22 Free Ways to Connect with Your Fellow Portlanders
Image: Michael Raines
The arguments for staying home are legion. And sometimes worth heeding. But out there? Where the people are? Out there are knitting circles and mall walks and queer Latin dance lessons and sea shanty singalongs. Out there are movie clubs and bird clubs and paper clubs and a literal Scream Society.
Not only do these things exist, but they are free. Free! So many arguments for free, especially at a time when things are so expensive. And also: Things are so expensive, including for the people and businesses generously hosting for free. So buy a drink or a snack, toss a bill in a tip jar, or donate if you can. All right—ready, set, mingle.
Do the Food Court 5000.
The irrepressibly enthusiastic Vera Mysteria (a.k.a. Krista Catwood) leads dozens of arm-pumping, knee-lifting, neon spandex–clad mall walkers at Lloyd Center every Sunday at 11am. Don’t rush home afterward: Keep poking around the half-empty mall, and you’ll find a lightsaber shop, art gallery, and a tortoise named Pumpkin.
See some stand-up.
Laughter releases a pleasure surge to the brain. Stand-up showcase It’s Gonna Be Okay has been giving it out for zero bucks on Monday evenings at Eastburn since 2013. Al’s Den is home to a free Fresh Faces showcase on Wednesdays and an open mic on Thursdays. Look for more open mics at Helium Comedy Club, Kelly’s Olympian, and Funhouse Lounge.
Dance, dance, dance.
There’s nothing like being a moving body among other moving bodies. Find no-cover DJ nights at the Sandy Hut, Coffin Club, Swan Dive, and Sugar Hill. Don your cowboy boots for country-western dance lessons at Ponderosa Lounge most Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; queer country dancing outfit Stomptown holds lessons at Escape and Norse Hall ($10–20 suggested donation at the latter). Queer Baile runs Latin dance lessons at White Owl on the third Wednesday of every month.
Scream.
Feelings? Release ’em with Scream Society PDX, which meets every Wednesday at 6pm on the Eastbank Esplanade, just south of the Hawthorne Bridge. The hollering begins at 6:10 and normally wraps up by 6:30.
Listen to live music.
Options abound. Catch free live folk and/or blues nearly every day at venerable Kerns public house LaurelThirst. Downtown, the Old Church does no-cost lunchtime concerts on first and third Wednesdays; the first covers the musical gamut while the third skews classical. Sweet Hawthorne macaron shop Farina stays open till 10pm Thursdays–Saturdays and charges no entry for live jazz—but do budget for dessert. Plus: more jazz Tuesdays and Saturdays at Keys Lounge, Soulful Sundays at Alberta Street Pub, in-store shows at Music Millennium, and all sorts of concerts in the park come summer.
Listen to recorded music.
In the Pearl, listening gallery Mono Space opens on Saturdays from noon to 5pm for free “gallery hours.” Sip tea and browse the record archive while DJs spin themed sets—contemporary jazz, music of the African diaspora—on the very expensive high-fidelity sound system.
Watch (and talk) movies.
SE Belmont institution Movie Madness screens flicks in its miniplex every Sunday, programmed by the film nerds on staff. Details go out in the shop’s newsletter, and seats must be reserved in advance. Gathering at a variety of spots (Hawthorne Lucky Lab, Dots Café, Breakside in Beaverton), the Portland Movie Club is like a book club for movies: Watch on your own, then convene and discuss.
Make a few fiber friends.
Yarn buffs descend on Brentwood-Darlington shop Starlight Knitting Society for Wednesday knit nights, while Northwest Wools posts up at the Multnomah Village Lucky Lab on Thursday evenings. At community hub Taborspace, find knitters and crocheters on Mondays at noon and Saturdays at 10am. Check your local library, too—craft groups gather at several of them.
Take a hike.
Southwest Portland’s Tryon Creek State Park, famous for its trilliums, runs guided hikes on Saturdays at 10am geared to ages 5 and up (parents must accompany kids) and every other Sunday at 10am for ages 12 and up. From April to October, tour Hoyt Arboretum’s tree collection on Sundays at 11am, while from June to October volunteers lead hikes (up to 4 miles) on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10am. Looking to train? Join mountaineering society the Mazamas for conditioning hikes Tuesday and Thursday evenings in Northwest Portland; attendees split into pace groups.
Look for birds.
Birds: They’re everywhere! And so are opportunities to look for them with a crew. The Bird Alliance of Oregon offers all sorts of volunteer-led outings (register through Meetup.com), plus standing gatherings at Errol Heights Park the first Saturday morning of each month. Backyard Bird Shop runs regular walks at spots like Powell Butte and Whitaker Ponds. Other groups to check out include Birdhers, Queer Flockers, Birding for the People, and Portland’s chapter of Feminist Bird Club.
Image: Courtesy Mario Gallucci/PAM
Eye some art.
