👋 Your Weekend Event Guide for July 24-26

Good morning, South Metro. The weekend is upon us, and temperatures will cool a bit Saturday and Sunday! This week, my youngest daughter started cosmetology school. She rolled her eyes, but first-day-of-school tradition required a picture at the front door. At 21, apparently smiling for it was optional. 🙄

In today’s South Metro Weekly:

Petty Fever opens West Linn’s Music in the Park series
A-WOL performers take to the trees at Mary S. Young Park
The old Shari’s site in Wilsonville is officially gone

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Weekend event time, baby!

~Scott

🎈 - family-friendly event
💲 - ticket or purchase required
🎵 - live music
😊 - there will be food

🎈 🎵 😊 Petty Fever at Music in the Park
Tanner Creek Park, West Linn | Thursday, 6:30–8:30 PM | Free
West Linn’s summer concert series kicks off with Petty Fever, serving up two hours of Tom Petty favorites at Tanner Creek Park. Bring a chair or blanket, grab dinner from one of the food vendors and settle in for a warm summer evening — temperatures should be around 83 degrees when the music starts. Then prepare to discover just how many Tom Petty lyrics you still know without realizing it.

🎈 🎵 😊 Newberg Old Fashioned Festival
Memorial Park and Renne Field, Newberg | Friday–Sunday | Free admission
Newberg’s signature summer celebration fills the weekend with food and marketplace vendors, family activities and live music on two stages. Friday brings The Bird Man and evening concerts, while Saturday starts with the Grand Parade at 10 AM and ends with fireworks at 10 PM. Sunday slows things down just a little with a pancake breakfast, the Cruise-In Car Show and community band concerts — because apparently Newberg does not believe summer festivals should fit neatly into a single afternoon.

🎈 💲 🎵 😊 Tumwater Summerfest
Tumwater Vineyard, West Linn | Saturday, 11 AM–5 PM & Sunday, Noon–5:30 PM | Free admission; food and drinks available for purchase
Tumwater Vineyard brings back Summerfest for two days of music, wine and shopping from more than a dozen local vendors. Saturday features DJ Jozart, while Heather Lindaman performs live Sunday, with everything from handmade jewelry and children’s clothing to cinnamon rolls and mobile books joining the mix. It is basically a summer market with vineyard views — which already sounds better than running errands under fluorescent lights.

🎈 💲 😊 The Oregon Bird Man Show
Frog Pond Farm, Wilsonville | Saturday, 10:30–11:30 AM | $13, ages 2 and older
The Oregon Bird Man returns to Frog Pond Farm with an educational, up-close show featuring birds, reptiles and other exotic animals. Admission also includes the rest of the farm, so families can stick around afterward to meet the animals, explore the playgrounds and burn off a little energy in the Bounce Park. It should be a pretty fly way to spend the morning — and yes, that joke was completely farm-raised.

🎈 🎵 😊 First City Celebration
Downtown Oregon City | Saturday, 11 AM–6 PM | Free
Downtown Oregon City takes over Main Street for a full afternoon of live music, food, vendors, family activities and plenty of reasons to wander a few extra blocks. It is one of the area’s bigger summer street festivals, and another reminder that downtown Oregon City continues to grow into one of the South Metro’s brighter spots.

🏀 South Metro mayors are joining the push to keep the Blazers in Portland. The mayors of Canby, Lake Oswego, Sherwood, Tualatin, West Linn and Wilsonville were among 24 regional leaders signing a letter urging continued progress on a Moda Center renovation deal. Their message: the jerseys may say Portland, but the teams belong to the entire metro area — especially with the Blazers training in Tualatin and players and staff living throughout the South Metro. Portland is expected to vote on a more formal agreement in August.

Courtesy: Moda Center

🎿 West Linn-Wilsonville is ending two high school activities next school year. Beginning in 2026–27, the district will no longer sponsor ski and snowboard or trap shooting, citing budget pressure, rising insurance and liability costs, and a decision to focus limited resources on OSAA-regulated activities or programs held at district-managed facilities. Students may still be able to participate through other regional or statewide organizations.

🏗️ The old Shari’s in Wilsonville is officially gone. Crews have demolished the former restaurant and are now clearing the site, marking the first visible redevelopment tied to Wilsonville’s long-planned Town Center vision. The private project calls for a five-story mixed-use building with 114 apartments above 4,200 square feet of ground-floor retail, along with wider sidewalks and space for outdoor seating. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, with completion currently projected for mid-to-late 2028.

🩸 A milestone blood donation will take place Saturday in Tualatin. Air Force veteran Ken Dale is set to give his 40th gallon of blood at Living Savior Lutheran Church, marking decades of donations during a nationwide emergency blood shortage. Readers can join the drive and donate Saturday at the church, with Dale’s milestone donation scheduled for 10 AM; appointments can be booked through the Red Cross. The organization says supplies fell nearly 25% in June, with an especially urgent need for O positive, B negative and platelet donors.

🦷 A new pediatric dental office is opening in Lake Oswego. Pine Tree Pediatric Dentistry is adding a second location at 15962 Boones Ferry Road, Suite 208, bringing its kid-focused dental care closer to South Metro families. The Lake Oswego Chamber will mark the opening with a ribbon cutting today at 5 PM.

