January Events
The first month of the New Year brings dozens of events, festivals and things to do in and around Portland.
January in Portland brings some of the city’s favorite events and activities. Explore the city’s arts and culture scenes, sip on seasonal cocktails, and hit the slopes on Mount Hood. Scroll down to see our top picks of things to do, see and experience in Portland, or search the full events calendar to look at everything on offer.
Portland Old Time Music Gathering
Since 1999, the Portland Old Time Music Gathering has celebrated traditional, Appalachian-style string-band music by showcasing some of the country’s best artists with several days of concerts, community jam sessions, and dancing opportunities.
Portland Folk Festival
The Portland Folk Festival highlights Portland’s rich folk and Americana music scene. This two-day celebration brings bands together from all over the Pacific Northwest to the stage at McMenamins Crystal Ballroom.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast
Every year the Skanner Foundation invites the community to share in the MLK Breakfast celebrating the life, work, and vision of civil rights of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Attendees will hear inspiring words from elected officials and previous student scholarship winners and enjoy local musical talent.
January Highlights
Explore more things to do and see in January in Portland.
January is Portland Music Month
January is officially Portland Music Month and MusicPortland has curated a lineup of 100+ local artists to support the music community. Get tickets to hear extraordinary live music that will light up the winters at venues all over Portland.
Fertile Ground Festival
See Portland's newest theater and dance works every January at the annual Fertile Ground Festival.
Lunar New Year Celebrations in Portland
Portland's Asian communities celebrate the Lunar New Year with traditional dances, lantern ceremonies and stunning performances.
Chinese New Year
Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden hosts a yearly Chinese New Year celebration, considered the biggest lunar new year in Pacific Northwest. The gardens welcome the new year with a lion dance performance at the Entrance Plaza. The celebration highlights include Chinese dance, martial arts and Chinese calligraphy.
O-Shogatsu, Japanese New Year
At O-Shogatsu, Japanese New Year, you can celebrate the new year with wishes for happiness and prosperity at Portland Japanese Garden. Immerse yourself in peace within the picturesque setting of pine, bamboo, and plum branches.
Portland Metro Reptile Expo
If you enjoy scales, slithering and all things cold-blooded, be sure not to miss the Portland Metro Reptile Expo, the longest-running reptile show in Oregon. Featuring a venomous reptile display, several reptile rescues, and an educational display.
Rose City Classic Dog Show
Not into scales? Maybe furry friends are for you. The Rose City Classic Dog Show, held annually at the Portland Expo Center, is one of the largest and most popular dog events in the United States. Over 170 breeds compete at the five-day show to beat out the competition in agility, breed judging or to win the coveted title of Best in Show.
Upcoming January Events 2024
Check out our picks for top things to do in January in Portland.

Gay Skate
Roll out with your friends and loved ones to the monthly Gay Skate Session, held the 1st and 3rd Monday night of the month. Everyone is welcome at this all-ages event at this all-ages event. Admission tickets allow the Oaks Park Roller Rink access for the selected Gay Skate Session date/time. Includes standard skate rental.

BeerQuest Haunted Pub Tour
Uncover Portland’s dark side on this spine-tingling walking pub tour. In the early 1900s, unsuspecting sailors were often ruthlessly abducted and whisked away through the notorious Shanghai Tunnels. Tour guides will tell you how notorious criminals kidnapped thousands of people and why their ghosts still haunt Portland today. This is Portland’s longest-running ghost tour with…

Farmers Market at Portland State University
The Portland Farmers Market at Portland State University will be open every Saturday, year-round. April through October hours are 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. November through March hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Market at PSU is located in Downtown Portland in the South Park Blocks between SW College & Montgomery Streets.

Hollywood Farmers Market
Year-round on Saturdays, the Hollywood Farmers Markets hosts 50+ vendors, bringing you the best of the region’s agricultural bounty. In addition to amazingly fresh, local food, you’ll find live music, children’s activities, and fun events throughout the season. April through September, every Saturday 8 AM to 1 PM,October and November, every Saturday 9 AM to…

Oregon Cider Week
Oregon Cider Week Special Edition is happening with CiderCon 2024, hosted in Portland, Oregon. The Northwest cider community will welcome visiting conference attendees, media, buyers and cider fans at a wide variety of not-to-be-missed events. Save the day and stay tuned.

