Summer has arrived and, with it, the Fernhill Concert Series and National Night Out. Pack your blanket, picnic basket, the kids and the dog. Head for Fernhill Park Friday, July 6 and return the following four Fridays.
That final Friday, Aug. 3, celebrates National Night Out with a concert and a movie. Children’s activities are part of the evening’s fare and free popcorn is available during the movie.
Each Friday’s activities are on the west side of Fernhill Park, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Food vendors are available.
The concerts are among 61 this summer in 42 Portland parks, and this is the second Year Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) has screened a movie at the National Night Out gathering. Here’s the line up:
Friday, July 6: Portland Interfaith Gospel Choir
This community-based interfaith choir and nonprofit aims to inspire joy and unity through traditional black gospel traditions that foster crosscultural and cross-racial understanding and connection.
Friday, July 13: Sonny Hess and Lady Kat
Veteran guitarist and vocalist Sonny Hess teams with Lady Kat who, for the past six years, has performed at the Waterfront Blues Festival. At Fernhill Park, they’ll offer modern blues and soulful rhythm and blues
Friday, July 20: Trujillo
A congregation of like-minded musicians and family come together and create a rock & roll ode to Chicano identity
Friday, July 27: The Slants
This all-Asian-American dance-rock band made headlines last year thanks to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that supported the group’s name. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had refused a trademark to the group, citing the name as an offensive slur to people of Asian descent. The band’s representatives argued the meaning instead refers to their perspective and is an attempt to repurpose the term.
Friday, Aug. 3: National Night Out
Concert: Eric John Kaiser is known as the French Troubadour. Born in Paris, the singer-songwriter moved to Portland 10 years ago and continues to reimagine Americana music by applying his French heritage.
Movie: “Isle of Dogs” – 2018, rated PG, Spanish subtitles – is a stop-motion animated film about a boy who searches for his dog after its species is banished to an island following a canine-flu outbreak.