith to a small village in Uganda. It’s a hysterical parody of musical and religious conventions, and while it is difficult to confirm the accolade of “God’s Favorite,” it has been dubbed “the best musical of the century,” by The New York Times, which is pretty much the same thing. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 503-248-4335, bookofmormonportland.com. Various showtimes Tuesday–Sunday, May 27–June 1. Prices vary.