Category: Events Team

The Events Team brings fun and connection to Bayside through creative community gatherings and celebrations. Led by longtime Bayside artist-in-residence Deirdre Paul, the team’s mission is to add “more fun” to everything the neighborhood does, from block parties and community meals to candidate forums and seasonal festivals. Recent successes include the inaugural Bayside Trail Halloween Pet Costume Parade and Neighborhood Harvest Festival, featuring live music, food trucks, prizes, and activities for both humans and their four-legged friends. We are always looking for volunteers to help plan and execute events that bring neighbors together, strengthen community bonds, and showcase Bayside’s unique character and creative spirit.

Deirdre Paul, Team Lead — Rob Sylvain, Board Liaison
Contact the Events Team for more information

The Deb Van Hoewyk Bayside Community Garden

On By BNA AdminIn Events Team, Garden

On a sunny spring Sunday afternoon yesterday, neighbors gathered at 78 Chestnut Street to give the Bayside Community Garden a name worthy of the woman who helped build it.

The garden is now officially the Deb Van Hoewyk Bayside Community Garden.

City Councilor Sarah Michniewicz kicked things off by picking up a screwgun and bolting the new sign to the garden shed herself. It is now officially, permanently, on the record. Then Deb’s nieces and nephews who were present planted flowers at the entrance to the garden.

Councilor Michniewicz, BNA President Tom Blackburn, and Deb’s husband John Van Hoewyk all spoke, sharing memories of a woman who gave so much of herself to this neighborhood — as a BNA board member for over a decade, a grant writer, a program builder, and an unfailingly generous presence who had a gift for bringing people together. Deb helped create the Bayside World Market & Fair, the Black Frame Art Sale, summer lunches at Unity Village, ESOL programming at the Immigrant Welcome Center, and was instrumental in getting the community garden funded and off the ground. She was still deep in the work of building the Bayside Opportunity Center when she passed away in August 2025.

To make it official, John cut the ceremonial ribbon alongside Deb’s sisters, Patience and Priscilla — a moment that was equal parts poignant and joyful, the kind of thing Deb herself would have appreciated.

The Deb Van Hoewyk Community Garden is located at 78 Chestnut Street, and it’s open for the season. More information is available here.

Spring Cleanup Success!

On By Robert SylvainIn Citizens' Trash Brigade, Events Team

Dozens of neighbors and friends showed up yesterday to pitch in and help with the Annual BNA Spring Cleanup in collaboration with the City of Portland’s Great Portland Pickup. Thanks to Karly Meyer of the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainability and Leyla Hashi of Portland Parks Conservancy for helping put together the city-wide effort, to Eighty-8 Donuts and Coffee by Design for keeping us fueled up, and to Charlie Mitchell and staff at Bayside Bowl for hosting the afterparty. A great start to Bayside Week!

Along the way, some intrepid litter-pickers noticed some new neighbors in Bayside—the Bayside Gnome Roam got underway yesterday also. Here’s a sneak peek at some photos we’ve received already from gnome hunters:

As you can see, our friend Artie is in on the hunt too! follow him on instagram@mainely_the_child

You’re also likely to run into another beloved Bayside neighbor, the “Bayside Bunny” (okay there’s probably more than one) posing here for a gnome hunter’s camera. Be careful not to disturb the bunnies—or gnomes—and leave them where you find them for others to enjoy.

Gnome Roam Home

BAYSIDE WEEK April 25th – May 3rd

On By BNA AdminIn Events Team, Uncategorized

Bayside Week Starts This Weekend!

Saturday April 25

Bayside Spring Cleanup 10am–12pm,
Bayside Community Garden, 78 Chestnut Street
Part of the “2nd Annual Great Portland Pickup.” Coffee, water & snacks provided. Trash bags, gloves, and pickers provided.

Gnome Roam Kickoff — Show up for the cleanup and get a headstart on the Gnome Roam with instructions, tips and clues. The more you photograph, the bigger the prize — including new Bayside swag, local gift certificates, and more. You may even get to take you very own gnome home! The Gnome Roam goes all week, with a wrap party on Sunday May 3rd. (see below)

Spring Cleanup Afterparty 12pm–3pm Bayside Bowl, 58 Alder Street • Free string of bowling for every cleanup participant, courtesy of Bayside Bowl!

Consider the Source w/ S.C.O.B.Y.
8pm–11:30pm, Bayside Bowl, 58 Alder Street
Live in concert. all ages. $20 adv. $25 door

Sunday April 26

Drag Brunch 10:30am–1pm
Batson River Brewing & Distilling, 82 Hanover St.

