Learning & TechTours

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Tagged any of Talks & Lectures orTours
SATNOV 7
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
+1 dates
Registration requiredTalks & LecturesWorkshopsToursParks & NatureHiking & WalkingCultural Heritage

Pine Pruning Demonstration

Pruning pines to achieve the look they have in spaces like Portland Japanese Garden requires meticulous care and years of learning. In this demonstration, Pete Putnicki, Japanese Pruning Specialist and former Senior Gardener at Seattle Japanese Garden, will discuss the maintenance of pine trees.

This program will start with a tour of the Garden focusing on pine trees, followed by a lecture and demonstration. The demonstration will focus on candling, needling, growth regulation, and pruning techniques. Participants will have a chance to experience pine needling themselves with an instructor guiding them along the way.

  • This one-day demonstration is limited to 15 participants.
  • Participants should bring their own lunch, a reusable drinking cup or water bottle.
  • Educational material will be provided.
  • Event fees are non-refundable and this event takes place rain or shine, so please dress appropriately for the weather.
SUNNOV 1
Hours not provided
ToursTalks & LecturesHistory Talks

A Night with Ghosts

NW Pettygrove St & Northwest 21st AvenueMap

Experience Portland's paranormal heritage and investigate several historic ghost lore gathered from elders, books, medical journals, alienists, spiritualists, and 100s of newspaper accounts of hauntings in NW Portland. Ghost tours stop at three locations where the spirits are known to be less than peaceful and locations where the spirits have moved on. Seek out the ghost of Agnes Reid's son, little Ernest Harp's poltergeist playmate, and the Lady Over the Bar. These ghost tours are not for the faint of heart or those under the age of 12.

SUNNOV 1
1:00 PM
+7 dates
All agesAdvance ticket requiredToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksArts & Media

Mission Theater History & Art Tour

Discover the rich history of Oregon's original theater pub on our Mission Theater History & Art Tour! Hear all the dramatic details, from our Swedish Mission days to hosting Portland's longshoremen union during one of the largest dockworkers strikes in the country to the playhouse whose short-lived residency may or may not have had something to do with "the Scottish Play," and beyond!

Tour will take about 60-75 minutes; entrance is at the main doors of Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan St, Portland, OR 97209). Doors open approximately 15 mins before the tour starts, and entry may not be guaranteed after 1pm.

Please note: Tour may include stairs and standing for extended periods of time.

Passport holders: This tour is eligible for the Mission Theater location stamp and an Attend a History Sponsored Event experience stamp.

For private group tours, contact [email protected]

Multi-day events

10
SUNNOV 1
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
💰 PaidDrop-inMuseumsTalks & LecturesTours

Look With Me

Your eyes, your ideas, one artwork at a time. Slow your pace in the galleries and join a Look With Me conversation. These 20-minute, drop-in sessions focus on one artwork, just enough time to notice things you might normally breeze past. Our volunteer guides invite your perspective, spark questions, and help the whole group see something new.

Sessions take place every 30 minutes from Noon to 2 p.m.Look for signs in the galleries to join.

Artworks on this tour
  • 12 p.m. Hoshino Satoru, Spring Snow No. 12 (Rothko Pavilion, Level 2, Grand Gallery 200)
  • 12:30 p.m. Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of My Teacher, Fräulein Sophie von Prieser (South Wing, Level 2, Gallery 202)
  • 1 p.m. Phyllis Yes, Dusty Cleaning the Tub (South Wing, Level 2, Gallery 207)
  • 1:30 p.m. Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Spirit Dreaming Through Napperby Country (South Wing, Level 1, Schnitzer Courtyard)

Come for one session or stay for a few. You’ll be surprised by what you start to notice.

Third Sundays: Look With Me + Art in ASL
Once a month, some sessions are led in American Sign Language (ASL) and others in English. Every session includes ASL/English interpretation.

SUNNOV 8
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
WineWorkshopsTalks & LecturesToursCraftsPartiesOutdoors

Hecate's Key Harvest Party

Join us for a lovely afternoon of fresh fermented wine, soup, vineyard talks, vine weaving, & storytelling at Hecate's Key Estate Vineyard — AniChe's vineyard down the hill!

Free for Hecate's Key Club members, all others $35 (Family club members can use their points for half off!). Tickets are available at https://anichecellars.com/product/vineyard-tour-august-30th-duplicate and all are welcome.

SUNNOV 1
Hours not provided
+29 more
💰 $85+Talks & LecturesHistory TalksToursOutdoors

Multnomah Falls & Gorge Waterfalls Tour

PortlandMap

The breathtaking waterfalls and Columbia River Gorge vistas are the ultimate photo heaven, just waiting to capture your Instagram-worthy selfies and group shots.
Get ready for a scenic adventure and a history lesson all rolled into one. As you trek to the stunning waterfalls and other gorgeous spots, soak up the rich tales of the land and the culture of the region. Hear how this jaw-dropping landscape was molded over time and be a part of the journey.

Prepare to journey back in time to the birth of the Cascade Mountain Range, where lava and pyroclastic matter oozed and flowed, creating a solid layer of basalt rock that coated Western Oregon. Fast-forward to the Pleistocene Ice Age, and witness the epic Lake Missoula Flood, which carved out the majestic Columbia River Gorge, leaving behind sheer cliff walls, towering waterfalls, and breathtaking vistas.

Get ready to explore this natural wonderland, where enthusiastic guides will take you on a thrilling ride along the Historic Columbia River National Scenic Byway, stopping at iconic spots like the Portland Women’s Forum, Crown Point Vista House, Latourell Falls, Multnomah Falls, and Shepperd’s Dell. Prepare to be wowed by the wondrous sights and sounds of this awe-inspiring landscape and learn about its rich history along the way. Witness why the Columbia River National Scenic Area is one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon. Don’t forget your camera.
Tours happen twice daily at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

SATNOV 7
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Talks & LecturesHistory TalksTours

Gravestone Gossip: The Stories of the Clark County Pioneers

Take a warm, dry, “virtual” tour of the pioneer cemeteries of Clark County, led by our cemetery expert, Peri Muhich! Discover the stories beneath the headstones, from pioneer shenanigans to untimely deaths, from names you’ll recognize to names you should know, we’ll cover it all!

FREE event

SUNNOV 1
Hours not provided
+20 more
💰 $50+Food & DrinkWorkshopsToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksArts & Media

Build-a-Bar Experience

creo chocolate100 NE Farragut St #102

Creo's signature Build-a-Bar experience is the perfect outing for a family, date night, or activity for tourists or visiting guests. Guests don hairnets and aprons and get a peek behind the scenes at how Portland's most award-winning chocolatiers craft their chocolates. Guided by one of the owners, guests will learn the history of chocolate and how Creo sources all their cacao from one family farm in Ecuador. Guests sample different types of chocolates throughout the approximately 90-minute experience, which culminates with guests making a custom chocolate bar of their own to take home.

Dates and times vary.