🎈 - family-friendly event
💲 - ticket or purchase required
🎵 - live music
😊 - there will be food

🎈 💲 🎵 😊 Art in the Dark — Evening or Daytime Show
Mary S. Young Park, West Linn | Friday, seating at 7:30 PM; show at dusk | Saturday, 4 PM matinee | Ticket required
A-WOL Dance Collective turns one of West Linn’s most beautiful parks into an outdoor aerial theater, with performers suspended among the trees and live music adding to the atmosphere. Friday’s evening show begins around dusk for the full “Art in the Dark” experience, while Saturday’s daytime performance offers families a brighter, earlier option. Food, drinks and merchandise will be available, and children under 5 may attend free when seated on an adult’s lap.

🎈 💲 🎵 Disney’s Newsies Theater Production
Deb Fennell Auditorium, Tigard | Thursday–Sunday | Ticket required; performance times vary
Disney’s high-energy musical follows a group of young newspaper sellers who stand up to a powerful publisher after distribution prices are raised at their expense. Expect big songs, energetic dance numbers and an underdog story built around friendship, courage and finding your voice. Performances run throughout the weekend at the Deb Fennell Auditorium, with exact showtimes and ticket prices available through the production website.

🎈 😊 Italian Day at Portland Cars and Coffee
Langer’s Entertainment Center, Sherwood | Saturday, 8–11 AM | Free
Ferraris, Maseratis and other Italian exotics roll into Sherwood for a morning of polished paint, loud engines and serious parking-lot admiration. Kids who love cars should have plenty to stare at, dads may need to be reminded they are only looking, and moms can enjoy the coffee while everyone debates which vehicle they would buy with imaginary money.

🎈 😊 Movies in the Park: Lilo & Stitch
Ann-Toni Schreiber Park, Milwaukie | Saturday, 8:30–10 PM | Free
Pack a blanket and settle in for a free outdoor showing of Lilo & Stitch just after dusk. The event is open to all ages, and Kona Ice will be available for purchase during the movie — because apparently even intergalactic family adventures are better with a snow cone.

🎈 💲 😊 PNW Mermaid Confluence 2026
Sherwood Regional YMCA Aquatic Center | Sunday, 10 AM–5 PM | Ticket required
Mermaids, makers and ocean-loving families gather in Sherwood for a full day of swimming, creative activities, films, panels and plenty of underwater imagination. Admission includes open swim, the Makers Grotto, a quiet Bubble Room and other all-day activities, with optional workshops and specialty experiences available for an extra charge.

🎈 Men’s Ascent
Sherwood Community Friends Church | Saturday, 7:30–8:30 AM | Free
Men are invited to start Saturday with a 30-minute workout followed by conversation, a short Christian devotional and time around the fire. The event is hosted by a local church and grounded in faith, but you do not need to be a church member — or have everything figured out — to show up, break a sweat and meet a few people.

💲 😊 Pints & Pages: Adult Fantasy & Romance Pop-Up Book Fair
Vanguard Brewing, Wilsonville | Saturday, 3 PM | Purchases optional; ages 21+
Tropes Cafe & Readery brings local authors and plenty of fantasy and romance reads to Vanguard Brewing for an afternoon built around books, beer and finding one more title for the already-unreasonable reading pile. Come for the drinks, stay for the stories — and try not to judge anyone by the number of dragons on the cover.

💲 🎵 The Grunge Show: Jar of Flies, Outshined & Negative Creep
The Headliners Club, Lake Oswego | Saturday, 8 PM | Ticket required; ages 21+
Three tribute bands take over the Headliners Club for a full night of Seattle grunge, with music from Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Nirvana. Expect loud guitars, familiar songs and enough flannel-era nostalgia to make 1994 feel uncomfortably recent — until you notice the tightness of your jeans.

🎈 🎵 😊 Slice of Summer: Bridgetown Get Down
Wait City Park, Canby | Sunday, 6–8 PM | Free
Canby’s Slice of Summer concert series continues with Bridgetown Get Down, bringing a lively mix of funk, soul and dance-friendly favorites to Wait Park. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, grab dinner from one of the food vendors and enjoy a free Sunday evening concert before Monday starts making demands again.

🎈 💲 🎵 😊 Washington County Fair
Westside Commons, Hillsboro | Friday, 5 PM–midnight; Saturday–Sunday, 10 AM–midnight | Free admission; rides and food cost extra
The Washington County Fair opens Friday with carnival rides, livestock barns, stunt dogs, aerial performers, vendors and live entertainment continuing throughout the weekend. Admission is free, but bring money for the midway and whatever fried creation convinces you calories do not count at the fair. Hillsboro sits outside our usual loop, but fair food and the distant screams of ridegoers can make the drive worthwhile. Just remember: giving the kids elephant ears and then carrying them on your shoulders is a recipe for needing several showers. We speak from experience.

MORE LIVE MUSIC

A slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm will linger early Thursday, followed by clearing skies and a warm, sunny Friday. The weekend turns a little cooler but stays mostly dry, with highs near 80 Saturday and in the mid-80s Sunday, along with comfortable overnight lows in the upper 50s.

THANKS!

However you spend the weekend, make room for one small thing you will remember — a song in the park, a sticky fair-food disaster, a conversation with someone new or an hour spent somewhere you have driven past a hundred times. The South Metro is a pretty good place to live. Sometimes we just need a reason to step outside and notice it.

And if you have an event coming up we should know about, just submit it here.

Thanks for reading. See you Monday morning!

👋 Your Weekend Event Guide for July 24-26

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