As a native Portlander, it's incredibly insulting to have the prime 4th of July location for the…read moreCity of Portland taken over by this festival, which was free with donations for DECADES but now charges $55 and won't allow families to bring outside food. THIS WAS WHERE PORTLAND FAMILIES HAD THEIR PICNICS AND WATCHED FIREWORKS! This festival should be made free with donations again or move to a different weekend. The festival is nice, BUT Portlanders have a right to use their own huge, central park location for a 4th of July celebration EVERYONE can attend, like any other city. I have no idea why people have not stood up to this outrage the past several years.

I attended this on July 2nd, blues festival since Buddy Guy was playing. He's 86 and so this is…read morehis last tour. Prepaid tickets in June was $50. I also saw Cha Wa from New Orleans. They are a Mardi Gras Indian Band with feathered head dress. They were great performers doing Mardi Gras songs and R & B. Delgres, French Caribbean band performed on the Front Porch Stage. It's a smaller stage. Eric Gales did a great performance before Buddy Guy came on too. The festival got super crowded after 6 pm. One thing I didn't like was that there were only one area where the Sanican Restrooms were set up. So you had to walk to the center of the grounds and under the bridge. It got really dark at 5 pm when the lights were not turned on yet. Some of the grassy area had bird poop around, so you really have to sanitize your shoes and blanket afterwards.

It's a naked bike ride, what more is there to say. It can be fun and interesting. Be open minded…read moreand remember it's for a great cause. It's to protest the world's dependency on oil.

The only problem is the date. It should be a Saturday in July. Its mostly at night and it was a…read morerefreshing 60 degrees. Cathedral Park was the best start location in five years. The band, stage, slope for viewing, just perfect.

Great music, easy parking, unique crafts, lots of food options and of course the Garlic!read more

Free-admission festivals are hard to come by these days, but North Plains' annual Elephant Garlic…read moreFestival is one of the exceptions, and this is a good one, perfect for a casual afternoon with friends and family, that isn't going to break the bank if you've got kids in tow. $5 parking in one of the two lots (one adjacent to the festival, the other much further, but with a shuttle) is all you'll have to pay up front. Depending on where you enter, you'll find a row of several food stands and carts, some of which specialize in garlic-related dishes and desserts; yes, you heard me, desserts, such as garlic ice cream! WHAT!? And it's actually delicious?! Beyond the "food court", there's live entertainment at an adjacent stage, an absolutely massive and exciting playground for the little ones, a grange hall hosting a book sale, and a field boasting several dozen vendor tents, with a handful selling garlic and garlic accessories, and the rest running the usual gamut of artwork, home décor, jewelry, clothing, accessories, tasty treats, gaming goods, and other festival favorites. I would like to see a greater focus on garlic as the centerpiece of the celebration, as it does come off a bit as an afterthought (or maybe an aftertaste?). Sure, there's plenty of garlic here for sale, but it wouldn't be immediately obvious as the theme of the whole affair to anyone stumbling across this festival at random. Bobbing for garlic, perhaps? A "pin-the-stake-in-the-vampire" contest, maybe? A "who has the worst garlic breath" competition? The opportunities are endless!

0 stars, parking was $15 for ONE day. At that rate, you have to park somewhere else and walk thru…read morethe park to avoid the $45 for 3 days. But strange enough, you couldn't buy a one day pass entrance to the actual festival so you had to pay for the entire 3 days @ $15 per person. So my family of 4 spent $75, for nothing. Rides were expensive, not much games for kids. The balloon show at night glow didn't pan out, Sunday morning balloons didn't sail off so my poor children got up at the butt crack of dawn walked a 1/2 mile to find out they wouldn't be taking off. How disappointing. There are many more reviews on google than on here so I suggest if you consider going to go read those as oppose to the ones on here. We won't be returning in the future.