SUNNOV 1
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
+8 dates
All ages💰 $15+ToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksArts & Media

Kennedy School History and Art Tour

McMenamins Kennedy School5736 Northeast 33rd Avenue

Do you remember what your favorite subject was in school? Enjoy a pint while you reminisce during the History and Art Tour. Explore how this former elementary school transformed into the unique community gathering spot you see today. Will you make the honor roll or go straight to detention...?

Tours meet outside the gift shop and will be approximately 60-75 minutes. All ages are welcome; tickets are required for children ages 3 and older.

Please note: The tour may include standing for extended periods.

Passport holders: This event is eligible for an Attend a History Pub Passport stamp

SATNOV 14
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
💰 $45ToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksSpiritsHolidays & SeasonalMuseums

Saturday Night Spirits

Spooky season doesn’t end with Halloween! Join us for a ghost tour and investigation of the Stevens-Crawford House and a haunted history tour of the Ermatinger House. The Falls Distilling will also be joining us to serve up samples of their “spirits” and will have their gin products available to purchase. $45 More info and tickets at bit.ly/OCSaturdayNightSpirits

SUNNOV 1
10:00 AM
+7 dates
All agesToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksArts & Media

Crystal Ballroom History & Art Tour

Tour entrance is at the Box Office on SW 14th and entry may not be guaranteed after 10am.

Join us as we explore the rich history of the Crystal Ballroom, including police raids, visits by silent screen idols and Beat poets, psychedelic light shows, R&B and rock legends, dancing throughout the decades and narrow escapes from ruin.

This tour may require standing for long periods of time and is mostly accessible via elevator. One stop on the tour, the balcony, can be seen but not accessed, except by stairs.

Passport holders: This tour is eligible for the Crystal Ballroom and Lola’s Room location stamps and the Attend a History Sponsored Event experience stamp.

For private group tours, contact [email protected]

FRINOV 20
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
💰 $30+Advance ticket requiredToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksMuseums

Wagon Crawl

End of the Oregon Trail Museum1726 Washington St

It wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows on the Oregon Trail. Historian John Jarvie leads a tour through the darker history (and comedy) of the iconic journey at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive and Visitor Center. Tickets include two drinks, either alcoholic or nonalcoholic. Participants must purchase tickets online before the event.

SUNNOV 15
12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
All ages💰 PaidDrop-inMuseumsCraftsBilingual EventsWorkshopsTalks & LecturesTours

Art in ASL + Look With Me

Portland Art Museum celebrates the Deaf Community with Art in ASL on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Deaf Community members and their companions enjoy complimentary admission all day and are invited to participate in guided Look with Me sessions in the galleries between 12-3pm. Visitors of all ages are welcome.

Some Look with Me sessions will be led in ASL and some will be led in English. All sessions will have interpretation. Look for signs in the galleries to find locations of each session.

Join us for slow looking sessions from 12-3 pm then come to the Finley Studio for artmaking and social time from 3-5 pm.

Look With Me does not require special tickets. Museum tickets can be purchased online or at the box office.

Accessibility:
The museum galleries are wheelchair, mobility device, and stroller accessible. Complimentary stools, folding chairs, manual wheelchairs, and assistive technology are available upon request. All museum accessibility info is available here. Please contact us with any additional access needs at [email protected] or leave a videophone message at 503-420-3169.

Art in ASL is presented in partnership with the Deaf Look Club, a program of Bridge City Montessori.

SATNOV 7
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
+3 dates
💰 $15+ToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksGalleries

Bagdad Theater History and Art Tour

McMenamins Bagdad Theater & Pub3702 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard

More than just movies, this marvel of a theater was built in the heyday of Hollywood glamour, right on the cusp of the modern talking picture era. It has hosted many grand affairs, including Vaudeville acts, live music, book tours, and more. Join and learn the rich history of the Bagdad Theater that continues to dazzle moviegoers even to this day.

This tour may require standing for long periods and using stairs.

Passport holders: This tour is eligible for the Bagdad Theater location stamp and the Attend a History Sponsored Event experience stamp.

Tours are every other Saturday.

SATNOV 14
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
ToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksHiking & Walking

Lone Fir Cemetery Historical Tour

Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery649 Southeast 26th Avenue

Want to get to know the cemetery better? Take one of the monthly tours. Tours highlight Portland’s founders and regionally-known pioneers.

Reservations or donations are not required for the tour but are greatly appreciated. All proceeds go to fund the workshops and cemetery preservation work.

Two different guided tours are available each month — the Historical Tour and the Stories in Stone Tour. Both give you an opportunity to learn about the community while enjoying the beauty of the cemetery. After each tour, you will have the chance to purchase FLFC merchandise and learn how you can become a member.

SATNOV 7
10:00 AM
+3 dates
All agesToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksArts & Media

Bagdad Theater History & Art Tour

More than just movies, this marvel of a theater was built in the heyday of Hollywood glamour, right on the cusp of the modern talking picture era. It has hosted many grand affairs, including Vaudeville acts, live music, book tours, and more. Join us as we learn the rich history of the Bagdad Theater that continues to dazzle movie goers even to this day.

This tour may require standing for long periods of time and may require the use of stairs.

Passport holders: This tour is eligible for the Bagdad Theater location stamp and the Attend a History Sponsored Event experience stamp.

Tours are every Saturday.

SATNOV 28
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
ToursTalks & LecturesHistory TalksHiking & Walking

Lone Fir Cemetery Women’s Tour

Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery649 Southeast 26th Avenue

“Go west young man and grow up with the country.” While many men did heed this call to the western frontier seeking adventure and fortune, most women came with their families– as children, as wives and often as mothers caring for children. This tour will highlight their unique stories and their roles in the community as Portland transitioned from a rough and tumble frontier town to an early 20th century city.

As we walk through beautiful Lone Fir Cemetery, we will visit the gravesites of women whose names you may recognize as Portland’s founding families: Terwilliger, McLoughlin, Macleay, as well as lesser-known women whose contributions through civic, philanthropic, and religious organizations improved the lives of Portlanders.

SATNOV 7
9:00 AM
Talks & LecturesHistory TalksToursMuseums

Gravestone Gossip: The Stories of the Clark County Pioneers

Take a warm, dry, “virtual” tour of the pioneer cemeteries of Clark County, led by our cemetery expert, Peri Muhich! Discover the stories beneath the headstones, from pioneer shenanigans to untimely deaths, from names you’ll recognize to names you should know, we’ll cover it all! This event is presented by the Two Rivers Heritage Museum.
SUNNOV 1
2:00 PM
ClassicalWorld MusicChoralTalks & Lectures

Beethoven's Symphony No. 1

Overview

Inspired by Crater Lake National Park, Michael Gordon’s Natural History weaves Native and symphonic music in this paean to the natural landscape. Plus, hear works by two of classical music’s most intrepid pioneers: Stravinsky’s experimental musical essay on wind and brass sounds, Symphonies of Wind Instruments,and Beethoven’s vivacious and dramatic Symphony No. 1. Oregonian Grace Miedziak enhances the program with a new work that celebrates the Pacific Northwest.

