Portland shipping yard to host live music events

Posted June 2021

By Graciela Del Rosario

Staff Reporter

The pandemic produced an endless number of problems for businesses and events alike this past year, but through late May up to September, Zidell Yards is proud to introduce Portland to its premier and Corona-friendly venue—The Lot .

Located in a former industrial area in the South Waterfront Neighborhood just south of the Ross Island Bridge, the seven acre lot advertises itself as the ideal venue for outdoor gatherings during the pandemic, with the idea that it can turn events that converted online into a lead-up of smaller in-person gatherings.

Not only can The Lot provide for big music festivals, like Portland’s upcoming Waterfront Blues Festival, it can also host movie nights and concerts nearly everyday. For example, from 6-10 p.m., The Lot will feature a concert from soul singer Blossom on June 10, and a viewing of Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians on June 11, with an opening set from indie-pop duo Small Million.

The Lot provides an abundance of services for events and functions, whether they were provided from additional businesses or The Lot’s location advantages. Built into the outside venue is a giant LED screen and stage, accompanied by a custom sound system that accommodates its unique seating arrangement. Audience capacity is 300, with spots split into groups of two, four and six, each six feet apart. Each seat costs $50. In addition to the quarantine-safe seating, The Lot provides food and beverages from local Portland vendors and regularly sanitized bathrooms. Eateries like KOi Fusion and Garbonzos have already lent their services to the venue, whilst Deadstock Coffee, Miss Hannah’s Gourmet Popcorn, and Ruby Jewel have their items available at The Lot’s ‘Lot Shop’.

The venue’s walkways offer easy acces to public transportation and crowd-control, limiting the number of collisions separate groups have with one another. Its overall functionality and COVID-safe restrictions give way for the public, as most seats scheduled for the next week have already been 70% filled.

“[Consider] all of the things that we’ve lost this last year, where we had to switch to something virtual, reintroducing on a small, safe scale,” stated Fuller Events co-owner and Blues Festival coordinator Christina Fuller. “[This is] something in person where you can really feel the magic of what happens when you’re around other people.”

The next anticipated event at The Lot is the Waterfront Blues Festival, July 2-5. Usually an event that expects tens of thousands each day, this year the Blues Festival will only allow a few hundred to comply with COVID regulations, each day offering two, separate ticketed shows. Their current lineup includes Samantha Fish, Marc Broussard, MarchFourth, Ghost-Note, and more. The festival will present their Blues Fest Cares Concert with Curtis Salgado, where the net proceeds will be forwarded to Meals on Wheels People, The Jeremy Wilson Foundation, and their nonprofit partners. With The Lot’s unique seating, Blues Festival asks attendees to stay in their area.

"[And it will] become your festival home where you are free to dance, sip on a cold beverage, and enjoy the music.”