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Resolve to support local journalism in 2026.

Posted inCity Guide 2025

The Mercury Presents: The Portlanderโ€™s Guide to FUN!

Turn your frowns upside down(s) with our roadmap to finding the good time you deserve.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!ย Don’t feel like stepping out? Get the Mercury delivered straight to your door.โ€”eds.] Look, we get it: with everything going on in the world, having fun, being happy, or even feeling the slightest bit content […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Be a Hero in Your City!

How to be civically engaged and care for your community in the age of Trump.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] For many, Donald Trumpโ€™s second term in office has been a dizzying descent into chaos. The unraveling of our federal government, and disregard for the Constitution is unconscionable. Itโ€™s also been a stark reminder […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

See Your City on a Bike!

Explore the often unseen Portland with these four routes that cover a variety of situations. 

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Everyone knows Portland is a great city for biking. But once you have your bike, and youโ€™re on the street getting ready to push the pedals, you may find yourself wondering: Where should I […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Things To Do And See With EBT

Arts For All makes checking out many of the city’s cultural institutions a lot less expensive!

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Did you know that as someone receiving food and/or cash assistance from the State of Oregon, you are automatically able to take advantage of theย Arts For Allโ€”a program that allows EBT cardholders (the card […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Group Therapy

Finding friends (and fun!) in Portland with group activities.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Group activities: they lead to friendship, romance, creative fulfillment, exercise, and exposure to nature. But getting involved can seem strange, alien. Thatโ€™s why theย Portland Mercury, your favorite newspaper, is here to help. Here are […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Big Love For Portlandโ€™s Small Venues

Our city’s small capacity venues rule and so do you… it’s a match made in heaven!

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Seeing artists like Doja Cat and Portugal. the Man in small capacity venues before they blow up is incredibly memorable not (only) because itโ€™s a bragging point, itโ€™s also that youโ€™ve experienced these incredible […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Keep Portland Reel Weird

Your guide to the city’s independent movie theaters.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] At the Oscars in March, Best Director Sean Baker took the stage with a warning: โ€œRight now the theater-going experience is under threat. Movie theaters, and especially independently-owned theaters, are struggling, and itโ€™s up […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Portlandโ€™s Best Tourist Destinations (for the Non-Tourist)

Discover hidden gardens, historic neighborhoods… and entertaining truck stops?

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Portland is not known for big-ticket tourist attractions. We have a few, to be sure, but the real draw of the city is its approach to lifeโ€”creative, independent, unhurried, and green.ย  So if you […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Chaos Tonight!

A tour of Portland’s funniest comedy game and talk shows.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Mentioned here many times over, Portland is a comedy town where traditional stand-up thrives. These days, alternative-format unscripted comedy shows put on by stand-ups are taking the spotlightโ€”and weโ€™re here for it. Game shows, […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Six Essential Events for Black Culture and Community in Portland

Celebrating Blackness with rodeo, music, brunch, and more!

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Contrary to popular belief, Portlandโ€™s Black community has a significant presence in the city, and the impact and influence of Black culture on the cityโ€™s food, arts, and music scenes is undeniable. These six […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Ticket to Ride

A guide to Portland’s most scenic TriMet bus trips.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] After years of depending on TriMet to get around Portland, Iโ€™ve developed a complicated relationship with the cityโ€™s transit system. One can direct many valid criticisms TriMetโ€™s wayโ€”itโ€™s plagued byย asshole fare cops, a troubled […]

Posted inCity Guide 2025

Four Kinds of Dive Bars You’ll Find in Portland

Categorizing beloved drinking institutions for fun and arguments.

[Read all of the articles in our Portland Fun Guide HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!โ€”eds.] Portland has so many dive bars, and folks feel passionately about each one. But the word “dive” can encompass many vibes. Generally, a dive possesses a lack of pretension and a promise of cheaper-end […]

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