A complete waste of time and money. No balloons, booths mostly consisted of aggressive sales…read morepitches for unrelated services like timeshares and home renovations. You can only buy a 3 day pass for $17, park for $15, then take a shuttle for another $2, but for what? We were done in 30 minutes. I supposed we could've spent $9 on a slice of carnival pizza and $10 more for a bag of kettle corn. But we just spent $51 for basically nothing. Yes, there was supposed to be balloons at 5:45 am in the morning, weather and pilot permitting, which is another way to say that there probably wasn't any balloons. Even if we woke up early to see no balloons, the rest of the booths open up at 10, and the music doesn't start until 5 pm. Honestly, do the organizers expect us to wait 10 hours between the possiblitity of seeing a balloon and the free live music, because those are the only things you get for your money. Never again.

Went to the fair last night. Almost as good as in 2024. Good quese briria with fresh and hot soup…read more The fried oreos were great too! Lots of fun rides, wish there was the plant vendor indoors who lot of great plants last time I visited. Brads reptiles house is always fun!

This is a pretty small fair with the usual fried food, rides, and animals. It's free to enter, but…read moreI'm not convinced it's worth the price of admission. If you don't want to ride the rides, there isn't a lot to see or do.

Updating the review three years later because, as predicted, the Hillsboro installment of this air…read moreshow isn't the one worth attending anymore. Thanks to the city's haphazard approach to zoning and hasty provision of incentives for data center construction, the aerobatic box for this event has been reduced to a bare minimum and flight teams no longer take part in the festivities. That leaves Hillsboro with a few propeller-driven stunt planes and a maximum of three military-gifted jets occasionally bunching together in flyover formation, but performing no tricks to speak of. The airport itself has decided to make itself a point of contention within the community by announcing plans to build a private jet hub: The kind of thing that facilities typically lobby for when they're more remote, or surrounded by strictly industrial infrastructure. But Hillsboro isn't Teterboro, and the residential properties abutting the airport that put up with the air show once a year aren't willing to deal with apparel-company G6es and wine-country flights simply because some developer insists there's demand. The air show no longer serves as a point of civic pride, but as aviation theater that seats brand-CEOs in the VIP area and shows them how the new runways can accommodate short-distance Alaska commercial craft... and should have no issue welcoming their clients' private jets. Never mind that it'll increase noise and emissions directly over homes, schools, and the main branch of the city's public library: The airport was here first, so deal with it. I can't recommend spending one thin dime on this farce and would, instead, recommend listening to its pleas that it "raises money for charity" and donate your ticket and concessions price directly to the charitable organization of your choosing. Don't finance the marketing of a jet hub that's camouflaged as a civic event--as evidenced by the main event's move to McMinnville, the air show has no particular loyalty to the city or county... only the old boys in their chambers of commerce.

Pretty good air show. Not the biggest and premier teams like the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds…read moreapparently don't have the air space to perform here, but it's still a good show. Food lines got a bit crazy but fortunately few people seemed interested in the taco truck so the wait there was minimal. The tacos were great. Veterans have their own area with chairs, tables and a nice spread of food.

Curse? What curse? I…read moreguess folks in Louisiana don't like being challenged for crawfish supremacy. My family has been going to this festival for years and it is the biggest event in Tualatin. 2010 marks the 60th year of the festival, which makes it the nation's oldest. On Friday night, admission is free and the festival is held in the Tualatin Commons around the lake. The Tualatin Riverkeepers [1] were renting boats, so it was quite funny to see this quiet man made lake filled with canoes and kayaks for the night. Great music (sadly no Zydeco), lots of dancing and food booths. Mostly local restaurants, but My Brother's Crawfish comes every year. I was a little annoyed that you had to buy festival food tickets and couldn't pay vendors directly. On Saturday, they charge admission and the festival expands to Tualatin Community Park. The day is filled with parades, a 5k fun run, dog show and crawfish eating contests. So if you don't have plans today, and aren't afraid of an old voodoo high priestess, get yourself to Tualatin. [1] Full disclosure - Mr. K is one of their volunteers.

