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Pickathon
Every year, Pickathon's reputation as the country's best little music festival grows, while the festival itself stays the same—small, sustainable and impeccably booked. This year's headliners include Charles Bradley, Dinosaur Jr. and Drive-By Truckers. Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen Road, Happy Valley, pickathon.com. Through August 6. Single-day passes $125, weekend passes $310. All ages. See preview, page 27.
First Thursday
From 5-8 pm, you can drink wine and check out new art shows at galleries in the Pearl. Read our picks for First Thursday openings and other gallery shows to see this month here. Check out the full list of participating First Thursday galleries here.
Polish-Israeli Dinner at Ray
Polish food is big in Israel right now, and it's the heritage of a lot of Israelis from the early diaspora. At Ray, Jenn Louis will be cooking up a three-course Polish-Israeli feast, including her grandmother's cottage-cheese pancakes with cured salmon, pierogies, garlic beets and plum dumplings. Ray, 3808 N Williams Ave., 503-288-6200, raypdx.com. $40 includes booze pairings.
The Difficulty of Crossing a Field and The Little Match Girl Passion
Staging a David Lang opera is not an easy task. The rogue classical composer's work is visceral and highly abstract, so, to an extent, you have to let go of your desire to reach a tangible understanding of his pieces. But in their Lang double bill, The Difficulty of Crossing a Field and The Little Match Girl Passion, Portland Opera manages to create a world that doesn't strip Lang's tale of its mystery, but instead adds to its wonder. Read our full review here. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, portlandopera.org. 7:30 pm. $35-$200.
Get Busy
Portland has no shortage of weekly standup showcases with solid local lineups, but the city's about to get another one. Hosted by Becky Braunstein and Ali Reingold, the first edition of Get Busy has a lineup packed with local heavy hitters, including Anthony Lopez and Caitlin Weierhauser, who both host two awesome weekly showcases, Earthquake Hurricane and You're Welcome, and both just placed first and second in Helium's Funniest Person competition. They'll be joined by the equally funny Adam Pasi (also a You're Welcome host) and Amanda Arnold, who both placed in WW's most recent Funniest Five poll. So far, Get Busy seems like a welcome addition to Portland's weekly showcases. Barrel Room, 105 NW 3rd Ave., barrelroompdx.com. 8 pm Thursday, August 3. Free.
Art in the Dark
Each year, aerial dance company A-WOL stages an outdoor show after dark in which the dancers perform in silks suspended from trees illuminated by ethereal uplighting. This year, the show has a theme slightly unexpected for such an idyllic scene: '60s sci-fi TV shows. Mary S. Young State Park, 19900 Willamette Dr., West Linn, awoldance.org. 8:30 pm Thursday-Sunday, August 4-13. $15-$36.