Friends of Congress Square Park

Blurb Club
2021-09-02 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-08-19 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Congress Square Park, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Come hear some great book recommendations and share your own! Plus, The Pink Waffle food truck will be on-site. No obligation to share; the shy are welcome here. Rain location: Mechanics’ Hall.

SPACE Presents: Angel Bat Dawid
2021-09-01 18:00 - 20:00
SPACE Gallery presents Angel Bat Dawid! Free and open to the public.

International Overdose Awareness Day
2021-08-31 14:00 - 16:00
Presented by the Portland Department of Public Health.
Remember the people. Acknowledge the grief. End the stigma.

Intentional Listening Session
2021-08-31 12:30 - 13:15, 2021-08-24 12:30 - 13:15, 2021-08-17 12:30 - 13:15, 2021-08-10 12:30 - 13:15
Join artist, educator, and play facilitator Genevieve Victoria Casale Johnson for a 45 minute intentional listening practice in Congress Square Park. This collective exercise leads participants through a practice of observing and documenting the variety of sounds in the park using creative methods. Participants are encouraged to document their experience with words, images, textures, and materials. Please feel free to bring along any materials you like to work with.

Intentional Listening Practices are part of Sounds of Congress Square Park, an exploratory investigation of sound in public space to encourage individual and collective mindfulness that will culminate in an archive of experiences.

More about Sounds of Congress Square Park: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the public will spend this summer reintroducing themselves to public life. Stay at home orders, quarantining, closure of many businesses and indoor public spaces means outdoor public spaces are both in high demand and potentially threatening to certain groups of people. How and where do people reintroduce themselves to these spaces? Sounds of Congress Square park offers individuals an opportunity to re-engage in a public space slowly and deliberately. The cumulative results of this mindfulness practice will become an archive of experiences of being in the park.

Crafts in the Park
2021-08-31 09:30 - 11:00, 2021-08-24 09:30 - 11:00, 2021-08-17 09:30 - 11:00, 2021-08-10 09:30 - 11:00
Get out of the house, meet neighbors and chat — all while keeping your hands busy (or not!). You can knit, crochet, draw, paint, make jewelry, sew, or any craft where you can carry your tools. And yes, come even if you are not working on a project.

The event is weekly on Tuesdays at 9:30am and cancelled in inclement weather.

Attend part or all one event, all events, or anywhere in between. All are welcome here!

One Maine One Heart
2021-08-29 18:00 - 20:00
One Maine One Heart is a great antipode of community members who have come together to form a choir that reflects the true fabric of Maine’s residents: Black Trans women, Drag, Cisgender men and women, and all others have been and continue to be welcomed in celebration. We’ll also be partnering with a coalition of police chiefs to serve up a BBQ for our homeless brothers and sisters.

Caravan Artist Market
2021-08-29 12:00 - 17:00
Come by the Park to explore Caravan Artist Market, featuring a wide variety of locally made art and products!

Tender Table
2021-08-28 15:00 - 18:00
Tender Table invites all to a celebration of Black and Brown joy and community featuring local food and drinks by Dream Sweets, Onggi, Penny’s BBQ Chicken, Siblings, Riverside Farm, Yardie Ting; food-themed poetry and storytelling by April Fournier, Nyamuon “Moon” Nguany Machar, Samaa Abdurraqib, Sarah Williams, Signature MiMi; music by Viva; performance by Dance Activism; an arts corner by Love Lab Studio; a reading corner by Indigo Arts Alliance.
This event is free and open to the public of all ages. Food and merchandise will be available for purchase.
Tender Table celebrates Black and Brown community by connecting and honoring our identities, traditions, joy, resilience, and fight for collective liberation through storytelling and food.
Tender Table Food & Poetry Fair is sponsored by Friends of Congress Square Park, the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Portland Food Co-Op, and SPACE Gallery, in partnership with the Lunder Institute for American Art.

