Portland Adult Soapbox Derby
Grown-up kids make inventive vehicles in this quirky summer race.
John Patrick Pullen
Know Before You Go
The 2020 live event has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and will now be streamed online. For the most up-to-date information, please visit the Portland Adult Soapbox Derby website.
Put down your video game controllers and step away from your Mario Kart. The best way to race isn’t on a screen, it’s down an extinct cinder cone volcano in Southeast Portland. The annual PDX Adult Soapbox Derby returns Aug. 15, 2020, pitting grown-up kids against each other, with each team designing and assembling their own downhill racers in pursuit of maximum speed or big laughs.
This race returns every August to Mt. Tabor Park, an extinct volcano that is now a forested urban park. Dozens of teams build cars to zip down the course, a great mix of curves and straightaways, lined with picnicking onlookers — many sipping cool brews in the designated beer garden.
Prizes for speed, engineering, fan-favorites and lifetime achievement are handed out to deserving daredevils, but the cheers may be more valuable than any award. Everything from streamlined, lacquered, wooden one-man bombers to fully-packed Scooby Doo Dream Machine doppelgängers zoom down the hill, making this a great day in the park for kids and the young-at-heart alike.
Upcoming Dates & Times
- Aug. 15
- 9:30am–4pm
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