Rose City Classic Dog Show
The Rose City Classic Dog Show is one of the largest and most popular dog events in the United States. The all-breed shows feature breed judging, which is also known as conformation. At Rose City Classic, over 170 AKC breeds compete in conformation to earn championships, Best of Breed and Best in Show. In addition…

Oregon Coastal Tour
Maximize your beach time while at the Oregon Coast Oregon’s coastline is graced with unforgettable vistas: dramatic cliffs, offshore rocks and sea lions, wide sandy beaches, majestic capes, historic lighthouses, enchanted forests and lovely small beach towns which artists and artisans make their home. Locations we may visit include: Cannon Beach, Haystack Rock, Short Sand…

Cheerful Tortoise Comedy Open Mic
Comedy Open Mic for every skill level. Beginners are welcome. Weekly mic every Monday night with 8:30 p.m. sign-ups. Hosted by Sam Bass and Milo Loza. The Cheerful Tortoise is an iconic Portland bar that has been around for more than 60 years and provides a cheerful environment for everyone to enjoy.

Picture Day
Celebrated photographer Elle Hygge offers professional portraits and headshots that celebrate diversity. LGBTQIA2S+ friendly and support animals welcome. This is an event sponsored by the gallery and the urban art hike to encourage everyone to come to the gallery and take pictures with art. pay the gallery @GalleryGoGoGo (3 gos) Venmo

B-Movie Bingo
Every first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm, Hollywood Theater plays B-Movie Bingo, a game that is exactly like it sounds. Or more. It’s simple. They play bingo to the most awesome movie cliches ever committed to celluloid, like “long boring scene or male ponytail," "teamed up with rookie or animal," and "white suit…

Throughlines: Connections in the Collection
Throughlines embraces wonder and curiosity, bringing together artworks from across the Museum’s collections to explore the range of artistic innovation. From diverse geographies, cultures, and time periods, artists have consistently created images, objects, and experiences that ask us to consider ourselves and the world from different perspectives. Visitors will encounter playful groupings that reveal how…

Africa Fashion
The Portland Art Museum is pleased to present Africa Fashion, a major exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London that will celebrate the richness and diversity of African creativity, cultures, and histories, using fashion as a catalyst. Spanning the mid-twentieth century to contemporary designs, Africa Fashion explores the vitality of a fashion…

Black Artists of Oregon
Black Artists of Oregon, highlighting and celebrating the work of Black artists in and outside the collection, will deepen awareness of the talented artists that have shaped and inspired artists regionally and nationally. The exhibition will be the first of its kind to consider the work of Black artists collectively in Oregon, often underrepresented and…

Leonard Baskin, the Great Birdman
Leonard Baskin’s Orthodox Jewish upbringing and deep knowledge of Jewish texts and history are evident throughout his oeuvre. His art, expressed in sculpture and painting, and the printing techniques of lithography, woodcut, etching, and engraving, carries multiple sources of inspiration, including monumental Egyptian and Mesopotamian sculpture, classical Greek mythology and literature, and portrayals of Native…

Walk-in Wednesday at Tattoo 34
Tatoo 34, Portland's only Indigenous and Black-owned tattoo shop, offers Walk-in Wednesdays starting at noon. Walk-in tattoos are small, simple flash or custom tattoos that take two hours or less. No appointment is necessary, but patience is required. Walk-in tattoos are: First come, first served (while being mindful of the tattoo concept and the best…

Craft Mixology Class
WHAT TO EXPECT: Learn to mix, shake, stir and properly garnish four craft cocktails- both modern and classic cocktails alike. All cocktails are made with Accompani, Straightaway Cocktails line of liqueurs, amaro, and vermouth.Gain a solid foundation of many bar tools and techniques involved in mixology. Learn when to shake and when to stir (thanks,…

Trivia Night at the Hostel Cafe
Bring your friends and show off your master skills at solving pup trivia. No need to sign-up in advance. Just show up. The Pub Trivia Nerd’s winning team will even get a prize for their useless knowledge.

Bangerz Comedy
Portland comics Bjorn RG and Eliza Butler host this weekly show at Neighbors Taproom with curated lineups of local and nationally touring comedians. 21+

Marcus Fischer–What Was Lost and What Remains
What Was Lost and What Remains is a collection of work addressing themes of loss, generational trauma, and gun violence in America. Still, it is also a container to hold space for these things that aren’t so easy to discuss. Artist Statement: How does loss change us? What is an acceptable amount of Loss? What…

Weird Portland Pub Tour
Experience the eccentricity of Portland, Oregon and visit one of its quirkiest neighborhoods on this walking pub tour. This tour is a must-do for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the fascinating history of the city, including stories of UFO sightings, Bigfoot sightings, exploding whales, wacky bike rides, strange locals, hijackings, hipsters, artists, and…

Sparkle & Shine Drag Brunch
Hosted by Nicole Onoscopi, the colorful, kooky, and highly caffeinated queen of Oregon. She and her most fantastic guest queens fill the room with laughs and great times every show. The glamour, the performances, the HAIR. Drag artistry has become globally popular with fans of all ages. Therefore, the show is rated PG-13. CELEBRATE YOUR…

Latin Dancing Nights
Every Saturday, Nico's Cantina has a live band or DJ playing. Music alternates between Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, and Banda every Saturday. NIco's Cantina offers a laid-back atmosphere, a simple menu, and affordable prices.

