Hi Sunnyside! Since it’s finally July, I’m really putting the emphasis on “Sunny”! It’s a great season to fill a basket full of food and drinks, grab a blanket and pack up the kids for events across Portland. That’s right, it’s time for our third annual summer events guide! As always, this is just a taste of all the free events going on around town and definitely puts the focus on events in Sunnyside and our surrounding neighborhoods. Visit portland.gov/parks/arts-culture/summer-free-all/cultural-events for a wider list of events in our city parks.
The Sounds of Summer
• Bring your dancing shoes (or just dance barefoot!) for Melao de Cuba at Mt.Tabor’s Caldera Amphitheater on July 9th at 6:30 p.m.
• The Rose Park Amphitheater will be the site for the Washington Park Summer Music Festival on August 8th and 9th at 6 p.m. This year celebrates the history and future of Black music in Portland with the Time Sound Big
Band and original soul music from Ural Thomas and the Pain.
• With the kids out of school, parents may be feeling a bit of summer stress! Can I interest you in a glass of wine? Bring your kids to Firefly Wine Room (4538 SE Hawthorne) for Family Music Night with Mr. Ben on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Mondays all summer long.
Sunset Cinema
• The Buckman Community Association will have a viewing of Men in Black on August 1st at 7:30 p.m at Colonel Summers Park. After last year’s showing of Galaxy Quest, Buckman keeps killing it with the funny sci-fi!
• Nothing says cool like Jamaican bobsledders at the Winter Olympics!
The SNA, in partnership with the Richmond and the Hosford-Abernathy
NAs, will host Cool Runnings on August 22nd at 7:30 p.m. in Sewallcrest Park.
A Night at the Theater (in the park)
• Set in the shadow of Shakespeare’s 12th Night, A Simple Truth by Ken
Yoshikawa is an epic five-act verse tragicomedy. It tells a story of
sovereignty, grief, and ecological preservation. Presented by Oregon
Adventure Theater at TaborSpace on July 10th and 11th at 6:30 p.m.
• Longtime readers know that I am a sucker for the Original Shakespeare
Company’s hilarious takes on the Bard. This year’s slate at Laurelhurst includes something for everyone with Henry IV – Part I on July 10th, King Lear on July 11th and a double-header of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and
Twelfth Night on July 25th. The full summer schedule is at opsfest.org.
Dancing (and eating and playing) in the Street
• Sunnyside’s street murals will be highlighted during a Pedalpalooza ride
on Saturday, July 18th. The ride starts at the Heart of Hawthorne
Plaza (at 37th Ave.) at 10 a.m. and proceeds on a 3.8 mile route
that will highlight the salmon murals on Salmon St. and the Sunnyside Piazza. More info at shift2bikes.org/calendar.
• How about a little educational fun? Explore Northwest Geology on a walk
through Mt. Tabor on July 26th at 2 p.m. Meet at the Visitor’s Center.
• Street fair season returns on August 23rd for the Hawthorne Street Fair and the summer wraps up with the Belmont Street Fair on September 19th. The SNA will be at both, so stop by and say hello!
That’s the summer fun list for 2026 but fear not, the SNA is not taking the summer off! We are working on multiple issues that affect the neighborhood, including dangerous traffic on our corridors, proposed developments on the empty lot at 4511 SE Hawthorne, and engaging with neighbors and other stakeholders around the long-vacant Laurelhurst Village property on Stark at 30th. More news on all of these fronts to come, but for now get outside and enjoy all that our city has to show off in the summer!