EverOut is The Mercury's new website devoted to things to do in Portland and across the Pacific Northwest. It has all the same things you're used to seeing from Mercury EverOut, just in a new spot!
In addition to our guide to the best things to do at home this week (like SLAY and the Save Our Stages Fest this weekend), we've curated some recommendations for socially distanced things to do in-person this weekend, as long as you're wearing a mask and being careful. See our picks below, from fall colors and ceramics at the Japanese Garden to private movie screenings at Living Room Theaters and Cinema 21, and from Walk the Vote to an outdoor screening of a new art film set to the new Fleet Foxes album, Shore.
SEASONAL
See fall colors and ceramics at the Japanese Garden. Green summer trees are just starting to give way to oranges and reds (we made a haiku!) at the tips of their leaves, and the Flat Garden and Strolling Pond Garden are the perfect spots to witness the seasonal transformation, which you can prime yourself for by watching this extremely calming video. While you can’t sip tea at the Umami Café quite yet, their gift shop is open at limited capacity, so you can treat yourself to a nice tin of loose-leaf tea or a candle scented with jasmine, acacia, and fresh grass, which our Arts Editor's mom got her for her birthday last year and which smells like the sky. During your timed 30-minute visit, don’t forget to check out 究 (kyu), an exhibition of shuki (sake vessels) by all 38 of Japan's Living National Treasure ceramic artists, as well as pieces by the late Japanese ceramic artist Tatsuzo Shimaoka, on view through October 25. Plus, if you want your mind blown by miniature trees that have been around since Shakespeare was just a bun in the oven, pay a visit to the newly reopened Bonsai garden.
