GET OUT
Christine Davis compiles best bets for family fun, festivals, comedy and more. Send events submissions to eventsbestbets@oregonian.com.
Photo by David Ellingson
Kids will dig this
At this family-friendly paleontology dig, educators will join you in the trenches, demonstrating how to search for ice-age animal and bird bones.
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20,-Sunday, Aug. 25; Woodburn High School, 1785 N. Front St., field next to the school parking lot, Woodburn; free.
Pictured: Woodburn High School alumna, Naelly Garcia.
handout photo
“Napoleon Dynamite”
The cult comedy film “Napoleon Dynamite” appeals to our inner-teenager. Watch a full screening, then meet up afterwards for a discussion with Napoleon himself (Jon Heder, pictured).
7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23; Aladdin Theater, 3017 S.E. Milwaukie Ave.: $25-$95; Aladdin-Theater.com
Mark Graves/Staff
Oregon State Fair
A summer highlight, this fair is where the fun shines with concerts, competitions and animals.
Opens at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 23 and closes at 10 or 11 p.m. depending on the date; through Sept. 2, Oregon State Fairgrounds, 2330 17th St. N.E., Salem; $1-$8; oregonstatefair.org
Beth Nakamura/Staff
Faerieworlds
Strap on some wings and let your inner faerie out at this fantasy-and faerie-themed festival with music, performances, arts and crafts for the whole family.
10 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23-25; Horning's Hideout, 21277 N.W. Brunswick Canyon Road, North Plains; $30-$420; faerieworlds.com
Oregonian file photo
Swan Island Dahlias
Blooms across 35 acres of dahlia fields dazzle and delight showcasing a rainbow of colors and breeds in all shapes, shades and sizes.
8 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Monday, Aug. 24-26, and Aug. 31- Sept. 2; at Swan Island Dahlias, 995 N.W. 22ndAve.,Canby; free; dahlias.com
Photo by Ashley Jennings of Alchemy Tintype
The Creeping Museum Artist Market
A fun pop-up with art, handmade goods, vintage clothing and curiosities, the Creeping Museum features more than 40 vendors whose offerings include fairytale readings and custom tintype portraiture.
4-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24; Alberta Abbey, 126 N.E. Alberta St., Portland ; free; creepingmuseum.com/market
Photo courtesy of Metalwood Salvage
Prove your metal!
Check out these metal-makers and other crafty crafters. Sample tasty food from vendors and watch welding demonstrations.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug 24; Metalwood Salvage, 4311 N.E. Prescott St.; free: facebook.com/events/381685109364961/
Kids’ Obstacle Challenge
Here’s one more way for your kids to get down and dirty, and you are invited to do the same. Get ready as a family to take on rock walls, cargo nets and mud pits as well as ropes over water.
Various start times, Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 24-25; Sherwood Equestrian Center, 28303 S.W. Baker Road, Sherwood; ages 5-16; $48-$55 for kids, free for parents; kidsobstaclechallenge.com/portland
Oregonian file photo
Sunday Parkways
Peddle away on car-free streets around the Green Loop, passing places like the Portland Art Museum, the North Park Blocks, Lovejoy Fountain, and the Rose Quarter.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, Green Loop (Downtown/Inner S.E. Portland, 7 miles); portlandoregon.gov/transportation/75410
Photo by Amer Isse
Middle East Festival
With Middle Eastern cuisine, music, entertainment and dancing, this event offers a schedule full of flavor.
Noon-7 p.m. Sunday, Aug 25; St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 2101 N.E. 162nd Ave.; free; stgeorgeportland.org
Daniela Spector/Provenance Hotels
It’s a doggie day
Bring your pooch and come celebrate National Dog Day at a Party for All Paws with an extended yappy hour that offers light bites for humans as well as pet-friendly sweets.
4:30-6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26; Dossier, 750 N.W. Alder St.; $15; eventbrite.com/e/a-party-for-all-paws-tickets-68205764277
Steve Dykes/AP
Cambia Portland Classic
The 48th Portland Classic, a long-running stop on the LPGA tour, will showcase world-class women golfers.
Tee times and activities vary; Aug. 29-Sept. 1; Columbia Edgewater Country Club, 2220 N.E. Marine Drive; $15-$400; portlandclassic.com
CONCERT GUIDE
Nathan Rizzo puts together seasonal, monthly and weekly concert guides. Email submissions at least four weeks ahead of the event to musicbestbets@oregonian.com.
Calexico and Iron & Wine
After years of sporadic collaborations between Iron & Wine’s Samuel Beam and Calexico, the Arizona indie-rock ensemble, the two camps have finally reunited to record a sequel to the 2005 EP “In the Reins.” Yet, where Beam wrote the entirety of “In the Reins,” the “Years to Burn”sessions emphasized collaboration, producing compositions that are more nuanced and smoothly arranged -- if ambiguous in theme -- than their predecessors. “‘Years to Burn’ could mean you’re cocky, you’ve got made,” Beam said in a statement. “Or, our lives are ours to burn, to be inspired.”
8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.; all ages; tickets: $35-$75; portland5.com
Brandi Carlile
In June, Brandi Carlile made a superb debut at the Gorge Amphitheatre, her headlining performance tinted by a vibrant spectrum of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and Queen covers (that Emmylou Harris appeared for a duet on Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” didn’t hurt, either). Three nights at McMenamins Edgefield should give the white-hot Carlile a berth to convey the rich songwriting of her own catalog, fitting the capstone to a stellar summer concert calendar.
6 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Aug. 23-25, (tickets remaining for Sunday's show only), McMenamins Edgefield; all ages; tickets: $49.50-$105; edgefieldconcerts.com
Eyelids
Spare the facile R.E.M. comparisons; Eyelids is more a standard deviation from Big Star and Teenage Fanclub than producer Peter Buck’s famous former group. But the local quintet has quietly built its sound around a pop melodicism redolent of all three, one remaining sweetly tuneful while never betraying its edge.
9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi Ave.; 21 and over; tickets: $12; mississippistudios.com
The Blasters
By this point in their career, inclusion in “From Dusk Till Dawn” and a hit for Dwight Yoakam will likely remain the twin peaks of commercial success for The Blasters. But the hard-swinging rockabilly outfit, signed only after a truck driver’s off-hand endorsement assured a hesitant label boss, were central to an alternative scene in early-’80s L.A. that included X, Los Lobos and Black Flag, whose singer, Henry Rollins, has credited The Blasters’ influence.
9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, Aug. 21-22, Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside St.; 21 and over; tickets: $23; dougfirlounge.com
Amos Lee
If the clinical production and relative safety of Amos Lee’s recording catalog sound made for TV, that he has toured with John Prine, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello speaks volumes about his underlying skill as a songwriter. With a studio band featuring Robert Glasper Experiment drummer Mark Colenburg, Lee’s ear for instrumental talent is clearly keen, as well.
7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, Oregon Zoo; all ages; tickets: $42.50-$102.50; zooconcerts.com
Gov’t Mule and Nikki Lane
While guitarist and singer Warren Haynes has played with several groups -- most prominently the Allman Brothers from 1989 to 2014 -- Gov’t Mule is his own. A muscular supporting cast and vast catalog of material give the prolific Haynes ample breadth to stretch out and showcase his abilities. The occasion to hear him in person, as well as Nashville singer Nikki Lane, is one worth the drive to Eugene.
8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St, Eugene; all ages; tickets: $32; mcdonaldtheatre.com
THE ARTS
Arts editor Amy Wang compiles theater, classical music and visual arts events. Email submissions to fineartsbestbets@oregonian.com.
“The Importance of Being Earnest” features (from left) Blaine Vincent, Heather Bach, Fayra Teeters, Kaitlynn Baugh and Thomas McAuley. (Masque Alfresco)
Masque Alfresco
What Masque Alfresco’s 2019 summer tour is: A production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” What it isn’t: “Your grandmother’s ‘Earnest,’ ” says Fayra Teeters, artistic director of the long-running troupe. “I’ve cut all of the long speeches, taken all the puffy starch out, added commedia dell'arte schtick.” The production also features music from Gilbert & Sullivan's opera “Patience,” which Teeters noted is “the very same vehicle G&S used to parody Oscar Wilde.” The family-friendly tour wraps up this weekend.
7 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Aug. 23-25, Theatre in the Hood, 9020 S.W. Caroline Drive, Portland; free.
Work by the graffiti artist known as GATS. (Courtesy of Spoke Art)
GATS - a solo show
The San Francisco Bay Area graffiti artist GATS holds a pop-up exhibition in Portland featuring the artist’s exploration of “reclaimed surfaces” – not just on walls but also on objects, such as a rusty spray can. The solo show, presented by Spoke Art and Hashimoto Contemporary Art, features new original works, prints and enamel pins.
Opening reception, 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24; on view, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, Talon Gallery, 2728 N.E. Alberta St.; free.
Woody Guthrie in a 1969 press photo. (Oregonian file photo)
“This Land Sings”
Opera Theater Oregon presents the Northwest premiere of a Woody Guthrie show, “This Land Sings: Songs of Wandering, Love, and Protest Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie,” by Grammy Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty. The program also features “Songs for Joe Hill,” the early 20th-century Swedish American labor activist and songwriter, by composer Michael Lanci.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, Albert Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St.; albertarosetheatre.com or 503-764-4131$25-$35.
“Score”
In this collaborative event, artists will interpret a large-scale fabric installation through music and dance, treating it as a score. Featured artists include Justin Bulava (sound), Matt Cichon (movement), Katherine Evans (movement) and Val Galstad (textiles). 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, Performance Works NorthWest, 4625 S.E. 67th Ave.; $25.
Courtesy of Ray Atkeson Image Archive
Ray Atkeson
Friends of Timberline will celebrate the legendary Oregon photographer with a luncheon, lecture and exhibit at Timberline Lodge. In six decades as a photographer, Atkeson created more than 250,000 images, many of them on Mount Hood. Proceeds from the luncheon and lecture, by Atkeson's stepson Rick Schafer, will go to the Friends, a nonprofit that supports preservation, conservation, and community outreach programs at Timberline Lodge. Luncheon and lecture, 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, "A Tribute to Ray Atkeson" exhibit, Aug. 25-Jan. 25, Timberline Lodge, 27500 E. Timberline Road, Government Camp. $75 for luncheon and lecture, eventbrite.com, free admission to exhibit.
Pat Boas, “Sailor” (detail), 2019, acrylic on linen over panel, 15" x 12"
Pat Boas and Nicola López
Pat Boas, a Portland-based artist, presents new abstract paintings and prints in her exhibit “Memo,” whose title references both a series of Stuart Davis paintings and the purpose of a memo, as “a note to the future about the past.” Nicola López, a New York artist, presents new drawings and recent etchings, lithographs and collages in her exhibit “Hybrids,” which explores natural and built environments.
Pat Boas talk, 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27; on view, 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday through Aug. 31, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, 417 N.W. Ninth Ave.; free.
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