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hey tiny.
last week i said the flag stuff could wait. it waited, and now it is here, going off at exactly my eye level. i have complicated feelings about a holiday that aims at my face, but the whole city smells like charcoal and somebody always drops a hot dog, so we are mostly even.
this week one of you went all in. the first tiny to take the annual tier. i celebrated by threading a needle i can barely pinch and starting on your handmade copy of the hunt. someone else filled up the mug last week. at my scale that is one sip. at yours it is a heroic act. thank you. you know who you are.
speaking of which: the hunt is live. nine stops between kenton and killingsworth, a password, a prize at the end. its companion piece on the history under your feet published last night. and aunt svetty filed july, which involves neptune going backwards and firm instructions to leave the carnival. read july's mundane astrology now.
scroll down.
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[ CELEBRATING - THE 4TH ]
Eastmoreland July 4th Parade Jul 4 at 10:00 Duniway Elementary, SE Portland | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] antique cars, a pep band, and four adult goats billed as a petting zoo. the goats know what they are. a very weird tradition.
4th of July Children's Bike Parade Jul 4 at 10:00 Rose City Park Methodist Church, NE Portland | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] the area's biggest kids' bike parade. decorate your tiny wheels and roll out.
CMNSL + Ancestro Block Party Jul 4 at 12:00 Commensal Fermentation, 3901 N Williams Ave | Free [ more ] hyper-local cookout with free hot dogs and sidewalk dj sets. loiter responsibly.
Portland Craft Beer Festival Jul 3-5 Elizabeth Caruthers Park | $43 [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] outdoor beer party pouring strictly portland-made liquids. drink local or do not drink at all.
Oak Hills 4th of July Celebration Jul 4 at 16:00 Oak Hills Recreation Center, Washington County | $8-$15 ($4-$8 HOA) [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] suburban independence day parade. fireworks cost money, so pay up or look away.
Heartbeat Silent Disco Jul 4 at 18:30 Mt. Hood Brewing Co., Tilikum Station | Donation [ more ] put on headphones and dance in total silence on a transit bridge. look ridiculous while fireworks explode.
Independence Day Fireworks Jul 4 at 22:00 Tom McCall Waterfront Park | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] portland's biggest fireworks show, launched from a barge at dusk as the blues festival finale. no ticket needed. the hawthorne bridge walkway and the east bank see everything. crane your necks.
Dark Carnival Anti 4th of July Jul 5 at 19:30 Twilight Cafe and Bar | $23.23 [ more ] anti-fourth of july variety show and dance party. skip the patriotism and sweat it out. 21 and over.
i already walked you through the rest of the holiday weekend last week, rides and all. those events did not stop existing. the archive keeps issue 13's extended cut, and the whole stretch is mapped in there.
[ MAKING + DOING ]
Free Art in the Park thursdays at 11:30, all summer Pioneer Courthouse Square | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] every thursday the brick plaza turns into a messy, interactive painting studio. missed today? it comes back. get paint on your clothes.
Cozy Night Out at Queen Jane Jul 2 at 19:00 Queen Jane Music Studios | Free [ more ] bring a craft or hyperfixation. sit in parallel play or socialize. free buffet included.
Drafting Hours (The Creative Roundtable) Jul 8 at 13:00 NedSpace, 621 SW Morrison St | Free [ more ] bring the deadline you have been avoiding to a room that takes it seriously. wednesday afternoons, coffee on. i check through the window and nod.
Summer Events @ Gateway Discovery Park Jul 9 at 11:30 Gateway Discovery Park | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] teacher brittany, one guitar, songs in english and spanish. deposit your tiny tinies on the grass and let it happen.
Oregon Potters Association Summer Fair Jul 10 at 10:00 Portland Nursery, 5050 SE Stark St | Free [ more ] forty potters set up in a nursery lot. everything there is breakable except me. walk like you mean it.
[ DANCING + LISTENING ]
Slow Techno Jul 2 at 20:00 Process PDX | $10 [ more ] slow techno. that is the point.
CITY POP! Jul 2 at 20:00 Holocene | $15.28 [ more ] japanese boogie and j-jazz, music engineered for night driving along a coast portland does not have. seaside.fm and joe ball will fake it convincingly. 21+.
Mule Musiq Tokyo Club Night Jul 3 at 22:00 Process PDX | $20-30 [ more ] the cult tokyo house label flies kza, toshiya kawasaki, and taihei kirioka into a portland basement. i will have one ear pressed to the block all night.
Synth Library Portland 10th Anniversary Party Jul 9 at 20:00 Synth Library, 123 NE 3rd Ave | $15 ($10-14 sliding scale) [ more ] ten years of communal synthesizers. baseck, wet mango, golden donna. i cannot fit through the door but the modular hum finds me anyway.
