What a night! During April’s First Friday, dozens of neighbors and friends packed Maine Clay Collaborative for our Gnome Roam prep event — and the results were magical. Scores of handmade clay gnomes are now drying, ready to be fired up and let loose on the streets of Bayside.
So what happens next? The fine folks at Maine Clay will fire all those little characters in the kiln. Then we’ll fan out across the neighborhood and tuck them into nooks, perch them on stoops, and hide them in plain sight — ready for neighbors to discover during Bayside Week, April 25th through May 2nd. Find one, photograph it, share it. It’s part art project, part hide-and-seek, and totally Bayside.
from our friends at the City of Portland Office of Sustainability: Portland’s upcoming Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 18th from 11am-2pm at Deering Oaks Park by the Bandstand, just steps from the opening day of the Portland Farmers’ Market.
Drop by Maine Clay Collaborative during this coming First Friday, April 3rd from 5 to 7pm to help us get ready for the Bayside Gnome Roam during Bayside Week (4/25-5/2)
What’s a Gnome Roam? All through Bayside Week, handmade clay figurines will be tucked into corners, perched on stoops, and lurking in plain sight all across the neighborhood. You make them and the folks at Maine Clay will bake them. Next we’ll hide them so neighbors can find them, photograph them, share them. It’s part art project, part hide-and-seek, and totally Bayside.
Bayside Weekis coming this spring — April 25th through May 2nd — and the Gnome Roam is just part of what’s happening. Find out more at www.baysideportland.org or contact the events team to add an event or join in the fun. Help us celebrate the neighborhood you love and show why Bayside is the Playside!
The BNA Citizens’ Trash Brigade is teaming up with The City of Portland Office of Sustainability, Portland Parks, Recreation and Facilities, and The Portland Parks Conservancy again this year for the Annual Spring Cleanup. This event will also clear the way to kickoff Bayside Week, with lots of surprises, so stay tuned and keep in touch!
Last Call for Submissions:
Deadline for the Spring 2026 Baysider is April 1st. Get your content in so we can get it out! baysider@baysideportland.org
The Bayside Neighborhood Association presents the first inaugural BPM Drum Festival on the Bayside Trail this summer thanks for a generous grant from the Levitt Family Foundation which leverages the power of free, live music to strengthen the social fabric of communities, creating places people love while amplifying local pride, activating underused public spaces and fostering more healthy, equitable, and thriving communities one city, and one concert, at a time. A perfect fit for Bayside!
Drummers from the Penobscot nation graced our beloved Bayside Trail at the tree-hugging event
We believe that the BPM Drum Festival is the first EVER to synchronize the beats of several groups performing simultaneously. The impetus of the idea, however, came from another unique local festival called Vigorous Tenderness which features avant-garde chamber music in plein air. Both festivals invite the audience to move freely along a route from one sonic space to another, sometimes blending performers’ work, as well as the surrounding sonic environment. The idea for using drums came naturally from the plethora of ethnic drum groups in our culturally diverse neighborhood, as well as a wildly successful tree-hugging event we staged on the Bayside Trail featuring a local Penobscot tribal drum group.
West African drum master Namory Keita and friends at the Bayside Block Party in 2025
Bayside is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the State of Maine. Long neglected and red-lined by cynical city policies, it is now the subject of intense land speculation. Meanwhile the vacant lots and unkept promises can make it hard for residents and visitors to enjoy our few greenspaces. The Bayside Trail was designed to connect the neighborhood and create positive change, and the Bayside Neighborhood Association is committed to making that promise a reality. The BPM Drum Festival is our chance to do just that, and celebrate our shared hope for the future.
working logo — looking for an artist to help make a better one— is that you?
This will be the first inaugural year for the BPM Drum Fest. Many block parties, fairs and community events over the last 25 years have brought us to this moment. We also have strong partners at the City Office of Sustainability, Portland Downtown, Creative Portland and other community organizations who have helped us in the past. We’ve reached out to several drum groups who are excited to participate, including the Keepers of the Penobscot Drum, Taiko Maine, Namory Keita, and others. We’re looking for volunteers, fiscal sponsors, and other collaborative partners to help make this dream a reality. Can you help? Contact eventsteam@baysideportland.org
NBT Bank Opens a Branch in Bayside — and Invests in the Neighborhood.
On March 10th, NBT welcomed neighbors and community members to their new location at 191 Marginal Way for a ribbon cutting and branch tour, before continuing the celebration at Rising Tide Brewery. It was a warm, well-attended afternoon — and a nice way to mark the occasion.
We want to say a genuine thank you to NBT Bank for their $2,500 donation to the Bayside Neighborhood Association, made in conjunction with the opening of their new Bayside branch this month.
NBT’s decision to expand to Bayside is something we don’t take for granted. It reflects a belief in this neighborhood — in its residents, its businesses, and its future. And their contribution to the BNA shows that their interest in Bayside goes beyond opening a branch. They want to be part of the community.
That matters to us. The BNA exists to support and strengthen Bayside, and having partners who share that commitment makes that work more possible.
We’re glad NBT is here, and we look forward to what we can do together.
This fall, the Bayside Community Garden welcomed a group of Baxter Academy students for a hands-on volunteer workday focused on replacing aging garden bed sideboards. Working alongside garden volunteers and members of the Bayside Neighborhood Association, the students helped improve the garden’s infrastructure while learning about community care, collaboration, and stewardship of shared green spaces.
This project was made possible by a micro-grant from the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainability through its Sustainable Neighborhoods Mini-Grant program, with support from Sustainability Associate Karly Meyer. Funding from this program helped cover materials for the garden bed repairs, demonstrating how small, targeted investments can create lasting benefits for neighborhoods and the people who care for them.
Thanks to John Van Hoewyk for stepping up to the lead role in the BNA’s Safe Streets Team. John is a longtime Bayside resident and supporter of the Bayside Neighborhood Association.
John will be facilitating an exploratory meeting along with Jennifer Rogers of Midtown Community Policing and other neighborhood leaders to reconvene the team next week. Please contact safestreets@baysideportland.org if you’d like to join us. Details below.
Wednesday, January 14th, 1pm
in the Steve Hirshon Community Room at Unity Village, 24 Stone Street Portland
Everyone is welcome to attend and encouraged to speak their mind. We want to hear your struggles, your ideas, and your hopes for the future of Bayside. For more information reach out to safestreets@baysideportland.org
Here’s a news spot about the formation of the team last year:
Here’s a report put together for the original safe streets team by Deborah Van Hoewyk:
The Harvard Kennedy School of Government is calling all Baysiders to participate in a forum to discuss the impacts of climate change and attendant severe weather events in our community. We want to hear from you, and hope you’ll take time to gather with your neighbors to share our thoughts, concerns, and ideas on how to move forward together.
Please share and post this flyer widely. Here are translated flyers for speakers of other languages:
“Join us for an interactive, in-person community engagement session focused on stormwater, flooding, and climate impacts in Bayside. Over about 90 minutes, residents will work together around a large neighborhood map to identify valued community features, share past experiences with flooding using simple color markers and optional notes, and highlight what kinds of resources or support they have used, or might need, in future events. It’s an opportunity for residents to share their own experiences and contribute to supporting the future of Bayside.”