Chess in the Park!
2021-08-28 11:00 - 14:00, 2021-08-21 11:00 - 14:00, 2021-08-14 11:00 - 14:00, 2021-08-07 11:00 - 14:00
Come play chess! All equipment will be available on-site. Free and open to the public.

Women's Equality Street Fair
2021-08-28 11:00 - 13:00
Join Maine Women’s Lobby and Portland Women’s March on Saturday, August 28th from 11am-1pm for Fed Up and Fighting Back: Women’s Equality Day 2021, a social justice street fair connecting Mainers to the knowledge, skills, and resources to make the change we need in our communities. This year we are ready to fight for Paid Family and Medical Leave, accessible childcare, and so much more. But we can’t do it alone, see you there!

Music in the Square: Sea Level
2021-08-27 18:00 - 20:00
Sea Level returns to Congress Square Park! Free and open to the public.
http://sealevel.bandcamp.com

Music in the Square: Sister Steel
2021-08-21 18:00 - 20:00
Sister Steel returns to Congress Square Park! Free and open to the public.
Sister Steel is a unique, energetic steel drum band based in Portland, Maine.

Music in the Square: Beat Traffic
2021-08-20 18:00 - 20:00
SPACE Gallery presents Beat Traffic! Free and open to the public.

SPACE Presents: Disney's Robin Hood
2021-08-18 20:00 - 21:30
SPACE is happy to be presenting the 1973, mammal-forward Disney animated classic Robin Hood. You get swept away with its earthy color palate, the infectious folk songs by Roger Miller, the cuteness of the animals, and its clear eyed take on universal emotionality- love is love, sad is sad, greed is bad. There’s something undeniably comforting about its lack of pretension, deep romanticism and resounding celebration of community. Foxy and kid friendly, join us in Sherwood Forrest… or Congress Sq Park. Some people’s favorite Disney movie for sure.
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follow link below for more information!
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https://bit.ly/robinHoodCongressSq

Congress Square Market
2021-08-15 11:00 - 15:00
Shop in the Square! Explore local shops, makers, artists, and more from 11am to 3pm. Dog-friendly!

PMA Films Presents: STOP MAKING SENSE
2021-08-13 20:00 - 22:00
Join us for a free screening of The Talking Heads’ STOP MAKING SENSE!

Storytelling: Greater Portland Health
2021-08-12 18:30 - 20:00
Hear from real Mainers as they share their stories about health, happiness, and more. Presented by Greater Portland Health. Free and open to the public!

SPACE Presents: Popeye
2021-08-11 19:00 - 22:00
Film preceded by a special performance by Jimmy Dority and Friends playing the music of Harry Nilsson, Van Dyke Parks, and more.
Come to Congress Sq. Park for a special 40th Anniversary Restoration screening of Robert Altman’s one-of-a-kind big budget musical oddity. This is Robin Williams’ big screen debut. Shelley Duvall starred in Popeye after completing production of The Shining, and yes the films came out the same year as each other, in 1980. The production is famous for going wildly over-budget as the Popeye team built a town in Malta from scratch to create the set for Sweethaven- the set still stands and has become a tourist attraction. Of the film’s many strange rewards, perhaps most enduring are the songs constructed by Harry Nilsson and Van Dyke Parks. Robert Altman struggled to find funding for his work throughout the 1980’s as a result of Popeye’s mixed reception, but the film has endured and deservedly become somewhat of a cult-classic. If nothing else Popeye is an unforgettable time-stamp and convergence of talents, with elaborate set pieces, scene-chewing performances and an oddly gentle touch from one of cinema’s great directors. The Old Port wishes it was Sweethaven. Film starts at 8pm.
Popeye (free screening in Congress Sq Park) with Jimmy Dority and Friends

Patrick Keefe Reading
2021-08-10 19:00 - 20:00
Print Bookstore and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance presents Patrick Keefe! Join us to hear Patrick read from his latest book, Empire of Pain.
