Citywide ‘Weird Fest’ comes to East Portland

Just how weird? Take a look, and see for yourself what happens when those reveling in being peculiar gather at this East Portland event …

Folks browse among the ‘Weird Vendors’, while enjoying an afternoon of unusual activities and events at the inaugural Portland Weird Festival.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

For the first time ever, the Rose City’s Weird Portland United (WPU) organization held an outdoor special event on September 7th that they called the Portland Weird Festival – and it was at historic, nonprofit Oaks Amusement Park.

The event offered dozens of “Weird Vendors” selling unique and offbeat items – from peculiar antiques, to imaginative handmade crafts. And, throughout the day, five local “Weird Bands” performed – pushing the boundaries of genre and performance.

“If you aren’t weird when you got there, you will be when you leave,” promises Weird Portland United President Christine Lassiter, while taking a break during the festival.

“In years past, WPU has done fundraising with our ‘Weird Gala’,” recalled the organization’s President and event organizer, Christine Lassiter, whose alter ego is a unicorn centaur named “Aurelia Stardancer”.

“This year we wanted to do something that touched upon all the different aspects of our mission statement: ‘Celebrate, amplify, and incubate all things weird’ – by hosting this public festival,” Lassiter told East Portland News.

At the booth of the originators of the “Keep Portland Weird” slogan, Music Millennium, the company’s logo designer Steve Blackburn and store manager Phil Coons showoff their branded merchandise.

“Snail Lady” – who, in the non-weird world goes by Alice Langlois, is one of the ‘Roaming Weird Oddities’ that enlivened this festival.

“So, we thought the best way to do this was by creating a ‘Weird Festival’ that features a considerable cross-section of ‘all things weird’ here in Portland, which we’re successfully doing here today,” Lassiter observed.

In addition to purveyors of the weird and wacky, the festival also featured:

Weird Pie Eating Contest: A pie-eating challenge like no other;
Family-Friendly Free Weird Games: A variety of whimsical games and activities designed for kids; and,
Pop-Up Movie Theater: Showing a curated selection of weird local short films.

“In the end, the best thing that can come out of this is that people who were not part of the ‘weird community’, or didn’t know much about it, could come here and ne part of it and appreciate it,” remarked Lassiter. “And, maybe, maybe by being part of our celebration, it’ll spark a little weirdness in them, too!”

The ‘Weird Costume Contest’ was the highlight of the afternoon’s festivities.

Learn more about Weird Portland United by visiting their official website: CLICK HERE.

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