The Portland Parks Foundation (PPF) is proud to present Paseo, a new festival and community gathering July 15-17. Paseo will feature music, dance, spoken word, drag, and other creative forms, along with yoga and healthful, family activities in the heart of downtown at the South Park Blocks and Director Park. To learn more, visit www.paseopdx.org.

Inspired by the Spanish evening stroll that reawakens the city, Paseo is the first major downtown arts festival to be conceived and curated by a steering committee of BIPOC social justice and arts leaders.

“Our collective goal with Paseo,” according the PPF’s executive director Randy Gragg, “is to center artists, organizations, and grassroots parks, health, and aid groups from communities traditionally disenfranchised from the financial and cultural center of the city. We want to heal our downtown by bringing it back, but also by bringing it forward.”

Among the artists featured will be Madame Golong, soul singer LaRhonda Steele, Chilean/Mexican hip hop duo Alta Vocez, rapper Sotae, violinist/vocalist Chibia, jazz multi-instrumentalist Machado Mijiga, dance by Shaun Keylock, Beautiful Street, and BodyVox JAG, a tango milanga by Tango Berretin, street murals by IdealPDX, among many other emerging and established talents.

The Portland Art museum will also be hosting a Miller Family Free Day on Saturday, July 16th, featuring the first day of the Perspectives exhibition, together with an array of Paseo festivities along the South Park Blocks.

Music and dance stages will be at the Portland Art Museum and Director Park with Shemanski Square entirely devoted to Indigenous performers and vendors, including elder poet/storyteller Ed Edmo, multi-media DJs Roots & Beats, and “Here,Queer, and Indigenous: A two-Spirit Drag Show.” As well, Paseo will feature family-friendly activities and information booths by Forge Hot Yoga, National University of Natural Medicine, Hunters of Color, Sail2 Change, Red Cedar Forest Therapy, Bookmobile Babe, Green Lents, Portland Fruit Tree Project, and many other organizations devoted to parks, outdoors and mutual aid.

This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required for entry.

Learn more at www.paseopdx.org