There’s a lot of opera on this week’s entertainment menu, and some of it is even free. If opera isn’t your scene, join in on a party in Pioneer Courthouse Square celebrating the kickoff of the Women’s World Cup Soccer tournament. We’ve also got several outdoor festivals and fairs as well as theater and dance performances.
“Don Giovanni”
Take a seat and raise a glass of wine during this evening opera set in the beauty of a Willamette Valley vineyard. Mozart’s masterpiece, “Don Giovanni,” tells a seductive tale of love, lust, and revenge sung by the young artists of Aquilon Music Festival based on the campus of Linfield University, and accompanied by a chamber orchestra. The piece is sung in Italian, but English supertitles will be provided.
7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, July 19-22, Lady Hill Winery, 8400 Champoeg Road N.E., Saint Paul; tickets $35-40; eventbrite.com/e/don-giovanni.
Jazz with violinist Eddie Parente
Head to the Eastside Jewish Commons around lunchtime Friday for a free concert featuring violinist Eddie Parente, along with Bossa Nova and Brazilian guitarist Ben Graves. The summertime concert offers a semi-acoustic set by this Portland-area duo to finish off your work week.
Noon Friday, July 21, Eastside Jewish Commons, 2420 N.E. Sandy Blvd.; free; ejcpdx.org/events.
The Gothard Sisters perform at the Corvallis Celtic Festival. Ruth H. Photography
Corvallis Celtic Festival
Corvallis is welcoming those of Celtic heritage and the community at large to celebrate the cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. Headlining musical act is Gothard Sisters performing Friday night. Saturday kicks off with a bagpiper’s parade at 9:30 a.m. Saturday will also feature musical acts from harps and fiddles to bagpipes, flutes, whistles, and singers. Guests can take part in performances and workshops, dancing, arts and crafts, children’s activities, and whiskey tasting. Some festival events are free, and others charge admission (including the Gothard Sisters concert). Check the website for a complete festival schedule.
Various times Friday-Sunday, July 21-23, in various venues in Corvallis, corvallisfolklore.org.
More than 200 artist will show their work at the Salem Art Fair & Festival.Image courtesy of the Salem Art Association
Salem Art Fair & Festival
Stroll the tree-lined Bush’s Pasture Park taking in well over 200 artists showing their creations in this annual festival that returns this summer. The event offers three days of music, fine art, food booths, and children’s activities. The festival kicks off a 9:30 a.m. Friday with a Children’s Parade through the park. Then it’s live music and other performances non-stop through Sunday.
Festival hours 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, July 21-23, Bush’s Pasture Park, 890 Mission St. S.E., Salem; admission $5-$10, children 12 and younger free; salemartfair.org/information.
The Washington County Fair boasts free admission daily. Oregonian file photo. Rebeca Bagdocimo/File
Washington County Fair
It’s Big Fair Fun, and it’s always free, which is a great thing when what you want to do is spend all your money on corndogs and thrill rides, or that amazing ice cream from the dairy farmers booth. Expect plenty of livestock displays, concerts, circus acts, magicians, family stage shows and more. There is a charge for parking.
Gates open 5 p.m. Friday, July 21. Gate hours are 10 a.m. during the weekend, and 5 p.m. on weekdays through July 30. Gate closures times vary but should be around 10 p.m. nightly (with displays and attractions open until about midnight), Westside Commons, 801 N.E. 34th Ave., Hillsboro; free; bigfairfun.com.
Image from the 2022 Tiger Tiger event in Fernhill Park. Photo by Zbyněk Blahutka.
Tiger Tiger!
Portland’s full-day festival celebrating the AANHPI community offers poetry, live music, interactive art, dance and more at Fernhill Park. Tiger Tiger is a space created for and by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders for healing, celebration, and simply “being” without explaining. The festival welcomes young and old to gather and is free to all. RSVPing via the website gives organizers an idea of how many people to expect.
2-9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22, Fernhill Park, 4121 N.E. Simpson St.; tigertigerpdx.com/schedule.
The United States women’s soccer team member celebrate in 2022. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)AP
Women’s World Cup Watch Party in the Square
Portland’s groundbreaking women’s sports bar The Sports Bra and the Portland Community Football Club will co-host a World Cup watch party in Portland’s living room, Pioneer Courthouse Square. The free family event offers entertainment, drinks, food, and football (soccer) in the square. Start with a screening of “Bend It Like Beckham” at 2 p.m. and finish with the 6 p.m. kickoff of the U.S. women’s team against Vietnam in the first match of the World Cup series airing live from Auckland, New Zealand.