About the Show Info

This concert is part of Classical Series A, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series (Portland only). Concert length is approximately 1 hour 33 minutes, with one intermission.

Concert Conversation

This pre-concert talk takes place one hour before the Sunday matinee performance.

SUN, NOV 1, 1PM: Conductor Norman Huynh and Rizzo-Cummings Emerging Composer Fellow Grace Miedziak with All Classical Radio host Warren Black.

Loading... Select a Date Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland Sat, Oct 31, 2026, 7:30 PM Sun, Nov 1, 2026, 2:00 PM Promo Code Buy Tickets
SUNNOV 1
2:00 PM – 9:00 PM
💰 $25FilmTalks & Lectures

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces + The Return Episodes 1 & 2

Featuring special guest Gary Hershberger (Mike Nelson) in person!

Joins us for the complete Twin Peaks series on the big screen for the first time in history! We continue our year-long celebration of the greatest TV show of all time The Missing Pieces. Rarely shown in theaters, this feature film presents deleted scenes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me assembled together as an untold portion of the story’s prequel. Following a Q&A, we’ll then begin The Return with episodes “My Log Has a Message for You” and “The Stars Turn and a Time Presents Itself.”

Gary Hershberger will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans for an additional fee at the event.

WEDNOV 4
7:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Registration requiredWorkshopsTalks & LecturesCrafts

Draw Your Story Riso Workshop with Comic Artist Yoko O.K.

Using a series of writing and drawing prompts, participants will use their personal stories and/or family histories to create the foundation for a collaborative short anthology-style Risograph perzine (personal zine). Registration required (maximum 6-participants).

This workshop is hosted by Portland comics artist Yoko O.K., who is the recipient of a 2026 Ignatz Award for her family history zine Uncoiling: A Japanese American Family’s History.

THUNOV 5
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM · Doors 6:00 PM
💰 $125DiningTalks & Lectures

Symbol of Freedom

Join CDM Caregiving Services for Symbol of Freedom, our 16th annual Veterans Day celebration, honoring the men and women who have served our country while raising vital funds to support the Veterans, older adults, and people with disabilities in our community that CDM supports every single day.

Guest will enjoy a gourmet dinner, a fun raffle opportunity, hear inspiring stories of impact of CDM, and hear from our captivating keynote speaker, Will Chesney.

Will is Navy Veteran and while in service was a member of the elite Seal Team Six, along with his faithful military dog partner, Cairo. Together they were deployed on hundreds of combat missions including the historic 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.

Join Us!
  • Thursday, November 5
  • The Heathman Lodge | 7801 NE Greenwood Dr., Vancouver
  • Doors Open: 6:00 p.m. | Program Begins: 6:30 p.m.
Click here to learn more and get your tickets!
SATNOV 7
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Never Say Die: Ke Huy Quan

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall1037 Southwest Broadway

In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan, tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history. Interviewed by OPB’s Dave Miller. Ke Huy Quan’s Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, a mere five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.’s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking: learning to swim from Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, receiving trucks full of toys from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for his birthday, meeting Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, and making lifelong friends on the set of The Goonies.

A star of two of the most beloved movies of the ‘80s, there appeared to be no limit to Ke’s rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes for directors like Wong Kar Wai. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. It wasn’t until decades later, when he was 49 years old, that he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once, which surprised everyone with its incredible box-office and awards season success. To call Ke’s Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.

In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight, the resilience that kept him going through his darkest times, and his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke’s extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams.

MONNOV 2
7:00 PM · Doors 6:15 PM
Talks & LecturesMusic

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe: Climate Action & Conversation Across Divides

Climate change, especially in recent years, has escalated not only as a global environmental crisis but as a highly intensified challenge in a time of political divides—often making one feel overwhelmed and powerless. How can better conversations help move individuals, communities, and the planet into a place of collective solutions?

Called “one of the nation’s most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, has an uncanny ability to navigate all sides of the conversation on climate. With a singular balance of scientific rigor and storytelling, patience and empathy, and an abiding adherence to her faith, Hayhoe is often able to reach audiences that other climate scientists have not been able to reach —demonstrating that by finding shared values we can better connect our unique identities to collective action.

WorldOregon welcomes Katharine Hayhoe back to Portland for this rich conversation exploring how to incorporate climate change into both our public decisions and private conversations at a moment of urgency when climate action and environmental policy are at a crossroads. About the Speaker
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose work bridges climate science, risks, and resilience. As Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), she directs the organization’s global scientific strategy and leads a global community of more than 1,000 TNC scientists and science staff whose work underpins every aspect of TNC’s mission: from conserving lands and waters to developing scalable, science-based solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises.

Recognized among TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” and a United Nations Champion of the Earth, Katharine is known worldwide for her ability to make complex science accessible and meaningful, and for connecting climate and nature to people’s values in ways that inspire action. Hayhoe is the Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law and Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University and author of Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. Read more. Sponsored by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust With additional support from The Eberwein Family and The Port of Portland ALL SALES ARE FINAL. PLEASE, DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ORDER BEFORE PURCHASING. NO REFUNDS. If your billing address is located outside a 250 mile radius of Portland, you will need to purchase tickets either in person or by phone by calling (503) 764-4131, or our office at (503) 719-6055. Thank You!
THUNOV 5
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
IndieRockTalks & LecturesPerforming Arts

Soccer Mommy

First Congregational Church1126 Southwest Park Avenue

Join an intimate evening featuring a pre-show discussion and Q&A with Soccer Mommy and special Guest Interviewer, followed by a local opener and solo performance by Soccer Mommy. This event is hosted by Papertrees Creative, in partnership with Literary Arts and the Portland Book Festival 2026.

Sophie Allison has always written candidly about her life, making Soccer Mommy one of indie rock’s most interesting and beloved artists of the last decade. Allison has used Soccer Mommy’s songs as a vehicle to sort through the thoughts and encounters that inevitably come with the reality of growing up. After all, Soccer Mommy began as a bedroom-to-Bandcamp exercise with teenage Allison posting her plaintive songs as demos. Over the years, though, she has often enhanced that sound, using the endless production possibilities, newly at her fingertips, to outstrip singer-songwriter stereotypes. The records would start with songwriting’s kernels of truth, and she would then imagine all the unexpected shapes they could take. Every Soccer Mommy record has felt like a surprise.

On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. (Speaking of funny, this is a Soccer Mommy album, so there’s an ode to Allison’s purple-haired wife in the game Stardew Valley, too.) These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Nothing overindulgent, everything real.

SATNOV 14
2:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Registration requiredTeaCultural HeritageWorkshopsTalks & LecturesArts & MediaMeditation

Tea Ceremony Workshop: Learn the Role of the Guest with Jan Waldmann

Portland Japanese Garden’s Tea Ceremony Workshop offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the traditional practice of Chanoyu, or the Way of Tea. Experience the art of tranquility, mindfulness, and omotenashi, whole-hearted hospitality.