Deb Van Hoewyk Community Garden Naming Ceremony 1pm–2pm
Bayside Community Garden, 78 Chestnut Street
Honoring longtime BNA board member and community activist Deborah Van Hoewyk.

Tea Time Afterparty 2-3pm, 
Two Fat Cats Bakery, 195 Lancaster Street • Every pie sold benefits the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition 

Rainbow Reels–Movie Watch Party 2pm–5pm
Equality Community Center, 15 Casco Street

Bach’s B Minor Mass, Portland Symphony Orchestra 2:30pm, Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street • Pre-concert conversation at 1:30pm.

Live Concert — Boyscout, The Fur, Robert Samantha 7:30pm–11:30pm
The Apohadion Theater, 107 Hanover Street

Monday April 27

Wayside Community Lunch 12pm–1pm
409 Cumberland Avenue • Presented by Wayside Food Programs. Open to the public.

Sundaes on Monday 1pm–2pm
409 Cumberland Avenue • After lunch join us for dessert!

Tuesday April 28

Bayside Opportunity Center Meet & Greet, Stay & Play 3:30pm–5pm,
Stone Street Playground, 170–174 Oxford Street
Learn about the BOC and imagine a community center in Bayside. Games, sweet treats, and freebies for kids.

Trivia Night with Sporcle 6:30pm–8:30pm
Batson River Brewing & Distilling, 82 Hanover St

Bach’s B Minor Mass, Portland Symphony Orchestra 7pm,
Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street • Pre-concert conversation at 6:00pm.

Wednesday April 29

Bayside Business Breakfast Club 8:30am Maine Clay Collaborative, 65 Hanover Street
Last Wednesday of every month. RSVP: breakfastclub@baysideportland.org

Midtown Properties Community Feedback Session 4pm–6pm
City Hall, 389 Congress Street, Room 24 • Share your ideas for four City-owned, undeveloped parcels in Bayside.

Trivia Night 7pm–9pm
Wilson County Barbecue, 82 Hanover St Suite 8
Every Wednesday 7–9pm. 75¢ wings + rotating beverage special.

Thursday April 30

Sidewalk Chalk Flash Mob 3pm–4pm
28 Portland St (under the big green Bayside sign) • Draw your dream streetscape, send a message of peace to your neighbors, or maybe play a little hopscotch! Thanks to the City of Portland Office of Sustainability for providing the chalk.

BNA Teams Appreciation Party 5pm–8pm
RSVP to info@baysideportland.org for information

Friday May 1

2026 Gallery Season Opening 5pm–8pm
82 Parris Gallery, 82 Parris Street • First Friday Art Walk

Clay Play  5pm–7pm
Maine Clay Collaborative, 65 Hanover Street
Free drop-in pottery wheel experience. No work kept — just fun!

Spring for the Kids 6pm–9pm
Boys & Girls Club, 277 Cumberland Avenue

Drag Race Viewing Party 7pm–9:30pm Batson River Brewing & Distilling, 82 Hanover St

Bearly Dead, Live in Concert 8–11:30pm, Bayside Bowl, 58 Alder Street

80’s Dance Night 8:30pm–12am
Bubba’s Sulky Lounge,92 Portland Street • Wear full 80s gear and get in FREE + chance to win $50 cash. Spectators: $5 cover.

Saturday May 2

USCF Monthly Chess Series 10am–2pm
Baxter Academy, 185 Lancaster Street
Registration 9:45am. USCF ID required.
$10 entry, $15 prize for quad winners.

Re-Urbanizing the Urban Fabric: Portland’s Franklin Street (Jane’s Walk)
9am-10am, Meet at Lincoln Park near Federal Street & Congress Street

Affordable Housing in Portland: Rethinking Expectations (Jane’s Walk)
11am-12:30pm, Meet at 72 Oak Street

The Potential Future Home of the Bayside Opportunity Center at 28 Portland Street (Jane’s Walk)
1pm-2pm, Meet at 28 Portland Street

Bayside Underwater (Jane’s Walk)
2pm-3pm, Meet at Chestnut St. and Congress St.

Vogue Ballroom 101 with Aquarius Funk
2pm–4pm, Equality Community Center,
15 Casco Street • Intro to vogue ballroom — practice and conversation about ballroom culture. By donation, no one turned away. Open to all 18+, centering QTBIPOC individuals.

