The Museum of African Culture gets Portland International Props!

USA Today named Portland among its “10 great towns with international flair,” thanks, at least in part, to the Museum of African Culture on Brown Street!

Great Price to Park By The Bay

The parking lot at 40 Spring Street is under new management and to match its owner (The Holiday Inn by the Bay) it is now being called “By The Bay Parking.” The cost is only $1 an hour! So, whether you are roaming the halls of the Art Museum, taking your kids for a day at the Children’s Museum, attending an event at the Civic Center or just hanging around downtown, By The Bay will provide a place to park for a low price!

The new Arts Guide is out!

The free 2009-2010 ARTS GUIDE Portland that is a well-known resource for gallery listings, First Friday Artwalk information, articles on the current arts scene and performances in Portland is now available.

Trolley to Run on First Friday Art Walk!

PACA is pleased to announce that the trolley run by Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours will run from 4:30pm until 8:30pm during the next First Friday Art Walk.  That’s tomorrow – October 2!

Murphy & Co. Storewide SALE!

 

 

 

25% Storewide Sale!

Contemporary, classic home accessories & fine gifts to complement urban living & coastal homes. Murphy & Co. is located at 2 Milk Street, at the corner of Milk & Pearl in the Old Port. You can reach the store at 207-774-7700.

Happy 30th Birthday Portmanteau!

Congrats to one of our favorite retail stores in downtown Portland – Portmanteau is celebrating 30 years in business this week!

The artisan shop making bags, jackets and cloaks in the Old Port and Downtown is celebrating it’s 30th year this Friday 9-11-09 from 5pm to 8pm.  Come by and help celebrate at 11 Free Street!

Owner/ designer Nancy Lawrence will introduce a limited edition collection of new work titled “Pebbles” –inspired by the Cedar Tree Creek series of Cape Cod photographer Mitch Eagan.

UPDATE

As I talked about yesterday the Machigonne Festival was going to be on the Maine State Pier this Saturday. Due to the weather they are moving the festival to the Civic Center. So no worries if you bought tickets they will still be going forward with the festival. Admittedly, the Civic Center is not as exciting as the pier but the music will still be great.

Weekend Round Up

Guess what? It is almost the weekend again. How time flies when the weather is nice.

Thursday: Talib Kweli. Asylum. 9PM.

I know, I’m a white girl from Maine but I have to admit that I do enjoy some solid hip-hop now and again. Along with Atmosphere and Kanye, Talib has always been one of my favorites. I can appreciate some creative lyricism and fresh beats (yeah, I said it). Unless of course you’re sitting outside with a local microbrew soaking in the last of summer. I don’t blame you if it is the latter.

Thursday: Browne Trading Company. Sake & Sushi. 5PM. Free.

Thursday was so chock full of fun I had to make two events! Browne Trading is holding their annual sake and sushi tasting. If you don’t know much about sake let the trained professionals at Browne educate you. Then you can impress all your friends at your next sushi outing. Chef Ando of Benkay will be preparing fresh sushi on site, how great is that?

Saturday: Machigonne Music Festival. Maine State Pier. 5PM.

The Maine State Pier was an unbelievable venue earlier this month for Guster so I’m excited to see another show down there. This time it will be hometown hero Ray LaMontagne who sold out his Merrill Auditorium show in record time. He will also be joined by Rustic Overtones, who always put on a superb live show. The one downside to being on the pier…Tropical Storm Danny. Keep an eye on the weather.

Weekend Round Up

It is always a sad day at PDD when our last summer event has happened. But we try to keep our chin up and soldier on. Our next big event will be Downtown Worker Appreciation Day so keep your eyes and ears open. We want to thank everyone who supported our events this summer, please let us know how much you enjoyed them! And also if you have any suggestions for next year. But we prefer if you focus on the compliments.

See you out there this weekend…

Friday: Korduroy Kooks. Corduroy Surf Shop. 6-9 PM.

Our friends down at Corduroy Surf Shop are always on the cutting edge of style, art and environmentalism. Tonight they will be combining all three. The Big Green Bus will be parked on Market St. That may sound like a Grateful Dead Album but it’s actually a mobile classroom on alternative fuels. There will also be food, Geary’s Beer, groundbreaking film and demonstrations. Corduroy never lets us down for a good time.

Saturday: WCSH6 Sidewalk Art Festival. Congress St. 9 – 4.

It’s an annual summer tradition in Portland, the sidewalk art festival. Congress St will be shut down from High St to Monument Square and packed with artists. There will also be an auto show up by the WCSH6 studio. This festival is the oldest and largest in Northern New England and it seems to be getting bigger every year. You are guaranteed to bump into someone you know as downtown Portland turns into a relaxing open air market.

Weekend Round Up

First of all, thank you all for making the last Alive at Five one of the most rocking of the summer. It was great to go out on such a positive note. We can’t wait to see everybody next year.

There are a bunch of great things to do this weekend.

Friday: Dirty Dishes Burlesque Review. One Longfellow Square. 7:30 & 10. $8.

Another installment of One Longfellow Squares popular drag shows. These are always filled with great characters and great laughs. With two shows this weekend it is a great way to either start or end your night.

Saturday: Kwenu Celebration. Brown Street. Noon – 5. Free.

The African Arts and Cultural Museum is holding its annual festival on Saturday near its location on Brown Street. You can usually hear this event a block away from all the drumming and great music. Different vendors will be offering traditional African crafts and food. This is a great chance to expand your cultural horizon without ever leaving Portland (because who would want to).  This will also be the day that the first big cruise ship arrives downtown, so don’t panic. Just remember that everyone is here to enjoy Portland, even if they do walk a little too slow on Exchange.

Sunday: Cinque Terre and Vignola Harvest Dinner. Grand View Farm. $85.

So this event doesn’t technically take place downtown but it does feature two of our favorite downtown restaurants. We can’t blame them for wanting to get out of the city while the weather is nice. This dinner will be at Grand View Farm in Greene. You can explore the farm and the beautiful gardens before sitting down to a wonderful seasonal meal. Included in the price is round trip transportation from Vignola. You can’t beat that, dinner and a designated driver. Call Cinque Terre for reservations 347-6154.