It is not an exaggeration to say that through tea, one can understand much of Japanese culture. Tea’s influence can be found in many of the nation’s most beloved artforms, including arranging flowers, calligraphy, incense, ceramics and lacquerware. Japanese gardens are also deeply intertwined with tea ceremony. The four principles of tea, wa (harmony), kei (respect), sei (purity), and jaku (tranquility), are explored by the gardeners of Portland Japanese Garden in their work every day.

Guided by skilled instructor Jan Waldmann, Sosui, the focus of this workshop is to learn to be a guest in the tea ceremony, an important aspect to this historic tradition. Participants will learn the proper etiquette for attending a tea ceremony, including how to receive and consume sweets and matcha, and most importantly, the reasons behind each of the steps. Additionally, you will gain insight into what it entails to be a host— understanding the occasion and seasonality, attention to aesthetics, careful preparation, and the thoughtful gestures made toward the guests.

Participants will first attend a presentation of tea ceremony in our Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner alongside visitors to the Garden before they are taken into their exclusive workshop in the Yanai Classroom.

Participants will first attend a presentation of tea ceremony in our Cathy Rudd Cultural Corner alongside visitors to the Garden (2:00-2:30pm) before they are taken into their exclusive workshop in the Yanai Family Classroom (2:45-4:15pm).

No previous experience is needed. Students will sit in a chair at a table, not kneeling on a tatami mat.

Urasenke Konnichian of Kyoto is one of the major establishments within Japan that has preserved the tradition of Chado or the Way of Tea.  From the first Urasenke generation, Sen no Rikyu (1522-91) to the current headmaster Zabosai Genmoku Soshitsu XVI (b.1956 -), the Sen family lineage has devoted great effort to fostering the philosophy of Tea through the simple words of Wa – Harmony, Kei -Repect, Sei – Purity & Jaku – Tranquility. Over the years Urasenke has established connections in over 21 cities worldwide.

MONNOV 2
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Anthea Kreston with Ling Ling Huang

Broadway Books is thrilled to welcome Anthea Kreston with her debut memoir Crescendo: Chronicles of an Adventurous Violinist (Paul Dry Books, 2026). She will be joined in conversation with Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty and Immaculate Conception.

When American violinist Anthea Kreston, called “An Indomitable Spirit” by Yo-Yo Ma, is selected as the fourth member of Germany’s Artemis Quartet, it is the culmination of decades of dedication. In Crescendo, her enchanting and deeply personal memoir, Kreston writes about growing up in a well-to-do but difficult family in Chicago, leaving home at age sixteen, studying at the ultracompetitive Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (Hilary Hahn was a classmate), then burning out and leaving it all behind for a commune in Oregon.

SUNNOV 1
10:30 AM – 5:15 PM
💰 $115+Holidays & SeasonalKids & FamilyTours

Spirit of Halloweentown: The Ghostly Voyage

Portland Spirit Office & Caruthers Landing Dock110 SE Caruthers St

Embark on a spooky voyage aboard the Explorer Jetboat to the famous Spirit of Halloweentown in St. Helens. Skip the hassle of driving, with the dock less than a block from the festivities. Along the way, a guide will share chilling tales of St. Helens and Portland's seedy past. Once ashore, you'll have about 4 hours to explore, including access to the paid attractions. Whether you're a fan of the iconic Disney movie “Halloweentown" or seeking Halloween family fun, this cruise has something for everyone.

MONNOV 2
6:00 PM
Talks & Lectures

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe: Climate Action and Conversation

Alberta Rose Theatre3000 Northeast Alberta Street

Climate change, especially in recent years, has escalated not only into a global environmental crisis but also into a highly intensified challenge in a time of political divides—often leaving one feeling overwhelmed and powerless. How can better conversations help move individuals, communities, and the planet toward collective solutions?

Called “one of the nation’s most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, has an uncanny ability to navigate all sides of the conversation on climate. With a singular balance of scientific rigor and storytelling, patience and empathy, and an abiding adherence to her faith, Hayhoe is often able to reach audiences that other climate scientists have not been able to reach — demonstrating that by finding shared values, we can better connect our unique identities to collective action.

WorldOregon welcomes Katharine Hayhoe back to Portland for this rich conversation exploring how to incorporate climate change into both our public decisions and private conversations at a moment of urgency when climate action and environmental policy are at a crossroads.

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose work bridges climate science, risks, and resilience. As Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), she directs the organization’s global scientific strategy and leads a global community of more than 1,000 TNC scientists and science staff whose work underpins every aspect of TNC’s mission: from conserving lands and waters to developing scalable, science-based solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises.

THUNOV 5
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
IndieRockTalks & LecturesPerforming Arts

Soccer Mommy (Solo) with Pre-Show Discussion and Q&A

Join us for an intimate evening featuring a pre-show discussion and Q&A with Soccer Mommy and special Guest Interviewer, followed by a local opener and solo performance by Soccer Mommy. This event is hosted by Papertrees Creative, in partnership with Literary Arts and the Portland Book Festival 2026.

Soccer Mommy

Sophie Allison has always written candidly about her life, making Soccer Mommy one of indie rock’s most interesting and beloved artists of the last decade. Allison has used Soccer Mommy’s songs as a vehicle to sort through the thoughts and encounters that inevitably come with the reality of growing up. After all, Soccer Mommy began as a bedroom-to-Bandcamp exercise with teenage Allison posting her plaintive songs as demos. Over the years, though, she has often enhanced that sound, using the endless production possibilities, newly at her fingertips, to outstrip singer-songwriter stereotypes. The records would start with songwriting’s kernels of truth, and she would then imagine all the unexpected shapes they could take. Every Soccer Mommy record has felt like a surprise.On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. (Speaking of funny, this is a Soccer Mommy album, so there’s an ode to Allison’s purple-haired wife in the game Stardew Valley, too.) These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Nothing overindulgent, everything real.

FRINOV 6
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
DocumentariesTalks & Lectures

The Little Town That Could - Documentary Screening

The community is invited to a screening and panel discussion of the documentary "The Little Town That Could."

About the Little Town That Could:
Ordinary people are building an emissions-free future in the Hudson Valley community of Croton-on-Hudson, NY; one heat pump, solar installation, electric school bus — and much more — at a time. Croton has been recognized as New York State’s #1 Clean Energy Community. Croton100, a climate group, celebrates their little town’s decarbonizing momentum with a series of beautifully crafted quilts depicting sustainability actions by government, businesses, public facilities and households. From Emmy-winning, Academy Award–nominated filmmakers Susan Todd and Andrew Young (Backyard Wilderness, Netflix; Lives in Hazard, NBC).
THUNOV 5
7:30 PM
+2 dates
DanceTheaterCultural HeritageClassicalElectronic & DJWorld MusicTalks & Lectures

Hung Dance

Choreographer Lai Hung-Chung makes dances of striking beauty and intention. “Birdy,” his captivating signature work for Hung Dance, moves between suspense and explosive energy, between the weight of tradition and the pull toward something new. Hung Dance blends traditional Chinese arts, including tai chi, Peking Opera, and classical Chinese music, with contemporary dance technique and driving electronic music, creating work that is poetic and rhythmic at once. What audiences see on stage is a world in constant transformation, where bodies bend and resist, images linger, and the tension between holding on and letting go becomes the dance itself.

TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN

Birdy

“…a dreamy sensibility with astonishing athleticism in culturally sensitive modern dance performance.” —Charlie Smith, Pancouver

Sponsored by George & Nancy Thorn. White Bird’s Uncaged Series Sponsor: Ronni Lacroute

The Friday and Saturday performances will have pre-show talks. Come early to hear from the dancers from 6:15–6:45 PM. No ticket needed.

Join us November 3rd for the Hung Dance Lecture Demonstration, FREE with RSVP here .

THUNOV 5
7:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Advance ticket requiredAuthor TalksFilmTalks & Lectures

Film Screening & Author Talk with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu

SOLD OUT
Author Talk & Film Screening with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu at Hollywood Theatre

Parallel Worlds Bookshop and the Hollywood Theatre present a special author conversation with Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu, celebrating the release of Jane’s debut novel, Public Access Afterworld, followed by a screening of Schoenbrun’s acclaimed film I Saw the TV Glow.

When: November 5, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Where: Hollywood Theatre 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97212
Tickets: $18 sold via Hollywood Theatre
Ticket price does not include a copy of the book. Preorder Here!

About Public Access Afterworld

A mysterious realm waits on the other side of our screens. A dark force draws victims into its static. An unlikely hero must save them, and herself, from an electric hell.

Spanning decades and realities, Public Access Afterworld follows an unforgettable ensemble of outcasts and obsessive television viewers whose lives become entangled with a surreal pirate network. At the center is Bethany Peters, a trans content moderator working the night shift at a sprawling tech corporation. When a young streamer begins appearing in her feed and calling out to Public Access Afterworld, Bethany is pulled into a conspiracy stretching across screens, timelines, and realities.

A mesmerizing collision of speculative fiction, horror, conspiracy, and queer transformation, Public Access Afterworld marks the literary debut of the celebrated filmmaker behind I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

About Jane Schoenbrun

Jane Schoenbrun is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Their films include I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Their newest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder, releases in 2026. Public Access Afterworld is their first novel.

Event and Pre-Signing Information

Tickets for the screening and conversation are sold through the Hollywood Theatre. Copies of Public Access Afterworld will be available for purchase onsite from Parallel Worlds Bookshop.

Jane Schoenbrun and SenLinYu will not be signing books. Pre-ordered books or books purchased at event will be pre-signed.

Still photography is permitted. Audio and video recording are not permitted unless approved in advance.

Pre-Order Books Here
  1. Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun - Signed Edition
    (Pub Date: October 27, 2026)
    A mysterious realm on the other side of our screens. A dark force that draws victims into its static. The unlikely hero called to save them and herself from this electric hell. Public Access Afterworld is the profound, binge-all-night, headrush of a novel by the celebrated filmmaker of I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

  2. Alchemised by Senlinyu Signed Edition (Out Now)

  3. Alchemised by Senlinyu 3 Volume Deluxe Boxset(Pub Date: October 13)
    In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

MONNOV 2
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Talks & LecturesAuthor Talks

A Talk by Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath

Join an essential lecture by the acclaimed Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath. Jared Cooney Horvath (PhD, MEd) is a neuroscientist, educator, best-selling author and expert in the field of human learning. His new book, The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kid's Learning - And How to Help Them Thrive Again, pulls back the EdTech curtain and explains the research showing how digital tools in the classroom consistently undermine learning. It also explains how parents, teachers and schools can push back with purpose.

As a leading expert in learning and technology, Jared testified before the US Senate on EdTech and is an internationally sought-after speaker.

Sponsored by the Institute for Families and Technology and OR Unplugged.

SATNOV 7
7:30 PM · Doors 6:30 PM
All agesLive Podcasts & RadioVarietyStand-UpTalks & LecturesMusicAuthor Talks

Live Wire with Luke Burbank

Live Wire Radio is an independently produced radio show that artfully blends unpredictable conversation, live music, and original comedy featuring all types of cultural talent and creative minds, from emerging artists to established acts. Join host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello for a live recording of this popular radio show, heard nationwide by thousands of listeners every weekend.

With special guests TBA Fall 2026 Season Passes are now on sale! Click here to buy. Minors ok when accompanied by a parent or guardian. Review our venue FAQ here
SATNOV 7
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Villa Coco: Andrew Sean Greer

Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills. Interviewed by Lucy Feldman (TIME).

Limited guaranteed seat tickets with book included available; most of the theatre will be first-come first-served with a PBF GA pass. About Villa Coco:

An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.

Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.

SUNNOV 8
4:00 PM
ClassicalTalks & Lectures

Portland Piano International: Jan Lisiecki

“a whole dancing world” Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki performs an all-dance program spanning Martinů, de Falla, Szymanowski, Schubert, Bartók, Ginastera, Chopin, Brahms, Piazzolla, and Albéniz — from folk dances to the grand waltz. You’ll feel this program before you hear it! Piazzolla’s Libertango. Falla’s “Ritual Fire Dance.” A Chopin waltz, and the “Heroic” Polonaise that closes the afternoon. Waltz, tango, polonaise: these are dances our bodies instinctively want to move to, and on November 8 Jan Lisiecki, one of the most celebrated pianists of his generation, plays every one of them.
WEDNOV 11
7:00 PM
DocumentariesAuthor TalksLGBTQ+Talks & Lectures

A Queer Guide to Saving American Democracy

PAM CUT's Tomorrow Theater3530 Southeast Division Street

Join a special evening with trailblazing drag artist, activist, and political candidate Marti Cummings and Portland-based constitutional law professor and author Robin Maril. Before the film, Marti and Robin will sit down for a live conversation about queer representation, civic engagement, and the power of showing up for your community. The conversation will be moderated by Kyndall Mason of Basic Rights Oregon.

Following the conversation, stick around for Queen of New York, the acclaimed documentary following Marti Cummings’ groundbreaking 2020 campaign to become one of the first openly nonbinary members of the New York City Council. This evening also celebrates the launch of Robin Maril’s new book, A Queer Guide to Saving American Democracy. Copies will be available for purchase on site.

ON SCREEN: Queen of New York

2023. Directed by Emma Fidel. Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes.

Welcome to a different kind of drag race. As NYC emerges from the chaos of 2020, Marti Cummings (they/them), an audacious and big-hearted drag queen, goes all out in a historic bid to become a City Councilperson. It’s one of the most hotly contested Council races in years, and Marti’s strongest competitor is Shaun Abreu, a tenants’ lawyer with deep roots in the district’s Latinx community. As these first-timers race to do the most good for their Upper Manhattan neighbors, they offer very different visions for Democratic politics — one in a suit and tie, the other in combat boots and floral print. As this immersive documentary reveals, Marti’s passion inspires queer activists and allies to change the political system. Their campaign becomes a community of its own, especially for Marti’s non-binary peers who have never before seen themselves represented.

