BOOKS & TALKS

Lidia Yuknavitch
7:30 p.m. Friday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
Portland-based Yuknavitch won the Ken Kesey Fiction Award for her cerebral novel, The Small Backs of Children. The book is full of beautiful prose, haunting images, and questions about desire and free will that have no real answers.

COMEDY

Ian Karmel
9:30 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday
A Portland-raised comic titan, Karmel—who now lives in LA and tears it up writing for The Late Late Show with James Corden—is preternaturally comfortable onstage, with a killer mix of fury and charm. Friday night is an all-ages show in the auditorium, and Saturday is a 21+ show on the rooftop deck.

The Mystery Box Show
7 p.m. Saturday, Alberta Rose Theater
Think The Moth, but for your juiciest, kinkiest, and most scandalous sex stories. In other words, a great first Tinder date.

DANCE

A-WOL Art in the Dark
7:30 p.m. Friday–Sunday, Mary S. Young Park, West Linn
Suspended from the trees of West Linn’s Mary S. Young Park, members of the aerial dance collective twirl and twist to the spooky, trip-hoppy sounds of Dirty Elegance, who’ll also play a live set before the show.

Interview with a Zombie
8:30 p.m. Thursday–Friday, New Expressive Works
TopShakeDance’s new, expressive work is inspired by the endless possibilities of humanity’s uncertain future. How do humans prepare for survival? How might we adapt to an ever-changing world?

FILM

Top Down Rooftop Cinema
9 p.m. Thursday, Hotel deLuxe
As far as parking garages go, Hotel deLuxe’s rooftop lot is pretty swish, and the panoramic views pair well with the NW Film Center’s eclectic alfresco selections. Tonight is Attack the Block: Joe Cornish’s 2011 sci-fi send-up finds a South London street youth gang defending the city against evil alien invaders.

Flicks on the Bricks
7 p.m. Friday, Pioneer Courthouse Square, FREE
Portland’s living room gets extra cozy every summer, with Friday-night flicks played on a gargantuan inflatable screen. Tonight: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the one with Gene Wilder, not that Johnny Depp fiasco). Bring a pillow and snacks for maximum chill vibes.

The General
7:30 p.m. Friday, Hollywood Theatre
Buster Keaton’s The General, released in 1926 to lackluster reviews, now regularly makes the classics lists. (Orson Welles said it might be the greatest film ever made.) Much of it was shot in Cottage Grove, Oregon, including the most expensive silent movie scene ever: a train derailing and crashing into the river below. To celebrate The General’s 90th birthday, the Hollywood Theatre (also 90 this year) has commissioned a brand-new score from local composer Mark Orton, and plans to tour the film throughout the state with live musicians and a Foley artist.

MUSIC

William Byrd Festival
Various times and locations, Thursday–Sunday
For the 19th year, Portland liturgical choir Cantores in Ecclesia celebrates the work of the English Renaissance composer, with choral concerts, organ music, lectures, and more.

Sarah Jarosz
8 p.m. Friday, Aladdin Theater
Jarosz’s guitar-and-vocals sound channels the wild West, dusty Clint Eastwood films, and that time you drove by yourself to the Painted Hills just to get away.

Karaoke Fundraiser for the IPRC
6:30 p.m. Friday, Eagles Lodge
Due to a 300-percent rent hike, the Independent Publishing Resource Center is relocating from the SE Division Street space it's called home since 2012. Help fund the move by belting out some Baby Ketten Karaoke (which is legendary for a reason).

Ampersan
8:30 p.m. Saturday, Holocene
This duo, hailing from Mexico City, blends traditional Mexican acoustic guitar, rap, and electronica seamlessly.

THEATER

Annapurna
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Imago Theatre
In a squalid trailer in the Colorado mountains, an ex-husband and wife—they haven’t seen each other in 20 years, and now he’s dying of emphysema—dissect the mystery of the night she left. The New York Times called Sharr White’s drama, presented here by Third Rail, “a scruffier version of a Lifetime television movie about love gone wrong.” For more, check out our Q&A with director Isaac Lamb.

OPENING The Lion King
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Keller Auditorium
Simba and Nala and the rest of the gang return in the perennially popular, extravagantly costumed, puppet–filled musical, which has been running continuously on Broadway since 1997. The circle of life, man—it moves us all.

VISUAL ART

Portland Biennial
Noon–5 p.m. Friday–Sunday, Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, FREE
The Portland Biennial pulls from across Oregon’s creative landscape to showcase work in 25 venues across the state. The anchor will be the 12,000-square-foot former bowling alley that’s the home base of Disjecta, the eternally scrappy North Portland nonprofit that orchestrates the whole production. For more, check out our story on the exhibit.

Sharita Towne
10 a.m.–10:30 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m.–6 pm Friday–Sunday, Newspace Center for Photography, FREE
In Our City in Stereo, Towne uses stereographs—a form of 3-D photography pioneered in the mid-19th century—to explore gentrification and displacement today.

Crafting the Future and MK Guth
10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Thursday–Sunday, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, FREE
The gallery celebrates its 35th anniversary with a group show that dives into the role of labor and craft in contemporary art, especially as a response to digitization. In This Fable Is Intended for You: A Work-Energy Principle: Final, Guth exhibits woven ropes and sculptures made from donated bits of unusable fabric.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Alberta Street Fair
11 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday, NE Alberta Street, FREE
Who doesn’t love a good street fair? Food, music, art. But the Alberta Street Fair goes the extra mile this year. If you love wine or bubbles or, heck, always wanted to try playing polo while riding a bike, you’re in luck. Watch a bike polo exhibition and then try it for yourself. Hang out in the wine tasting area, where you can sniff bouquets and detect tannins in an assortment of local wines. Take in a parade with your kids. There’s something for everyone.

Providence Bridge Pedal
Sunday, start times and locations vary
In its 21^st year (cue joke about being legal here), the Providence Bridge Pedal promises yet another family-friendly bike ride (or walk, if that’s your thing) over a number of Portland bridges—including the usually off-limits Fremont and Marquam. Cars shouldn’t be the only vehicles that get to enjoy the spectacular views.