50 Best Performing Arts in Oregon, USA

The 2,776-seat Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, built in 1928 in an Italian rococo revival style, hosts rock concerts, choral groups, lectures, and concerts by the Oregon Symphony and others. "The Schnitz," as locals call it, is one of the venues that make up the Portland'5 Centers for the Arts umbrella organization.

Built in 1927, the stunningly restored, eminently quirky Bagdad Theater shows first-run Hollywood films on a huge screen and serves pizza, burgers, sandwiches, and McMenamins ales. The Bagdad is a local favorite.

This local film festival, among the most popular in the state, takes place in October.

The Northwest's oldest performing arts showcase features nearly three summer months of concerts by some 90 international artists, offering everything from bluegrass to pop. The highlight is a three-week period from mid-June through early July that's centered on classical concerts by the superb Britt Festival Orchestra.

A landmark movie theater that showed silent films when it opened in 1926, the not-for-profit Hollywood Theatre screens everything from obscure foreign art films to old American classics and second-run Hollywood hits, and hosts an annual Academy Awards viewing party. It also hosts a slew of film series and festivals.

The only year-round, professional symphony orchestra on the Oregon Coast performs a popular series of concerts in the 328-seat Newport Performing Arts Center fall through spring, and special events in the summer, including a popular free community concert every July 4.

Ashland's signature attraction is this festival of Shakespeare and other plays, which runs mid-April through mid-October. Book tickets and lodging well in advance.

Established in 1896, the symphony is Portland's largest classical group—and one of the largest orchestras in the country. Its season officially starts in September and ends in May, with concerts held at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, but throughout the summer the orchestra and its smaller ensembles can be seen at Waterfront Park and Washington Park for special outdoor summer performances. It also presents about 40 classical, pop, children's, and family concerts each year.

More than 50,000 people roll into town during the second full week in September for one of the oldest and most prominent rodeos in the United States. With its famous slogan of "Let 'er Buck," the Round-Up features eight days of parades, races, beauty contests, and children's rodeos, culminating in four days of rodeo events. Vendors line the length of Court Avenue and Main Street, selling beadwork and curios, while country bands twang in the background.

Housed in a handsomely restored 1891 armory, Portland Center Stage puts on around 10 contemporary and classic works on two stages in the LEED-certified green building between September and June. These are first-rate productions with exceptional onstage and behind-the-scenes talents.

The city's top performing arts complex hosts opera, ballet, rock shows, symphony performances, lectures, and Broadway musicals in its five venues: the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the Keller Auditorium, and the three-in-one Antoinette Hatfield Hall, which comprises the Brunish, Newmark, and Winningstad theaters. The majority of the region's top performing companies call these venues home, including the Portland Opera, the Oregon Symphony, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Oregon Children's Theatre, and the Portland Youth Philharmonic.

Home to the Portland Center for Performing Arts, this hall contains Dolores Winningstad, Newmark, and Brunish theaters and is across the street from the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

With a reputation for commissioning and staging new work by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwrights, this celebrated theater company performs seven to nine productions a year including regional premieres and classics. The company currently stages its productions at Portland Center Stage's Ellyn Bye Studio, while it awaits construction of a new state-of-the-art theater at 1515 S.W. Morrison Street, which is slated to open in late 2023.

The autumn season is welcomed in late September or early October with food and craft vendors, live music, and special seasonal activities for kids.

For a weekend in July, a section of Downtown Bend is taken over by food and craft stalls and a play area for kids, with live music performances in the afternoon and early evening.

Led by Emmy Award–winning choreographers, BodyVox performs energetic contemporary dance–theater works at its state-of-the-art space in the Pearl District.

It can be tough to find a room—or parking spot—during this single-day mid-June festival that's been going strong since 1964 and showcases the amazingly detailed sand constructions of both professional and amateur teams.

Some of the most sought-after soloists, chamber musicians, and recording artists from the Portland area and abroad perform here during the five-week summer concert series; performances take place at four different venues, primarily Reed College's Kaul Auditorium and the Lincoln Performance Hall at Portland State University.

An old-school, one-screen movie theater in Nob Hill, Cinema 21 shows independent and foreign films and hosts the annual Portland Queer Film Festival in October.

One of Portland's most outstanding innovative theater companies, the Imago specializes in movement-based work for both young and old.

In the last full weekend in July, wine lovers flock to McMinnville to sample fine regional vintages along with Pinot Noir from around the world.

The boutique cinema, which has a lobby restaurant with a full bar, shows 3-D blockbuster, foreign, and independent films in, true to its name, living-room-like theaters furnished with spacious seats and movable couches and tables. You can dine and drink from your seat.

First opened in 1987, the Mission Theater was the first McMenamins brew theater. It shows recent Hollywood hits, art films, and cult classics—as well as hosts live musical performances.

This 20,000-seat facility is home to the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team and the site of other sporting events and rock concerts. It's right on the MAX light rail line, just across from Downtown.

The premier seafood and wine event of the Oregon Coast takes place the last full weekend in late February. Dozens of wineries are represented at this expansive celebration, which also features myriad crafts and eateries.

This long-running company presents four shows during its fall–spring season, geared to both the toddler and teen set. Starting in 2023, performances will be staged in a new permanent space, The Judy.

Founded in 2004, this first-rate contemporary-dance company performs several shows—typically including a world premiere or two—each season at different venues around town, including its 8,500-square-foot headquarters, the Creative Center + Studio, and also Downtown's Newmark Theatre and the Reser Center in Beaverton.

Each June and into July Eugene hosts the world-class Oregon Bach Festival, with two-plus weeks of classical music performances.

Concerts, chamber music, and social events—held mainly in Eugene at the Hult Center and the University of Oregon School of Music but also in Corvallis and Florence—are part of this three-week event held every summer.