SATNOV 7
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
BooksPerforming ArtsTalks & LecturesKids & Family

Illustrator Draw Off: Chapter One

Have you ever seen a group of acclaimed illustrators face off to showcase their art? Now is your chance! Join Steph Littlebird (You Are the Land), Scott Campbell (Feeling Good!), Vashti Harrison (That You Are Here is No Small Thing), Julia Kuo (Bing’s Cherries), Pedro Martín (Mexikid Dreams), Huda Fahmy (Huda F Would Love You?), for an exciting draw-off experience. Moderated by Breena Bard and Jonathan Hill.

About You Are the Land:

A joyful exploration of a child’s loving relationship with the land that supports and nurtures her as she grows. You Are the Land is a vivid ode to belonging within a family, within a community, and within the natural world.

From the day she’s born, a child feels the love and power that come with being part of something bigger. She’s a new spring leaf, alive and growing, as strong as the ancient cedars and as radiant as the glittering night sky. She is one with the amazing forces of nature that surround and nurture her, and that she nurtures in return.

Through inspiring words and sweeping illustrations, Littlebird’s stunning author-illustrator debut celebrates our connection to the land and shows how we perfectly mirror its beauty and resilience.

About Feeling Good!:

Cabin Head and Tree Head are BACK in this second volume of the lovable, laugh-out-loud graphic novel series about a best friend duo like no other! Book 2 includes 6 hilarious adventures in a wonderfully off-the-wall universe where everyone has something on their head! Includes bonus content: Storytime with Library Head, Notable Spots with Tour Bus Head and Sandcastle Building with Sandcastle Head. Cabin Head and Tree Head return for some “sunny day relaxing” and are ready to experience the joys of the beach, alone time, getting in strong shape, rewarding their accomplishments (like breathing) and other important activities (like posing and lying down). Check out the series School Library Journal called, “Not just one of the most unconventional books of the year, but one of the best as well.”

About That You Are Here is No Small Thing:

A stunning exploration of the history of Black Americans by award-winning picture book team Traci N. Todd and Vashti Harrison.

The world is forever changed because you are here.

At once honest and empowering, That You Are Here Is No Small Thing is a story about resilience. In these stunning pages, young descendants of enslaved Africans are guided through the history that led them to exist and thrive today. Through their eyes, we see how Black Americans have relied on one another to fight against oppression and the ways in which the strength of their ancestors is always with them.

Sibert Honor winner Traci N. Todd and Caldecott Medalist Vashti Harrison have created an unforgettable exploration of culture and history that records the important survival story Black children carry and celebrates their hope for a radiant future.

About Bing’s Cherries:

A modern American tall tale woven by a girl and her father about Ah Bing, the Chinese immigrant behind the Pacific Northwest’s most delicious cherries.

You’ve heard of a Bing cherry, but did you know the story of the Chinese American immigrant for whom the dark, luscious cherry is named?

Long ago, Ah Bing was a father who travelled across the sea from China looking for work. It was in Oregon where he met a man who hired him to work in his orchards, where eventually, Bing cultivated the delicious cherries we know of today.

But what was it that made this man and the cherries he made so special? a young girl wonders as she sits together with her father, enjoying cherries from their backyard. Weaving together cultural memory, historical fact, and her own imagination, the young girl imagines a narrative of Ah Bing that is as larger than life and as sweet as his namesake.

With touching text and lush illustrations, Livia Blackburne and Julia Kuo forge an unforgettable Chinese American folktale that has largely been untold. The backmatter includes a letter from the author and illustrator, as well as a recipe!

About Mexikid Dreams:

In this extraordinary graphic memoir companion to Newbery Honor winner Mexikid, hilarious family hijinks, immigration patrols, and musical daydreams shape a year of growth and change for a Mexican-American boy and his family.

Pedro Martín is sick of strawberries. Since he was seven, he’s spent every weekend and summer picking berries with his family under the hot sun. Sometimes it’s not so bad—Pedro’s an ace at “strawberry wars” with his siblings, and when a good song comes on the radio, the fields can come alive with music. But mostly, Pedro wishes he could just stay home watching Saturday cartoons, head to the beach like other kids, and not worry about immigration patrols. When his older brother gets a job away from the farm, freedom suddenly seems within arm’s reach: Pedro just has to prove to his dad that he’s ready to follow a different path! Maybe he can be a trombone player, or a cartoonist—if that’s even a real job. But as Pedro learns more about his parents’ and abuelito’s past, and the choices they made in order to open up more choices for him, he starts to understand that freedom isn’t just about leaving the fields—it’s about knowing where you came from and having the courage to draw your own life.

About Huda F Would Love You?:

In this funny and tender finale to the Huda F series, Huda has a plan to find love—but she might need to find herself first!

It’s the summer after Huda’s high school graduation, and love is in the air! Or it’s about to be, anyway. Because Huda has the ingredients for a perfect love story: a butt-kicking girl power squad of new friends, and a plan to woo all the aunties into setting her up with their eligible sons. But when she finds herself caught between her friends and her heart, gender roles and ambitions, and her fears and dreams, Huda begins to realize that finding her own “happily ever after” might require changing herself—or her expectations.

SATNOV 7
5:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Talks & LecturesDining

2026 Linus Pauling Medal Award Symposium

Sign up for the poster session here!

The 2026 Pauling Medal will be presented to Professor Wooley at the 2026 Pauling Medal Symposium on November 7, 2026, at Portland State University in Portland, OR, in recognition of her pioneering studies.

Information about the symposium is posted at the Pauling Medal web page. The symposium includes lectures by eminent scientists and the awardee, a student poster session, a reception, and an evening banquet with presentation of the Pauling Medal to Professor Wooley.

The symposium is free and open to the public. The Awards Dinner is open to the public but requires advance purchase of a banquet ticket. Please visit the Pauling Medal web page for event details and banquet tickets.

Schedule:

  • 11:00am - 1:00pm: Poster Set-up Time
  • 1:00 - 5:30pm: Symposium in Hoffman Hall
    Symposium speakers
    • Prof. Geoff Coates, Cornell University
    • Prof. Craig Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Prof. Doug Keszler (emeritus), Oregon State University
    • Pauling Awardee, Prof. Karen Wooley, Texas A&M University
  • 5:30 - 7:00pm: Reception and poster session in SRTC lobby
  • 7:00 - 10:00pm: Banquet and award lecture in Hoffman Hall
FRIOCT 30
OCT 30–NOV 1 · Hours not provided
CoursesWorkshopsTalks & LecturesTech & Coding

Prompt to Profit Bootcamp

🌐OnlineVirtual Event

Prompt to Profit is a 3-day online bootcamp focused on helping founders, builders, and creators set up the systems they need to move from idea to execution. Across three focused sessions, we’ll work through the foundations of product development, workflow systems, and practical next steps for building something people can actually use, test, and grow. This bootcamp is designed for early-stage founders, hackathon builders, vibe coders, solo entrepreneurs, and anyone with an idea they want to turn into a real product or business. You’ll learn how to organize your idea, define your product, build simple systems, and create a clear path from concept to launch. Schedule Friday: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Saturday: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Sunday: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Location Online Bring your idea, your laptop, and your willingness to build. By the end of the weekend, you’ll have more clarity, more structure, and a stronger foundation for turning your prompt into profit.