Events begin at noon Friday, July 21, Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 S.W. Sixth Ave.; free; eventbrite.com/e/womens-world-cup.
“Red Velvet” — Bag & Baggage Productions
As British Parliament is about to ratify the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, Black American actor Ira Aldridge takes a career- and life-defining role on the most prominent stage in London. Playwright Lolita Chakrabarti’s riveting portrait of Aldridge tracks the social and artistic ripples from this historic theatrical moment.
Opens 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 21 and continues 7:30 p.m. various dates through Aug. 5. Matinee performances 2 p.m. July 23, 30, Aug. 6, The Vault, 350 Main St., Hillsboro; tickets start at $20; bagnbaggage.my.salesforce-sites.com or 503-345-9590.
— Lee Williams/Special to The Oregonian/Oregonlive.com
Pro Motocross Championship races come to Washougal this weekend.Image courtesy of Pro Motocross
Washougal Motorsports Championship
Pro Motocross Championship will be the centerpiece of the newly formed SuperMotocross World Championship in 2023. The 11-round summer Pro Motocross campaign visits 10 states over the course of its journey to crown a pair of AMA National Champions in some of the most scenic setting in all of American motocross. One stop will be in Washougal, where competitors will race around the tree-lined landscape of Clark County’s Washougal MX Park, nestled amidst the evergreens just north of the Columbia River. The day’s events include morning practice and qualifying rounds, 12:30 p.m. opening ceremonies, then motos for both 250 and 450 classes.
Event hours 8 a.m. through mid-afternoon, Saturday, July 22, Washougal MX Park, 40205 N.E. Borin Road, Washougal; admission $70 plus fees all ages; promotocross.com/2023.
The Northwest Children’s Theater presents “The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.”Photo by David Kinder
“The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales”
Northwest Children’s Theater alumni return to Portland to perform at the newly opened The Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts. Welcome to the fun and wacky adventures found in Jon Scieszka’s children’s stories come to life on the stage. Expect campy comedy, parodies of classic fairy tales and plenty of music. Most enjoyed by ages 5 and older, and by those who love Scieszka’s madcap sense of humor.
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, July 22-Aug. 6, at The Judy, 1000 S.W. Broadway, Suite T-100; tickets $25-$35; nwct.my.salesforce-sites.com.
Opera A’ La Cart
Do you have lunch plans this Thursday? Head down to the Hampton Opera Center, near OMSI at the east end of Tilikum Crossing, for an open-air performance by Portland Opera stars during the lunch hour. Opera a la Cart is a mobile performance venue that brings live opera performance directly into the community spaces where people gather. Designed and built by architecture students at Portland State University, the cart features a fold-out stage and a “menu” of operatic specials of the day sung by local artists. Check the website for remaining summertime performances.
Noon Thursday, July 27, Hampton Opera Center, 211 S.E. Caruthers St.; free; portlandopera.org/education.
A-WOL Art in the Dark performance summer 2022. Oregonian file photo. Mark Graves/The Oregonian
A-WOL Dance Collective “Drop of a Hat”
Portland-based aerial dance group presents its signature performance held outdoors at Mary S. Young Park in West Linn. Each summer, A-WOL showcases aerial artists under the trees and under the stars in a show that’s not quite like anything else out there. This weekend’s show, “Drop of a Hat” follows the story of an unqualified group of 9-to-5ers turned into circus troupe by happenstance. The shows include a musical score and live performance by Anthony Meade. Nightly entry is at 7:30 p.m., and the show begins at nightfall.
Opens 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27 and continues 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through Aug. 5. One matinee performance 3:30 p.m. July 29, Mary S. Young Park, 19900 Willamette Drive, West Linn; tickets sold in pods $40 per person; www.awoldance.org/events .
— If you have events you’d like to see highlighted at OregonLive.com or in the weekly printed A&E section of The Oregonian, please email submissions to events@oregonian.com at least three weeks prior to the start of your event. Digital images or links to videos are helpful.
— Rosemarie Stein
503-221-4376, events@oregonian.com; @trafficportland
Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe