Is that the question? Of course not. After a five year hiatus, this downtown carnival finally returns to Waterfront Park to bring back some of the magic that is your Portland Rose Festival. Is it possible that the sky could open up to dampen your spirit and turn Waterfront Park into a giant mud pit (and not the fun kind for wrestling in) that ruins your shoes? Of course. But if you let the threat of rain deter you in Portland, you’ll miss out on a lot of the fun.
Fortunately this year the gloom and cold that accompanies Juneuary are not in our forecast and mild weather is propelling us to the events of our festival of roses. Rain or shine, before you decide whether this event deserves a spot on your calendar, let us help you address the real question here:
What is the best way to do Cityfair?
To shed some light on this question, we did festival reconnaissance to share with you what we would do more of, or less of, to make the most of our time and our money at Cityfair. Read on to learn what we walked away with and if slayed the day (as is our goal always).
You can save time and money by purchasing admission tickets ahead of time online at the CityFair page. Here are some slay tips for you:
- Get BOGO admission tickets through Portland Mercury’s special buy one, get one deal. Select two CityFair tickets and use promo code MERCURY25 for 50% off your purchase.
- To visit for a day is $15, and a season pass for all 10 days is just $25 – which is a good option to try different areas on different days depending on the weather and your proximity to waterfront park.
- Kids age 6 & under and Military & Veterans are admitted FREE AT THE GATE
Area 1: Vendors at Portland Cityfair
We like to start out by perusing the vendors and booths which range from local businesses providing activities and selling goods, to big companies and organizations promoting their businesses or causes. Here are the booths of note / what we would recommend;
- Love it or hate it, I think we can agree, slime is irresistible. So of course we stopped at the Slimetastic booth to create a jar of with all the beads, charms, glitter that would fit into the jar.
- Next door was Beaverton Psychic Reader and while the booth was not open at the time of our visit, I have to mention it to give them props for bringing this energy to the fair.
- Want a forever souvenir like a Portland Rose Festival tattoo? Visit the Inkbus mobile tattoo studio where they have a selection of away with some new ink. Check back next year to see if we’re ready for matching ink.
- 3D printed toys and decorative are all the rage and I don’t mind. The idea we can come for inspiration and then print anything our heart desires at home should be be so bold as to invest in one of these machines is awesome. There were two booths dedicated to 3D printed toys and decorations that held our attention for longer than I expected and we actually walked away with goodies from both.
- Cityfair offered a substantial line up of live music which we opted out of on account of our early arrival to the scene to avoid any potential lines – of which there were none at noon on a Sunday. With two stages and 65 performers scheduled over the 10 day festival, there is bound to be somehting for you. See the lineup on Portland’s Rose Festival events page.
- There were a lot of sponsor booths pushing deals on tablets or time shares. If you’re in need of any of these items I am sure you will get good deals from these folks who are forced to stand outside all day and push them so by all means stop and spin their wheel or grab some swag.
- One booth with low pressure and high reward was the Capitol One booth which had cornhole and lots of cool giveaways like free coffee coupons to award your future self, collapsible water bottles we decided will be invaluable next time we’re flying but also came in handy at the fair and decent rainbow sunglasses.
Slay tip: Take your time perusing the booths and get all the freebies that fit in your pockets.
Area 2: Food and drink at Portland Cityfair
You may want to wait until after you ride the Gravitron to dine at the fair. We didn’t put a big focus on food at this one since we’re saving our crazy fair food quotas for the biggie down in Salem this summer – the Oregon State Fair. But what we did try from was fried and not recommendable, so I’ll jump into the highlights:
- Fries come in a brick, which causes them to be quite dry as was the corndog, sorry Nathans. I would steer clear of any food from a truck that screams fair because this Portland – the mecca of mobile food – so you will be happier opting for local.
- Local food we tried were the Papas831 loaded potatoes and Iron Strike smash burgers – both were great – for more recommendations check these Cityfair food recommendations from tts at Willy Week.
- If you like your carnivals with a bit of buzz, rest assured there are beer stands throughout the fair and a sassy little lounge set up by Absolut Vodka to step under cover and take a moment to chill.
Slay tip: Focus on the local food vendors and fear not – the booze will be there for you when/if you need it.
Area 3: Cityfair rides and games
The thrill of rides and games are the heart of any fair visit for us. This being a downtown fair, choice is somewhat limited but some rides stand out as must-dos and there is something for everyone no matter the age or fear factor level. We love riding the SkyScreamer (the swings that fly high in the air) and the ferris wheel for the city views. The latter being the obvious choice for those less interested in self induced anxiety. Anyone can handle the G force of the Gravitron for a minute, which is about how long this ride lasts, and of course we don’t miss a chance to ride this one.
- Opening night fireworks May 23rd – we missed sadly but was a perfect opportunity to be dazzled from one of the aforementioned rides with a view.
- Carnival games are the biggest rip off and therefore the most desirable aspect of the fairs from a 10 year old’s vantage. I would say skip these altogether but of course we don’t and we pay 10 tickets (12.50) for 4 dart throws of which we made 3 and “won” an angry looking taco. Is it worth it? I will get my money’s worth by inviting this disgruntled looking stuffie to join us at the table every Tuesday to watch us eat his friends and family so for us, yes.
- Ticket bundles are not discounted. Tickets cost $1.50 per ticket no matter how many you buy and bundles are sold in even numbers. Most rides are 7 tickets so the best way to do rides is to choose your favorites and then buy your tickets.
Slay tip: Don’t let the ticket bundles distract, just buy enough for the rides you want and blindfold your kids when passing by the games.
Final conclusion on this visit is adding Cityfair to your Portland Rose Festival itinerary is Slay!