WEDNOV 4
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Arts & MediaTalks & LecturesLive Podcasts & Radio

The Omnibus Project with John Roderick

Join us for an evening of conversation, laughter, and stories of the human spirit featuring The Omnibus Project with John Roderick and Special Guest. Presented by Papertrees Creative in partnership with the 2026 Portland Book Festival and Literary Arts. This event will be recorded.

The Omnibus Project

The Omnibus Project is a podcast founded in 2017 by Ken Jennings and John Roderick as a repository for the lesser-known stories of our collected human experience that, in the event of a cataclysm, may not survive to be retold. It is an effort to save our own Library of Alexandria to disk, a project to preserve not just what made us great but what made us human.

The show has diligently researched and compiled the knowledge AROUND the knowledge, building a compendium not of obvious and commonly cited data—the Roman Empire and World War II are widely reported elsewhere—but of the esoteric and sublime wonders that might otherwise be lost.

The Omnibus Project weathered many upheavals: leaving iHeart Media to become an independent, listener-supported program; switching formats from biweekly to weekly; enduring storms, controversies and multiple breathless articles in the Hollywood Reporter. Both hosts were the subject of controversy, but in all the years never missed an episode. Throughout it all, the show grew into a thriving archive of wonder, with millions of annual listeners and a vast community of devoted fans who gather under the banner of “Futurelings.”

In 2025, due to his duties hosting Jeopardy!, Ken stepped back into an emeritus role as executive producer, occasional contributor, and spiritual lodestar, entrusting the continued production of The Omnibus Project to his colleague and partner, storyteller John Roderick. Unencumbered by fame or fortune, John carries on their good works with a weekly rotating cast of friends, authors, comedians and, most importantly, the Futurelings community.

As the show marches toward its first decade, the archive continues to expand, escaping the confines of the podcast feed for live appearances at such venerable institutions of knowledge as the Library of Congress and beyond. And with each new week, each new entry, each new show, we’re granted a blessed postponement of the apocalypse—one we hope will never come—as another overlooked, forgotten, or improbable tale is added to … the Omnibus.

John Roderick is a Seattle-based musician, writer, and podcaster celebrated for his sharp wit and distinctive voice. Beyond co-creating The Omnibus Project, he also co-hosts Roderick on the Line. His essays have appeared in Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Seattle Weekly, alongside his published book of short prose, Electric Aphorisms. Best known as the frontman of The Long Winters, Roderick will return with a highly anticipated new album soon.

TUENOV 3
6:00 PM – 7:15 PM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

Fall Author Series: Jeff VanderMeer In Conversation with A.L. Goldfuss

Jeff VanderMeer's internationally bestselling, critically acclaimed Southern Reach series has been translated into over 37 languages. The first novel, Annihilation, won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson awards, and was made into a movie by Alex Garland in 2018. Called "the weird Thoreau" by The New Yorker, VanderMeer’s nonfiction has appeared in Time, The Nation, the Los Angeles Times, and Esquire, among other publications.

A.L. Goldfuss writes speculative fiction which reviewers have called “rich,” “intense,” “complex,” and “rather grim.” Recent work has won the Brave New Weird award and appeared in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Goldfuss lives in the Pacific Northwest with stacks of tea and carnivorous plants.

The Fall Author Series is co-sponsored by Spoke & Word Books. Special thanks to the Friends of the Ledding Library for providing the funding that makes this program possible.

THUNOV 5
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Talks & LecturesArts & Media

The Colorful Chemistry of Art: From Prehistoric Pigments to the Discovery of YInMn Blue

🌐Location Virtual Lecture, will be also be screened at ABX 112, 1981 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201Virtual Event

Join Dr. Mas Subramanian, the inventor of YInMn Blue—the first new blue pigment discovered in more than 200 years—for a fascinating lecture on the science, history, and future of color. Dr. Subramanian will share the story behind this accidental discovery and explore the role of pigments in art, design, technology, and everyday life, offering a unique perspective at the intersection of scientific innovation and creative practice.

This is a virtual program held via Zoom Webinar. The webinar will also be screened inside the new building for the Jordan Schnitzer School for Art + Art History + Design on 1981 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201. Attendees can also join remotely.

THUNOV 5
10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Live Podcasts & RadioVarietyStand-UpMuseumsPoetryAuthor TalksHip-HopTalks & Lectures

Free First Thursday with Live Wire Radio

Overview

Portland Art Museum invites the community to join a Free First Thursday event, offering free admission to the museum for all, plus a Live Wire event as part of the Literary Arts Portland Book Festival. Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both!

Free First Thursday + Museum pop-ups

4:30 – 6 p.m. — Free, pre-show, pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle.

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door.

tickets for free first thursday Live Wire Evening Recording

7 p.m. — Enjoy a fully seated, ticketed Live Wire taping hosted by Luke Burbank with announcer Elena Passarello, featuring a blend of interviews, comedy, and music performed live for the audience, then edited into an episode for broadcast to over 200 public radio stations nationwide. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle. Doors will open at 6:30pm.

GA Tickets are $15. Preferred Seating is $40. Discounts available to Portland Book Festival passholders.

tickets for 7pm Live Wire recording Performers

Dessa is a singer, rapper, and writer who fell in love with language as a toddler—and just never got over it. Now, she works in fields that traffic in words: she’s recorded rap bangers as part of the fiercely independent Doomtree collective, released a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra; contributed to The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler; delivered a TED Talk on the intersection of romance and neuroscience that’s notched more than 4 million views; hosted 2 seasons of behavioral science podcast Deeply Human (BBC/American Public Media); and published a memoir recounting most of the above called My Own Devices (Penguin Random House).

Mac Barnett, the 2025–2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is a New York Times bestselling author of stories for children. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Awards, three E. B. White Read Aloud Awards and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, as well as several international prizes. He lives in Oakland, California. His latest book, illustrated by X. Fang, is Tom Nancy: The Sheep Who Swapped Brains with a Boy. From two of the most exciting picture book makers today comes a hilarious trickster tale and Freaky Friday switcheroo story: a sneaky, cheeky sheep named Tom Nancy has a brain swap proposal for an innocent farm boy named Felix that will change both of their lives forever. Laugh-out-loud, subversive, and totally unexpected.

