pedal-powered music? Come out to
Sunday Parkways this weekend.
(Photo © J. Maus)
There’s a lot of buzz around town for the City of Portland’s third Sunday Parkways event this weekend. PBOT and scores of volunteers will create a nine-mile, people-powered festival through Southeast Portland that is sure to draw thousands to the streets. Adding to the fun this Sunday is a performance by the Ginger Ninjas, a bike-powered band led by Xtracycle co-founder Kipchoge Spencer.
The two-loop Sunday Parkways route will go through Buckman, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Richmond, and Sunnyside neibghborhoods. One of the loops is a relatively flat, and the other, more challenging one tackles Portland’s famous urban volcano, Mt. Tabor.
“Our mission is to weave strangely beautiful music with a subversively simple, out-of-bounds lifestyle, leaving audiences looking for a towel while wondering where the hell we’re going and whether they can come too.”
— Kipchoge Spencer, The Ginger Ninjas
Given Southeast Portland’s well-known love for street culture, carfree living, and a two-wheeled way of life, this Sunday Parkways could break records for attendance. It’s also the last of three such events this year, so many folks who have not been able to make the other two, might be showing up in Southeast to join the fun.
Adding to the awesomeness of the event on Sunday will be the music and vibes of the Ginger Ninjas and other human-powered bands. They’re rolling on their Pleasant Revolution Bicycle Music Festival Tour. The mission of the tour is to:
“promote sustainable culture in general and bicycle culture in particular, by physically engaging and immersing communities in the magic of bike culture, and cultivating and nurturing networks of local sustainable musicians, through our staging of free, community participatory, bicycle-based music events.”
As for the Ginger Ninjas, Mr. Spencer says:
“Our mission is to weave strangely beautiful music with a subversively simple, out-of-bounds lifestyle, leaving audiences looking for a towel while wondering where the hell we’re going and whether they can come too.”
Watch this short film of the Ginger Ninjas epic, 100% pedal-powered music tour (and yes, they pedal to create the power for their amps, etc…) to Mexico and I guarantee you will be inspired:
Great music and nine miles of carfree streets, mixed in with what an expected outpouring of neighborhood barbeques, lemonade stands, and more… Sunday Parkways Southeast is not to be missed.
The event runs from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. More information, including a list of activities and a map of the route can be found on PBOT’s website.
— For more on Sunday Parkways, browse all of our previous coverage.
Very much looking forward to this.