Welcome to Portland and
Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion!
Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion website is a curated guide for locals and visitors and is designed around what is good and working in our town. (And the North Coast, Columbia Gorge & Willamette Valley.) Everything that makes Portland and the Pacific Northwest a special place to live in. The Companion explores our food, drink & arts culture, neighborhoods & small towns, farmers markets & local producers, indigenous culture and small businesses. The website complements Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion print and eBook (now available on Amazon!), and provides updates, reviews, current news, photos, interviews, and ways to get involved with our neighborhoods and the city.
The Portland Companion website is refreshed monthly, and events are listed chronologically.
*Scroll to the bottom for the August Spotlight piece on Shemanski Farmers Market, downtown.
SEPTEMBER IN PORTLAND (and close by)
A Curated Guide
©Stuart MacLean Ramsay 2026
ARTS & CULTURE
September 5,6 & 7. Labor Day Weekend Art in the Pearl. North Park Blocks. The 30th anniversary of one of the 10 best arts & crafts festivals in the country! Over 100 artists featuring paintings, glass, jewelry and metal works of art. An Education Pavilion, too. artinthepearl.com
September 9 - 13. PICA Time-Based Art Festival. Various locations. A plethora of contemporary performances, installations, artist talks and music. Hosted by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, a recommended hangout during the festival is the Bar Garden at PICA headquarters: 15 NE Hancock St. A handful of Portland’s best food trucks will be dispensing food at the Bar Garden. The schedule and art shenanigans are at pica.org/tba.
September 25 - 27. 29th annual Sisters Folk Festival. A wee bit outside the Portland Companion’s geographic bandwidth, but this is one of the best folk festivals in the country and makes for a great camping weekend. Over 30 artists performing (Scottish Fish anyone?) in 7 venues in the town of Sisters. $245 for the three days; less per day. sistersfolkfest.org
DRINKING
All the news that’s fit to drink.
September is a glorious month for beer drinkers…fresh hop beers, Oktoberfests and harvest festivals abound. Fresh hop season has begun: brewers head to the Valley hop farms and add the freshly harvested hops to their beers. Brew pubs, tap rooms and good beer joints are the places to enjoy these local and seasonal beers. celebrateoregonbeer.com has great info on them.
Here’s a steinful of beer events this month:
September 12. German Haus Oktoberfest. 5626 NE Alameda St. Noon - 9pm. Hosted by the German American Society of Portland and as close to Germany as you’ll get. Food from WienerwurstPDX and beer from the excellent Zoiglhaus Brewery. $9.31 for a ticket. germanamerican.org
September 12 & 13. Oregon Hop Festival at the Topwire Hop Project, 8668 Crosby Rd. NE., Woodburn. 11am - 6pm. The 3rd annual festival at Crosby hop farms’ beer-drinking oasis in the middle of a hop farm. Farm tours (this is hop harvest time), 20+ fresh hop beers, live music and food trucks. $25 for a commemorative glass and four 4oz beer samples. topwirebeer.com
September 17 - 20. Mt. Angel Oktoberfest. The largest folk festival in the Northwest, in its 61st year. Sausages, spätzle, 30+craft beers, local wines & ciders, 40+ non-profit food vendors, wiener dog races and that darn glockenspiel. Oktoberfest.org
Stammtisch and Prost!, two German neighborhood pubs are both celebrating Oktoberfest. Stammtisch Oktoberfest is September 25 - 27, and Prost! has hers on October 2 - 4. Prost! is also celebrating fresh hop beers during the weeks-long hop harvest
FOODVILLE
Restaurants, farmers markets & producers that contribute to the region’s food culture.
September 12. Tomato Fest, Wellspent Market, 3402 SE Division St. Noon - 4pm. Free. Hosted by Wellspent Market and the Culinary Breeding Network. A culinary ode to all things tomato, and a wonderful tribute to our food culture. Demos and tastings include Kachka, Fulamingo, Sauvette and Hot Mama Salsa. wellspentmarket.com
September 20. Circle V Portland vegan Food & Drink Festival. At Castaway warehouse venue, 1900 NW 18th Ave., Portland. In its third year, the festival celebrates the collaboration between local vegan restaurants and craft beverage makers. Tickets are $125. circlevportland.com
For a u-pick adventure and wonderful road trip, consider Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale. The family has been growing 150 distinct varieties of apples, pears, Asian pears, cherries and stone fruit since 1911. kiyokawafamilyorchards.com
Meet your farmer: Portland and just about every decent-sized town in Oregon is blessed with a bustling farmers market, offering the opportunity to meet the people who put real food on our tables. And meet the local baker or a start-up food cart looking to launch their brick & mortar dream.
Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University downtown is a true Portland treasure, with around 100 vendors and 9,000 customers in the peak summer months. It’s best to go early (8:30 am opening time). Portlandfarmersmarket.org Some personal favorites are Cully, Hollywood, Milwaukie, King, Kenton, Lents, Woodlawn, the year-round Wednesday market at People’s Food Co-op, and a bit further: Oregon City and Salmon StreetMarket in downtown Vancouver. Bring a basket or two.
BUY STUART RAMSAY’S PORTLAND COMPANION PRINT BOOK OR eBOOK!
The Portland Companion website is designed to complement Stuart Ramsay’s Portland Companion print and eBook. Both are now available on the Amazon platform. The paperback print book is $16.99 and has 244 pages packed with what makes where we live so special. The Kindle edition eBook is $8.88. The print book will be available in bookstores, shops and stores in the coming weeks.
DAY TRIPPING
Columbia Gorge
September 11 – 13th. Huckleberry Festival. Daubenspeck Park, Bingen. Serving huckleberry pie and ice cream since 1962. And lots more: parades, food & craft vendors, and live music: Paradise of Samoa (yes, Samoa), California Soul Review and Super Escandalo. The tasty huckleberry pie is made in The Dalles by family-run Angel’s Bakery panaderia, 216 Court St. huckleberry-fest.com.
September 17. Nights in White Salmon. Downtown. Local Makers’ market and the last one of the season. Music, too. And a fabulous name for the event. explorewhitesalmon.com
Willamette Valley
September 19. Bauman’s Harvest Festival. At Bauman’s Farm & Garden, 12989 Howell Prairie Rd. NE, Gervais. Pumpkin patch, 30 activities for kids, stellar hard cider for the grown ups, and their bakery, deli, plant and produce market. Tickets &more info: baumanshf.com
September 19. Molalla Heritage Apple Festival. 620 S. Molalla Ave., Molalla. 10 - 4pm. Free. In its 50th year: apple cider making, old-time arts, spinning & weaving and…apple pies!
September 25 & 26. Latino Makers Food & Wine Convivio. A celebration of Latino food, wine and culture in the heart of Oregon wine country. Day 1: Alhambra Cellars dinner, Dayton. Day 2: The Ground at Stillwater, McMinnville. Info and tickets: lmfwconvivio.com
September 26. The Hop & Heritage Festival and Fresh Hop Fiesta. Downtown Independence, “the hop capital of Oregon.” $25 gets you a beer glass and six tastings at local brewery, Parallel 45 and…the Downtown Independence Passport that gets you into local businesses and the Marketplace. Live music, naturally. Hopandheritage.com
CELEBRATE PORTLAND
September 4 - 6. Montavilla Jazz Festival. Not all neighborhoods can host a cool & vibrant jazz festival, but Montavilla does! Artists include Lo Steele, Conjunto Cantando con Cuba and Rebecca Sanborn. There’s a Jazz Village and free performances in Threshold Brewing and Vino Veritas wine bar. montavillajazz.org
Neighborhoods
Street Fairs are a wonderful way to explore and celebrate our neighborhoods and meet the neighbors and local business owners. And buy some cool art from the makers. Here’s two in September:
September 12. (Division) Clinton Street Fair. 10am - 5pm. SE Clinton between 25th and 28th streets. divisionclintonpdx.com
September 19. Belmont Street Fair, between 31st and 39th Ave’s. 10am - 5pm. belmontdistrict.org
INDIGENOUS CULTURE
September 12. 14th Annual Neer Chokikoo Powwow. Native American Youth and Family Center, 5135 NE Columbia Blvd. Portland. 1 - 10pm. Native American dance, music, history & culture, art, food. (If you haven’t been to a powwow before, ask if you can take photos, and stand for the Grand Entry.) nayapdx.org
September 12 & 13. Indigenous Marketplace. Electric Blocks, SE 2nd Ave. & Clay St., Central Eastside. 10 - 4pm. Indigenous and Black artists, makers, and culture bearers. Vendors selling original art work. indigenousmarketplace.org
Columbia Gorge: Tamástslikt Culture Institute’s newest exhibit from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is Tíkaas, The Precious Art of Cradle Boards. These crafted baby carriers were decorated with intricate beadwork, porcupine quills or paintings. The Institute ‘s museum shop also has exclusive Pendleton wool Kusi blankets, paying homage to the Kusi horses. 47106 Wildhorse Blvd., Pendleton. tamastslikt.org
PDX MISC.