Ed Park is the author of the novels Personal Days and Same Bed Different Dreams. He is a founding editor of The Believer, and has worked in newspapers, book publishing, and academia. His writing appears in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Profound, wily, and beautifully wrought, his new book Three Tenses: A Transmission from the Nineties is a meeting of memory and myth, confession and obfuscation, coalescing to offer a singular picture of creativity in action.

The princess of Portland comedy, best known for her breakout performance on the popular Netflix special Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda, Mx. Dahlia Belle has been compared to a Swiss Army knife—different tools to extract sharpness, softness, vulnerability, hope, and wicked wit. She’s been declared one of “11 Trans Comedians… Funnier Than Dave Chappelle” by Out Magazine, repeatedly featured on NPR, and has written for Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Guardian, The Stranger, and Portland Mercury. Her live performances have included NW Black Comedy Festival, Upper Left Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest, and an awkward conversation with John Waters and Piers Morgan. In the upcoming live taping of her comedy special Affirmed at Polaris Hall on November 22nd, Mx. Dahlia Belle delivers 60 new minutes of stand-up to celebrate and affirm being human in the modern world through a combination of the wholesome and mundane, anecdotes about house cats, liscivious foibles of the LGBT community, and an unapologetic account of her personal journey with gender-affirming care, all delivered with her trademark free form wit.

About Free First Thursdays

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

Learn more about other discounted and free opportunities.
SATNOV 7
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Author TalksTalks & Lectures

In the Shadows: Maggie Stiefvater & Isabel Cañas

PAM CUT // Whitsell AuditoriumMap

Young adult authors, Maggie Stiefvater (The Dream Thieves) and Isabel Cañas (The House of Gardenias) come together for a conversation on the hauntingly enchanted worlds in their latest releases. In the newest installment of the graphic novel iteration of The Raven Cycle, Stiefvater and adapter Sas Milledge bring the original text to life with rich illustrations and suspenseful panels. Like Stiefvater, Cañas expertly constructs a gothic world threatened by an unimaginable ancient power. Moderated by Alicia Tate, these authors discuss the mythical worlds they built and the characters that try to understand them.

About The Dream Thieves:

The second book in Maggie Stiefvater‘s #1 NYT bestselling series The Raven Cycle, now gorgeously illustrated as a graphic novel!

Ronan Lynch is made of secrets. His longest kept one? He can pull impossible things out of dreams. It’s a secret that’s nearly killed him more than once. Waking the corpse road should have led Blue and the Raven Boys straight to Glendower, the Whelsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of Henrietta. But instead, the forest of Cabeswater has disappeared, energy hums and sputters beneath the town, and the Raven Boys’ search is at a dead end.

Ronan’s dreams may be the key to finding Glendower, but none of the Raven Boys are prepared for what will be unleashed in Ronan’s desperate attempt to finally control his power. Reimagined as a stunning full-color graphic novel adapted and illustrated by Sas Milledge, Dream Thieves blurs the line between reality and nightmare until they are one and the same.

About The Houses of Gardenias:

A debut gothic YA from the USA Today bestselling author of The Hacienda and The Possession of Alba Díaz Sixteen-year-old Minerva has endured hunger, violence, and unrest in a capital city inspired by colonial Mexico.

Determined to escape her father’s cruelty, she reinvents herself in a wealthy loyalist enclave, becoming lady’s maid to the formidable widow Encarnación del Valle.

For the first time, Minerva knows stability with regular meals, warm light powered by magical chispa, and a measure of protection. When a ruthless regime rises to power, the household withdraws to the del Valle family’s secluded estate, Casa de las Gardenias. There, amid resentful heirs and rigid social hierarchies, something far older than the nation’s turmoil waits in the shadows.

It’s a haunting, timely gothic novel that weaves Mexican history, class tension, and supernatural dread.

SATNOV 7
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM
ReadingsBooksMuseumsTalks & Lectures

Pop-up: Hannah Lillith Assadi

Hannah Lillith Assadi reads from her new novel Paradiso 17 at Portland Art Museum in the Northwest Art gallery (Level 4, Room 402), paired with Esther Podemski, In the Desert. Presented by the National Book Foundation.

About Paradiso 17:

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE

The intimate, sweeping tale of one Palestinian man’s restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope.

All his life, exile has been the shadow stitched to the sole of Sufien’s shoe.

Born in Palestine on the precipice of 1948’s Nakba, Sufien is forced to leave the only home he’s ever known, the one on the hill with a beautiful blue door. This is the precise moment when time stops making sense. He spends the rest of his life propelled forward, always on the way—although in search of what, he is never quite sure. In the dusty, oil-rich desert of Kuwait, he meets his first love and decides he must leave his family. In a small Italian university town, he spends his youth wrapped up in the sweet promise of the West and the forgetful assurance of wine. When life takes him to a gritty New York, he discovers his true vocation and falls for a Jewish woman born into a wholly different world. Finally, he finds himself recalled to the wild, vast open skies of the desert, in Arizona.

Sufien’s life spans friendships lost and maintained, a stint selling leathers at a tanner’s stall, the ineffable company of cats, and the freedom of the open road, the glowing pride of fatherhood, Sufi myths, prophetic dreams, and visions of the afterlife—and always, always, no matter how far he chases joy, the sweet, treacherous song of a balcony urging him to fly, to fall, to fall. The lyrical pages of Paradiso 17 weave in and out of time and space, beginning at the end and ending at the beginning. They are haunting, haunted with grief, struck through, as Dante once wrote, with “the arrow that the bow of exile / shoots first,” and yet they throb with light—not just the light that Sufien sees as he approaches his own end, but the brilliant light of a life lived.

Like all of our dead, Sufien still speaks, the book begins. Listen, this is his story.

“With stunning intimacy, Hannah Lillith Assadi has crafted an unforgettable story about the many stunted afterlives of hyphenated belonging. In this book live some of the most complex characters I’ve read in a long time, and a deeply nuanced exploration of exile as both event and inheritance.” —Omar El Akkad, author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

“Suffused with tenderness.” —The New York Times

TUENOV 3
7:00 PM · Doors 6:00 PM
All agesTalks & LecturesMusicDocumentaries

Girl Winter Film Tour

GIRL WINTER FILM TOUR is a collection of femme-forward and gender-nonconforming films. The tour aims to shift the narrative of ski & snowboard films seen on the big screen each fall and include new voices in the stories we consume. Girl Winter tour stops will make you want to start planning dawn patrols and lift laps for this upcoming season right this second! Each event will feature the film program followed by a Q+A with the athletes and filmmakers who brought the films to life. Also appearing will be musician Samantha Hart. Back for its second year, Girl Winter Film Tour screenings will provide a space to continue the celebration of women in snow sports. All are welcome to attend! ALL SALES ARE FINAL. PLEASE, DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ORDER BEFORE PURCHASING. NO REFUNDS If your billing address is located outside a 250 mile radius of Portland, you will need to purchase tickets either in person or by phone by calling (503) 764-4131, or our office at (503) 719-6055. Thank You!

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