Art galleries are generally free to visit, but you’ll find more people in a lot of them on the first Thursday of the month, when the Pearl’s many galleries stay open into the evening. The recently renovated Portland Art Museum, which usually comes with a hefty ticket price, is free on first Thursdays, too (and free all the time for ages 17 and under). On NE Alberta, visit on the last Thursday of the month, when the neighborhood throws its own art walk.
Make it up.
Yes, and…? Kickstand Comedy and Curious Comedy offer free workshops for those new to improv, as well as informal jams open to all levels. On Monday evenings, improvisers can drop in to Deep End Theater’s open-stage variety show, Skinny Dip. Got a song or dramatic monologue or magic act? Also welcome at Skinny Dip, though sign up in advance. Just want to watch? It’s $5.
Flex your brain.
Free bar trivia can be found somewhere in Portland every night of the week but Saturday. To name a few: Trivia with Sam (Monday–Friday at a different location each evening), PDX Trivia (four days a week, multiple locations each evening), Untapped Trivia (Monday–Friday, many locations), and Know Shit Trivia (Sundays at Hungry Tiger, Tuesdays at Dream House Bar).
Get in on a not-so-secret secret.
The pop-up, volunteer-run Secret Roller Disco is kinda like Tabor Dance on wheels. It goes down at a variety of well-paved spots around town: Convention Center Plaza, elementary schools, S Bond Avenue just north of Tilikum Crossing. Grab your skates (or usually you can rent a pair on-site), and prepare for some extraordinary looks.
Image: Courtesy Nucleus Portland
Draw something.
Artists of all levels assemble at SE Stark stalwart the Goodfoot for Sunday-evening Drink & Draw sessions; theme and supplies provided. Bring your own supplies (or use provided colored pencils) to NE Alberta gallery Nucleus for a quarterly Drink & Draw, which is free with the purchase of a drink. (Both events are 21 and up.) Or practice your streetscapes on a monthly “sketchcrawl,” organized by the Portland chapter of Urban Sketchers.
Be gay, kick balls.
Portland’s got at least two queer soccer organizations. Lavender League counts 12 teams and more than 200 players (membership is on a sliding scale, $0–80), and the NetRippers Football Club has 20-plus teams, including indoor, outdoor, and futsal (no membership dues at the moment). Can’t commit to a full season? Sign up to be a Lavender League sub, or join a practice with either club. Even more casual is Queer Soccer for the Tentatively Fit, which organizes weekly scrimmages and pickup games.
Look for love.
Swiping? Over it. Meeting Mutuals hosts roving “Delete the Apps” events, which pop up a few times a month at bars (White Owl, Two Wrongs, Jackie’s). Color-coded stickers communicate interest: romance or friendship; men or women or everyone. There are generally no age brackets, and attendees usually range from 20s to 40s.
Image: Courtesy Eric Thornburg
Pedal with a posse.
Yes, we love Pedalpalooza, that summerlong spree of themed bike rides. But there are good ways to ride with a gang in the offseason, too. Year-round rides include Mellow Mondays, which meets at Abernethy Elementary (past themes include Depeche Mode, Elliott Smith, and clowns); Thursday Night Ride, which bills itself as a “rolling dive bar” and convenes at Salmon Street Springs; and the sometimes rowdy Midnight Mystery Ride, which departs at midnight every second Friday of the month from a start location (usually a dive bar) announced the week of.
Belt some old maritime verse.
Is it a pirate’s life for you? Beaumont-Wilshire taproom Tomorrow’s Verse hosts a sea shanty singalong on the last Thursday of every month, where you’re encouraged to stomp and shout and sing your salty heart out. (Return to the bar for music bingo every Wednesday.)
Play with paper.
Bring your collage and your decoupage, your scrapbooks and your stamps, to Portland Paper Club, which meets Thursdays at 5pm at downtown’s Bold Coffee & Books (RSVP required via Meetup.com). The Independent Publishing Resource Center, a DIY institution founded in 1998, holds a collage night the first Sunday of each month; materials and glue sticks are provided, and there’s a $5 suggested donation fee for nonmembers.
Have a tipple.
Oenophiles unite at Northwest Portland’s Liner & Elsen, which does free tastings from noon to 4pm on Saturdays, and at cozy SE 28th wine shop Vino, which runs a handful each month. NE Fremont’s Liquor Garden holds tastings 4–7pm Fridays and Saturdays, and both locations of John’s Marketplace pour samples 4–7pm Fridays.
Get your hands dirty.
Touching grass? Good for you. Take it to the next level by pulling some ivy, putting a few trees in the ground, or helping to maintain a trail. The Forest Park Conservancy runs work parties year-round, or join Friends of Trees for one of its seasonal planting events. More than 30 city parks—Laurelhurst, Peninsula, Gabriel—have friends groups that do hands-on restoration work, so you might not even have to leave your neighborhood.