Just a note, no Crawfish Festival for Summer 2022 (covid killed off 2020 and 2021) but also the…read morewhole concept is getting trash binned. The City of Tualatin announced no further Crawfish Festivals. see their link at the City of Tualatin. https://www.tualatinoregon.gov/recreation/city-bids-fond-farewell-tualatin-crawfish-festival

My favorite street festival in Portland! Yes, it is super crowded. Like side by side people filling…read morethe entire street! So go with expectations! The bars, restaurants and shops along this stretch of Mississippi extend their business into the sidewalks and the street itself is lined with tents occupied by vendors of every imaginable kind. Jewelry, clothing, food products, pottery, art, leather, macrame, handbags, belts, wood carvings, plants, massage oils, baked goods, Tarot Card readers and more! Many are handmade from local artisans, some are mass produced, and some resale. It's a mixed bag. There are three stages with music from local bands playing throughout the day and night, schedule provided online so you can plan accordingly. If you choose to sit within the gated area, you must be 21 or older since they serve alcohol in this area. Especially love the Norman Sylvester Band - they always get the crowd up and dancing and we plan our time to coincide with their performance! The bars and restaurants get super crowded, obviously. Bar hopping is the thing at this street fair! The restaurants and bars require people to be 21 or older, so families be prepared and choose appropriate. To satisfy your hunger, stop at one or more of the many amazing Food Trucks, so popular in Portland and now part of Portland's appeal. The trucks are located in dedicated sections at some of the cross streets, like N. Failing, and also throughout Mississippi. Ribs are always in high demand, as is the fried chicken! There are Thai, African, Mediterranean, Southern, Mexican, Chinese, American food trucks with some trucks offering healthy bowls (Fuego) and crepes (NE Creperie). An endless variety to satisfy everyone's cravings and budget. The Bourbon Beignets cart is a must, their New Orleons style beignets are to die for! On a sunny day, it gets even hotter because of the crowds - escape into the shops for Air Conditioning. Parking is exactly as expected at a crowded street festival in an old neighborhood with on-street parking. Take Uber or a Lyft or park a few blocks away. Fortunately because of my tiny car, I can always squeeze into a spot! This fair is dog friendly. And of course people friendly, attracting so much diversity that you will wonder, is this Portland? Just remember it's challenging to walk down the street as a single so pushing strollers or holding hands of toddlers may be difficult. Same with a leashed dogs. If your dog does not enjoy crowds, I'd leave them home. The Mississippi Street Fair is a great way to spend a few hours, day or night, for the best people watching, great music, delicious food and a feeling of community. I already have it in my calendar for next year!

Visited from WA…read more Cons: There's plenty of artists but not artisans. If you're looking for artisan work this is not the place A mix of handmade stuff with a lot of commercial booths Plenty of food options but many booths have hard to understand menus, not well organized Overall food wasn't very attractive. Not sure if it's presentation or something else. Not enough seating for food Pros: Great people watching experience Plenty of food options even though not very attractive Music stages Plenty of restaurants around in case you don't want to eat at the fair Overall it was an ok experience. I wouldn't come back here.

The weather didn't cooperate, but when does it in Oregon? After almost two years of watching the…read morerestoration of the historic Arch Bridge, the Willamette Falls Festival celebrated the reopening of the link between West Linn and Oregon City by the scenic falls. The organizers planned a nice event. A 3-day festival and each day has a different theme: Friday - "An Evening of Arts & Culture" Saturday - "Family fun Day" Sunday - "Get Active Day" The rain put a bit of a damper on some of the activities, but it was still a nice, small town event. In downtown Oregon City, the focus of the festival, you could walk around town to the sounds of a barbershop quartet. There was a small farmer's market on one block and an artisan's market on the next. We saw fireworks Saturday night from the McLoughlin Promenade. On Sunday there is a 5k Fun Run, as well as a run/bike/paddle race starting at Clackamette Park. It is also the official bridge reopening for walkers, bikes and antique cars. We enjoyed this festival all weekend long and one of the highlights for me was taking the trolley tour of Oregon City and West Linn. We were lucky to have the President of the Old Willamette Historical Society as our guide. Very informative and just a lovely way to continue to learn more about our local area. Many of the historic homes in the area, on both sides of the river, were also open expanded hours and volunteers in period costume were there to provide information, assistance and a dose of fun. The Arch Bridge will officially open to traffic at 5:00a on Monday.

it was wonderful that was great food and dancing. Also a fantastic jet boat ride I think so very…read moremuch for the wonderful fun festival.