Bayside Neighborhood Association Annual Meeting 5pm–7pm Equality Community Center, 15 Casco Street • Potluck, board elections, year-in-review. Bring a dish if you can!

Honey Tones in Concert 7pm–9pm,
“Last Church on the Left” at 58 Wilmot Street • Swing, blues, jazz, and folk. Suggested donation $20, all proceeds to performers. BYOB (no red wine) text 207-773-3434 for more information 

Everything Dance Party with DJ Jon
9pm–12am, Bubba’s Sulky Lounge, 92 Portland St
Today’s hits plus everything else.

Sunday May 3

Gnome Roam Wrap Party 5pm–8pm
Wilson County BBQ, 82 Hanover Street
Share photos & stories and take home prizes and “gnomentos” from Bayside Week

Note:Schedule is subject to change. For the latest updates and more information please see the Bayside Neighborhood Association website at baysideportland.org

Gnome Making Event Success!

On By Robert SylvainIn Arts & Music, Events Team, Uncategorized

Get ready for the Bayside Gnome Roam! 🧙‍♂️

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.

Bayside Week is shaping up to be something really special. Get a head start on the Gnome Roam by showing up at our kickoff cleanup event from 10am-noon on Saturday April 25th at the Bayside Community Garden. Check out everything that’s happening at www.baysideportland.org/community-calendar/ — and if you have an event to add or want to get involved, reach out to the events team.

Let’s show everyone why Bayside is the Playside!

Thank You Maine Clay Collaborative!

Get ready for the Bayside GNOME ROAM this Friday

On By Robert SylvainIn Arts & Music, Events Team

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 Week is 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!

Levitt Foundation Funds New Festival

On By Robert SylvainIn Arts & Music, Events Team, Uncategorized

Coming August 1st 2026 to the Bayside Trail:

2026 BPM Drum Festival

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 in 2025.

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

Host a Jane’s Walk for Bayside Week!

On By BNA AdminIn Events Team

The BNA Events Team is gearing up for Bayside Week from April 25 to May 2 — a weeklong celebration of Bayside pride to show that Bayside is the Playside of Portland. The week culminates on Saturday, May 2nd with the Annual Meeting and Feast, which also coincides with the annual tradition of Jane’s Walk. Last year two local Bayside history buffs offered walks centered around the Preble Street Chapel. We’re encouraging even more participation in Bayside this year. Got an idea? Let’s do it! Sign up with Portland Downtown below and let us know your ideas by emailing eventsteam@baysideportland.org

Jane’s Walk leaders needed!

Pedestrian Safety Focus Group Success

On By BNA AdminIn Events Team, Safe Streets

The Bayside Neighborhood Association convened two sessions of the Community Voices for Road Safety Pedestrian Safety Campaign, with 10 participants attending each session. This initiative, part of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety’s new pedestrian-focused safety effort in Portland, Lewiston, and Auburn, brought Portland residents directly into the creative process of shaping public safety messaging. Rather than using a traditional top-down approach, the campaign asked community members—many of whom walk daily as their primary mode of transportation—to help guide the message drivers and walkers need to hear, determine the creative look of the campaign, and identify where these messages would be most effective.

The sessions, each lasting 90 minutes, were designed to address the rising pedestrian injuries and fatalities in Portland by centering the voices of those most affected. Participants received $50 compensation for their time, and snacks and beverages were provided. Jeff Larason, Highway Safety Communications Program Director for Community Voices campaign moderated the program. The neighborhood-authored campaign that emerges from these focus groups is set to roll out in Spring 2026.

Paid Opportunity to Participate in a Pedestrian Safety Focus Group

On By BNA AdminIn Events Team, Safe Streets

Pedestrian injuries and fatalities are rising nationwide — especially in urban communities where many people walk out of necessity.  We need your input to change that, and you could get $50 for your time.

As part of their “Community Voices” approach, The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety is partnering with The Bayside Neighborhood Association to host a community discussion to learn from residents about the risks they see, the behaviors they witness, and the educational solutions they believe will work. These insights will directly inform the campaign’s content and outreach. Two focus groups are scheduled for Monday December 15th and Tuesday December 16th. Both groups will meet at 6pm in the Steve Hirshon Community Room at Unity Village, 24 Stone Street Portland. Please indicate your availability for either date below.

Participants are compensated with a $50 stipend. Applications to attend the focus group are being accepted by the BNA through December 12th. If interested please click here:  https://forms.gle/V5nNSyVMYykP2eHk9 

for more information email safestreets@baysideportland.org