"The more than 8,000 attendees at this year's sold-out Portland Book Festival enjoyed a perfect fall day in the South Park Blocks. The sun filtered through vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange, the fall foliage of the Park Blocks' elm, oak, and maple trees at peak color. It was warm enough not to wear a coat while walking from one presentation to another. As attendees sped from one event to the next Saturday, a woman sat on a bench, painting a watercolor."
"It was far from the imagery of a war-ravaged, lawless, hellscape of a city painted by the federal administration in an effort to justify the deployment of the National Guard. Portland often finds itself in the national spotlight for reasons both good and bad, from coverage of restaurants with James Beard-nominated chefs to the nightly Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020."
More than 8,000 people attended a sold-out Portland Book Festival in the South Park Blocks on a warm, sunny fall day with peak red, yellow, and orange foliage. Attendees moved between presentations without coats while a woman painted a watercolor on a bench and a street performer spun a black-and-white umbrella. The festival atmosphere contrasted sharply with federal descriptions of Portland as a "war-ravaged" and "bombed out" city. President Donald Trump announced deployment of the National Guard to protect the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Southwest Portland, citing protest-related violence. Book festival attendees expressed universal disagreement with portrayals of unparalleled urban blight, decline, and violence.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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