September 6. 15th Annual Maharaja Arab Festival. Director Park, downtown. 1 - 7pm. Free. Bazaar, Arabic music, food and dance; cultural and community resources and kids’ activities. Hosted by the Arab American Cultural Center of Oregon. @AACCO. araboregon.org
September 11 & 12. Amp Music Festival. Star Theater, 15 NW 6th Ave. AMP is a music and arts program supporting youth (15 - 25) experiencing homelessness. Bands include Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Jenny Don’t & the Spurs, Pete Krebs (Hazel), and new bands Ogre and Altar Girl. $25 & $50. amppdx.org
September 12. Fil-Am Festival (Kasayahm). Pioneer Courthouse Square. 3 - 9pm. The 3rd annual festival, celebrating Filipino culture and heritage in Portland. Food, vendors and the music headliner, APL.DE.AP of the Black Eyed Peas! $55. filamfestpdx.com
September 15 - 16. El Grito Fiestas Patrias. Moda Center. Free. The cry that launched Mexico’s fight for independence in 1910. Artisan Pavilion, food, music & dance. Que Viva México! elgritoportland.com
THE COMPANION SPOTLIGHT:
SHEMANSKI FARMERS MARKET
If the madding summer and early Fall crowds at Saturday’s wonderful PSU’s Downtown Farmers Market are too much, consider her quieter yet still bustling sibling, Shemanski Park Farmers Market. Around 30 vendors, many of them there every week during the season, gather at downtown’s South Park blocks beneath a shading canopy of elm trees, with a scattering of oak and maple.
Vendors include Baird Family Orchards, growing fruits and hazelnuts in Dayton, Oregon and Maryhill, Washington. Their peaches are currently at their peak flavor over the next week or two and are simply not to be missed. Country loaves and pastries are dispensed by Tabor Bread and Propaganda Pastry. Produce vendors include Campo Collective and Sunrise Organic Farm. Sunrise was founded by two brothers in Albany and a daughter of one of the brothers established a 4-acre farm in Aumsville, west of Salem. It’s called Little Benji’s Family Farm and is just across the aisle from the Sunrise stand. Native Candy is here, too, selling fresh and frozen wild caught salmon and traditional smoked fish. Hav Paj Garden, run by a second-generation Hmong family, always smiling, who craft their creative floristry. Missionary Chocolates, founded by naturopathic physician, Dr. Melissa Berry, hands out free samples of her chocolate truffles. And Josi Farms, a 4th-generation Tillamook family farm sells pasture raised Aberdeen Angus beef. These are just a taste of just a handful of the vendors, and all are happy to chat and dispense wisdom about what they grow or make. Shemanski Farmers Market is a culinary oasis in the heart of Portland.
And in the heart of the market is the Shemanski Fountain, donated to the city by Polish immigrant, Joseph Shemanski. Shemanski owned Eastern Outfitters, a major clothing and department store in Portland that closed in 1953. The sandstone fountain, designed by Carl L. Linde, had drinking fountains, including one at the base for dogs. A bronze statue, ‘Rebecca at the Well’ was centered in the fountain, but the statue and the fountain have been vandalized more than once, and the statue has been boarded up. Way to go, Portland.
Perhaps the best ‘dog’ in Portland is the home-made kielbasa slathered in kraut and served at ‘A Taste of Poland’, a Shemanski market mainstay (and at the PSU and King markets, too.) Dion and Marzena Baran, Polish immigrants, own the family business and make the pierogies, kielbasa and kraut and have been doing so for over 30 years in Portland. You can buy their pierogies in specialty shops around town. Or better yet, go see them on Wednesdays in Shemanski Park, a Portland gem.
Shemanski Park Farmers Market, 1010 SW Park Ave. Portland. Wednesdays from 10 – 2pm, May 6th through October 28th. Portlandfarmersmarket.org
EyT
About the Author
Stuart MacLean Ramsay was born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland and arrived in Portland in 1985 to create and manage Portland’s first brewpub at the BridgePort Brewery. Writer, craft brewer and educator, he is a leading expert on whisky, spirits and craft beer. He was American correspondent & contributing editor for Britain’s Whisky Magazine and craft beer columnist for the Portland Oregonian. His most recent book project was contributing editor for the award –winning ‘Whisky: The Definitive World Guide.’ Stuart was the Curator for Portland’s Multnomah Whiskey Library when it opened, overseeing the multitude of spirits and the education & events program. He operates and hosts America’s oldest whisky school: Ramsay’s Dram Academy of Whisky, and seven years ago launched WhiskyBack Brewing, a family of craft beers designed to pair with different whisky categories. (Extinguished by the covid pandemic, alas.)
He is owner and host of The John Barleycorn Home, a guest house celebrating Portland’s food & drink culture and Oregon’s history, people and places. It was the catalyst for this book: airbnb.com/h/johnbarleycornhome-portland
Stuart’s whisky classes & events: https://www.ramsaysdram.com
WhiskyBack Brewing Company: https://whisky-back.weebly.com