[ SEEING + LISTENING ]
Noon Tunes thursdays at 12:00, all summer Pioneer Courthouse Square | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] free lunchtime concerts on the square every thursday. linoy played today, someone new next week. chew your food to the beat.
The Lotus Festival (opening) Jul 2 at 17:00 Lan Su Chinese Garden | Garden admission [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] seasonal lotus blooms and cultural programming. respect the plants.
SOPA Southern Oregon Process for the Arts 2026 Jul 2 at 20:00 Gold Beach, OR | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ road trip ] party with an octopus. i will not elaborate.
First Friday PDX Jul 3 at 18:00 East Creative Collective, 211 SE Madison St | Free [ more ] self-guided art walk on the eastside. look at art until your legs hurt.
The Devil Wears Prada Movie Bingo w/ Violet Hex Jul 3 at 19:00 Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division St | $15 [ more ] movie bingo hosted by violet hex. stare at meryl streep.
Conversational Lube Jul 3 at 19:00 McMenamins Al's Den, 303 SW 12th Ave | $26 [ more ] a comedy show that is also a dating show. stop having dry conversations.
BONG WIZARD, Ravine, Sandkrawler Jul 3 at 20:00 High Water Mark | $15 [ more ] three band names that are also a complete evening itinerary. i can feel the fuzz pedals from up here.
lisssten: Essie Humberston, ann annie, Steven Leslie Douglas Jul 5 at 17:00 Fumi, 4007 N Mississippi Ave | $15-30 sliding scale [ more ] ambient sets in a room built for sitting on the floor and saying nothing. the quietest thing i will point you at all month.
Reading: Ash Yang-Thompson & Kiik A. K. Jul 6 at 19:00 Word Virus Books | Free [ more ] sister yang once meditated so hard she broke her foot. kiik performs rarely and, by his own account, terribly. monday has nothing else on it. go to this.
Tough Shit with Oregon Humanities Jul 8 at 19:00 PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater | $15 [ more ] oregon humanities putting the city's hard questions on a stage. bring your opinions. prepare to have them handled.
The Circle Jul 9 at 19:00 OMSI Kendall Planetarium | $24 [ more ] a 360-degree psychedelic odyssey on a massive dome. get overwhelmed by pixels.
New Works Festival Jul 9 at 19:30 CoHo Productions | Pay-what-you-can [ more ] ten years of brand new plays, priced at whatever you have on you. every script needs its first ears. be the ears.
West Linn Old Time Fair Jul 10 at 17:00 Willamette Park, West Linn | Free admission [ more ] [ + all ages ] [ road trip ] year seventy of carnival rides and prize vegetables. if i rest my chin on the ferris wheel it stops being a ride, so i keep my distance.
The Bigfoot Poetry Festival Jul 10 at 17:00 Downtown Portland | Free [ more ] a poetry slam named for the only local who hides better than i do. we large elusive creatures support the arts. mostly free.
Extremophiles Book Release: Rats Alice Trujillo, with K. Y. Steinberg Jul 10 at 19:00 Word Virus Books | Free [ more ] a porn/horror novel about grief, poverty, and climate collapse, read by its author. transgender sex and ultraviolence at the end of human existence.
Vinyl & Art Market Jul 11 at 17:00 Dreamhouse Bar | Free [ more ] records, prints, and ceramics at a bar. spend your spare change.
Portland Fashion Institute 16th Anniversary Gala Jul 11 at 18:30 Portland Art Museum | $135 [ more ] the fashion institute turns sixteen and takes over the art museum. runway, dinner, a dj who understands an occasion. look sharp.
Overlook Porchfest Jul 11-12 Overlook neighborhood, various porches | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] one hundred acts across forty porches, and the neighborhood runs its yard sale the same weekend. the only festival i can watch end to end without turning my head. they pay every performer, which is rarer than the goblin jazz.
Rose Cup Races Jul 12 at 09:00 Portland International Raceway | $20 [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] high-speed cars driving in circles. bring ear protection.
[ BULLETIN BOARD ]
Bassist AND A Proficient!!! Drummer NEEDED!!! ongoing St. Johns area [ more ] local punks looking for a rhythm section. the jizz wizards demand perfection. i am their new biggest fan. literally.
[ STARGAZING ]
the stars are moving again. i know because they keep snagging in my hair. aunt svetty has filed july and it involves neptune in retrograde, the buck moon, and instructions to get off the internet and lie down on the actual ground. she also assigned the month a twisted sister song. read it and do what she says.
you're standing outside the wall.
the extended cut, the full calendar, event tickets, and whatever's next. all on the other side. come in.
let me inwhat's back here:
- the extended cut, every thursday
- the recurring calendar, always on
- tickets to tunnel vision pdx events
- surprises, stickers, zines + more