January
Chinese New Year Celebration - Sponsored by the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, this event features everything from knot-tying and paper crafts to lion dances and storytelling to art and martial arts demonstrations. The mission of the garden is to "create an oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony to inspire, engage, and educate our global community in the appreciation of the richly authentic Chinese culture."

February
Portland International Film Festival - Known for a nice selection of foreign films, Portland's film festival generally features more than 100 films from about 30 countries over the course of two weeks.

Portland Jazz Festival - More than 50 jazz performers enliven the city with their music during this three-day festival.

April
Wordstock - Portland's annual book fair lives up to its clever name. The fair draws several famous authors each year as well as a variety of other writers, booksellers and exhibitors and a fine selection of workshops, lectures and dinners, as well as a kids' festival.

May
Cinco De Mayo - The McCall Waterfront Park comes to life during this vibrant festival each year with fireworks, authentic food, a carnival, puppet shows, car shows, and just about anything else you could imagine.

June
Portland Rose Festival - Portland takes its nickname The City of Roses seriously as you can see at this astounding festival, which has been occurring for nearly 100 years. In May and June, events take place throughout Oregon, but the main festival is in Portland at the beginning of June and draws more than 2 million.

Portland Arts Festival - The arts festival is the younger sister to the rose festival and is run by the same organization. More than 150 local, regional and national artists participate, and some of the highlights include a competition for Best of Show, visual and musical performances, art demonstrations and culinary delights.

July
Waterfront Blues Festival - Around the fourth of July, audiences enjoy four stages and more than 100 performances at the Waterfront Blues Festival. More than 120,000 fans saunter to the festival to take advantage of the fine performances as well as the films, cruises and other activities available.

August
Mount Hood Jazz Festival - Just outside the city, Greshem hosts one of the nation's longest-running jazz festivals. This intimate venue allows the audience to be close to the performers. The festival is preceded by Adventures in Jazz from April to August, which takes place at different jazz clubs throughout the city.

The Bite of Oregon - This massive event benefits the Special Olympics Oregon and lets visitors enjoy the cultural and culinary bounty of the area.

September
Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival - Started in 2003 by PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) the Time-Based Art Festival brings together artists from a variety of disciplines. These global talents offer 10 days of performances, workshops, open rehearsals, panel discussions, artist lectures and celebrations.

Bones and Brew - Can you guess the theme of this deliberately simple event? Ribs and beer! With its growing popularity, Bones and Brew is becoming a block party event and sees a number of musicians adding live performances to the excellent food and beverages.

October
Portland Marathon - The Portland Marathon covers a 26.2-mile course for both walkers and runners and is known as one of the best marathons in the country. This race is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

Pumpkin Funland - Rated as one of the top destinations in the nation for Halloween, Ramussen Farms hosts Pumpkin Funland each year from early October to mid-November, offering such delights as a corn maze, pumpkins to pick, and fall fruits and vegetables for sale.

November
Wine County Thanksgiving - The North Willamette region of Oregon is the proud home of Yamhill County, which contains more than 80 wineries and 200 vineyards. The county has been recognized as one of the premier Pinot Noir-producing areas in the world. The local wineries also produce a variety of other wines, and at Thanksgiving, approximately 50 of the wineries open their doors to the public, including some that are open only twice a year. Visitors enjoy sampling the wines, particularly the new releases.

Christmas at Pittock Mansion (November-December) - Visiting this Portland landmark is particularly enjoyable in the winter as the turn-of-the-century mansion is elaborately decked out for Christmas with a new theme each year.

December
The Grotto's Festival of Lights - Portland is home to The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, although it is more commonly referred to as the Grotto. This beautiful 62-acre Catholic Shrine and botanical garden hosts the largest choral festival in the Pacific Northwest each year, completed with 250,000 twinkling lights. In addition to the natural beauty, kids will be entertained by activities including puppet shows and a petting zoo.

Parade of Christmas Ships - The number of ships that participate in this holiday event grow each year. For almost 50 years, the ships have paraded up and down the Willamette and Columbia Rivers for a couple of weeks each December. Today more than 60 ships with boaters from all over the Portland/Vancouver area display their holiday spirit.