Disney’s the Lion King
Giraffes strut. Birds swoop. Gazelles leap. The entire Serengeti comes to life as never before. And as the music soars, Pride Rock slowly emerges from the mist. Over 100 million people worldwide have experienced the awe-inspiring visual artistry, the unforgettable music, and the uniquely theatrical storytelling of this Broadway spectacular — one of the most…

¡HUELGA!
This “Super Acto”, inspired by Teatro Campesino, will travel back in time to 1962 with Dolores Huerta to the farmworkers movement and share her co-founding of the UFW with Cesar Chavez. There will be Social Justice theater workshops that will inspire students to become more involved in helping their communities. The Dolores Huerta Foundation has…

Love, Shakespeare
Fresh, fully improvised Elizabethan Comedy. Love, Shakespeare is a fresh and fully improvised Elizabethan Comedy. Featuring a rotating cast, including Rose Bonomo, Stacey Hallal, Jake Hull, Kristen Schier, Tyler Quinn, Andy Perkins, Peri Ahmadi and Rachel Rosenthal. Directed by Kristen Schier Design by Tyler Quinn

Tina Fey & Amy Poehler
As a duo and apart, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have been responsible for some of the best comedies of the past two decades. From the wit and whimsy of Fey's back catalog (including Mean Girls, 30 Rock and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) to Poehler's championing of women and girls (and, of course, the unforgettable…

Welcome to Night Vale
WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. Turn on your radio and hide.

Chanticleer
The Grammy award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has been hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker. One of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, Chanticleer has sold over one million recordings and performed thousands of live concerts to audiences around the world. “They are, to put it directly,…

Talk of the Town: Improv Show
Talk of the Town – improvised comedy inspired by Portland’s movers and shakers. Looking for cool things to do around Portland? Curious Comedy has your back. Every third weekend of the month at 7:30 in the Annex Theatre, Talk of the Town invites special guests to tell everyone about the amazing things they are up…

Bruce McCulloch
Bruce McCulloch’s Tales of Bravery and Stupidity is a one-man show that moves brilliantly between funny, relatable and surprisingly touching. Using music, stand-up, and storytelling, Bruce McCulloch (KIDS IN THE HALL) takes us on a poetic flyover of his life “pursuing stories” and makes an unspoken agreement with the audience to contemplate the world together….

What the Constitution Means to Me
Filled with humor and history, this Pulitzer Prize finalist asks what the U.S. Constitution truly means. As a 15-year-old, Heidi Schreck won debate competitions defending the Constitution nationwide. As an adult, she resurrects her teenage self to investigate its profound effect on four generations of women in her family. This exhilarating show culminates in a…

Willie Barcena
Raucous, irreverent, and never politically correct, Willie Barcena is one of the sharpest minds in comedy. His universal material spans family, religion, race, sex, politics, and whatever else you aren’t supposed to talk about. His twelve Tonight Show appearances are among the most frequent for any comedian and by far the most for any Latino…

Telegraph Quartet
Grand prize winner of the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and winner of the prestigious 2016 Naumburg Chamber Music Award, this adventurous young group is known for “a combination of brilliance and subtlety.” (The Telegraph) “Soulfulness, tonal beauty and intelligent attention to detail.” San Francisco Chronicle Program: Mon, Jan 22 “First Time’s a Charm” BRITTEN…

Jill Andrews
After making her name as one-half of the critically acclaimed Americana duo the Everybodyfields, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Jill Andrews forged a successful solo career throughout the 2010s, exploring folk, country, and warmly detailed pop. Her first two albums yielded several songs that found placement across television and film, and she bolstered her catalog with numerous standalone…

Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia is a comedian, storyteller, director, producer, and actor who has performed in front of audiences worldwide, from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall. His solo shows "Sleepwalk With Me," "My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend,” "Thank God For Jokes," and "The New One” enjoyed successful off-Broadway runs. My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend won the Lucille Lortel Award…

Vir Das
Comedian and Actor Vir Das has hit the global comedy mega-leagues thanks to his boundless comedic talent, wildly successful world tours and incredible four Netflix specials. His latest special, Landing, premiered on the streamer on December 26, 2022, with Decider praising his “refreshingly different take on our current obsession with “punching up” and “cancel culture””…
Winter Fun in and Near Portland
The city's cooler months bring gorgeous walks, festive lights and ways to enjoy Mount Hood.
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