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The St. Johns Bizarre is celebrating the bold North Portland Neighborhood with its 52nd annual event.

(Big Friend Co./St. Johns Bizarre)

Each Portland neighborhood is its own little microcosm, but St. Johns is about as microcosmic as they get.

The North Portland neighborhood has a reputation for mirroring the bold, independent side of the city. Just ask its flourishing hip-hop scene or the breathtaking St. Johns bridge. The people there know how to throw a bold celebration too. Case in point: the St. Johns Bizarre.

Celebrating the 8th year of the event on Saturday, May 10, organizers of the Bizarre are pulling out all the stops, pouring beer from North Portland's Occidental Brewing Company and bringing together an impressive lineup of live music – including Portland soul legend Ural Thomas and St. Johns rapper Illmaculate.

New to the Bizarre this year is a beard and mustache competition, courtesy of Portland Beard Company. Dubbed "A Celebration of Beards," the competition will judge contestants in seven different categories, including freestyle, kids and whiskerina categories.

The beards, beer and bands will join the traditional St. Johns Parade, now in its 52nd year, as well as 70 juried craft vendors, who will tote everything from fine art to coozies.

The festival is run by volunteers and the local businesses of St. Johns, relying on sponsors and community groups to help fund the Bizarre. It's a neighborhood effort that celebrates itself, and therefore the Portland spirit as a whole, bellowing down the Willamette to Portland's innermost neighborhoods that St. Johns is alive, and it's thriving.

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ST. JOHNS BIZARRE

When:

May 10, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Where:

N. Lombard St. and N. Philadelphia Ave. (

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Admission:

Free

--Jamie Hale