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GO: OMSI After Dark: Out of This World
OMSI is a Portland treasure, made infinitely cooler by the fact that it often hosts boozy, themed OMSI After Dark nights. This Wednesday, not only will the museum be open after hours for tipsy, kid-free exploration—but it’ll also host dare we say “Out of This World” activities and science demonstrations. We’re talking planetarium shows, aerial dance performances, stomp rocket experiments, eclipse chats, gravity simulators—not to mention vendors like Tipsy Scoop, Moonstruck Designs, and nebula9 spirits. OMSI, 1945 SE Water Ave., 503-797-4000, omsi.edu. 6–10 pm Wednesday, Aug. 28. $25.
DANCE: HeartBeat Silent Disco
If you see a large group of people downtown dancing to seemingly nothing simultaneously, don’t mind them...or, better yet, join them! This Thursday, HeartBeat Silent Disco is back at Director Park. And if you’ve yet to experience a silent disco, let’s just say they are the perfect fodder for taking out-of-context videos to laugh at later. Just imagine the endless, meme-able possibilities of video of your friends jamming out to (what looks like) absolutely nothing, while wearing neon LED headsets in the park. Incredible. Director Park, 815 Park Ave., heartbeatsilentdisco.com. 6–8 pm Thursday, Aug. 29. Free.
WATCH: Summer Free for All Outdoor Movies: Barbie at Hamilton Park
C’mon, Barbie, let’s go…watch the iconic, gorgeous, beautiful, show-stopping, cultural reset that is Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) on Saturday night at Hamilton Park! For free! Watching Margot Robbie tower over surrounding trees makes for the perfect date night—especially if you and your Ken (we’d argue Ken is a gender-neutral term) are on a budget. It’s also the dream GNO (donning a pink outfit of some kind is hereby encouraged by us), or simply a way to get all of your little Barbies and Kens to (ideally) stop yapping at you for just…one…moment…please. Hamilton Park, 4300 SW 47th Drive, portland.gov/parks. 7:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 31. Free.
GO: Mid-Autumn Moonlight Market
This weekend, Lan Su Chinese Garden will celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important holidays in China. At the garden’s Mid-Autumn Moonlight Market, you can expect: Chinese calligraphy demonstrations, Chinese music, illuminated dancing lions, a “Mid-Autumn Storytime” unpacking the history behind the holiday, and even a “Moon Rabbit Meet & Greet” where you’ll get to meet the Moon Rabbit, a cultural motif of the Mid-Autumn Festival (i.e., rescued—and adoptable!—rabbits from Rabbit Advocates who will act as “Moon Rabbits”). So freakin’ cute. Lan Su Chinese Garden, 239 NW Everett St., 503-228-8131, lansugarden.org. 2–9 pm Saturday–Sunday, Aug. 31–Sept. 1. Prices vary.
WATCH: CatVideoFest 2024 with Catnip Magazine
Desperately seeking an alternative to scrolling cat videos on your phone in the dark while your IRL cat glares at you from across the room, begging you to please get outside and touch grass? Try CatVideoFest 2024! There, you can watch 73 uninterrupted minutes of cat content on a different (bigger) screen, also (most likely) in the dark, but with other people—not just your slightly judgmental feline friend—present! In all seriousness, though, Catnip magazine—the geniuses behind this video fest and a gorgeous 216-page collectible cat publication—is cool AF, and y’all should definitely check ‘em out this weekend. PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division St., 503-221-1156, tomorrowtheater.org. 7–9 pm Sunday, Sept. 1. $15.
GO: Chapman Swift Watch
You might be thinking, “OK, Willamette Week, ‘birds’ aren’t really ‘an event.’ In fact, birds aren’t even real!” And while you may or may not be right about the latter, these particular birds are honestly the event of the season. Every September, a bird by the name of Swift—and we’re not talking Taylor—decides to congregate at Chapman Elementary School with a couple thousand of its buddies. There, as a stop on their migration from Canada to Central and South America, the Vaux’s swifts put on a real show for Northwest Portland. They dance, they sing, they funnel themselves into a chimney like Santa Claus, all as they get ready to roost (i.e., sleep) for the night. And according to the 2,000-plus Portlanders who show up every year to watch them, it’s quite the sight to see. And definitely an event. Chapman Elementary School, 1445 NW 26th Ave., birdallianceoregon.org. 6:30–9:30 pm Sept. 1–30. Free.
GO: Gay Skate
We all have that one gay friend who’s just absolutely amazing at roller skating for some reason. And while they are probably already well aware of this event—Oaks Amusement Park has been hosting it for 30-plus years, after all—you should be too. Because the roller skating is awesome, Oaks Amusement Park is awesome, the gays are awesome, and the gay roller skating community is especially awesome. Gay Skate is all ages, features Bolivia Carmichaels as a special guest DJ, and is just all-around awesome. Plus, this month is your last chance to Gay Skate for a while, so lace up and get rollin’! Oaks Amusement Park and Roller Skating Rink, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way, 503-233-5777, oakspark.com. 7–9:30 pm Monday, Sept. 2. $13.
Got an event tip? Email shannon@wweek.com.