The Portland skyline (left) provides
a backdrop for the tens of thousands of spectators who've assembled
on the west bank of the Willamette River to watch the Dragon Boat
Races (right), one of a series of events held during Portland's
month-long Rose Festival, an annual June tradition now over 90
years old (these days events overflow into most of July as well)
Detail from floats of the Grand Floral
Parade, the oldest event - and still the centerpiece - of the
Festival; the floats go on display at the Rose Quarter the day
after
Another event that's become a Rose
Festival "tradition" is Tigard's Festival of Balloons,
held at Cook Park; because of strong and gusty winds, on this
night only one brave crew (out of more than 40), with lots of
help from volunteers in the crowd, managed to inflate and keep
its balloon aloft during the Nite Glow
Fourth of July at the annual Albany
Timber Carnival (ca. 60 miles south of Portland) attracts lumberjacks
from around the world; among the most popular events are the standing
chop (left), the springboard chop (center), and the pole climb
(right) - up and down a 100 ft spar in under 30 seconds!!
Another annual summer event, usually
scheduled for mid-July, is the Concours d'Elegance - begun in
1972, it is held at Pacific University in Forest Grove (ca. 25
miles west of Portland). Below, a 1910 one-cylinder Brush...
...and a slightly newer and much more
powerful Cadillac touring car
The Portland Scottish Highland Games,
begun in 1952, are held annually in mid-July at Mt. Hood Community
College in Gresham (about 15 miles east of Portland) - two of
the most popular field events are the (56-pound) Weight for Height
Toss (left), and the Caber Toss (right), which uses a 180 pound
log about 20 ft long
Sherwood (about 15 miles south and
west of Portland) holds its Robin Hood Festival during the 3rd
weekend in July; one of its main attractions is the archery tournament,
held annually since 1952 - here the Sylvan Archers compete with
both compound (left) and long (right) bows against archers from
Nottingham, England
Portland's Oktoberfest (left) is held
at Oaks Amusement Park in Sellwood in late September, but it's
only one of several in the area. The oldest and best known is
held at Mt. Angel (right), which draws over 300,000 people annually
to this small community (founded by German settlers in the late
1800s) northeast of Salem to drink German beer and local microbrews,
eat thousands of pounds of locally made sausage, and dance to
imported Bavarian bands during a four day weekend
