Beaverton's annual Celebration Parade returns Saturday, Sept. 12, the first of two cultural events anchoring the city's September calendar.

The parade starts at 10 a.m. and runs until noon along a route from SW Griffith to SW 5th to SW Menlo. This year's theme is "Beaverton Pops, A Burst of Fun!" according to the Beaverton Resource Guide. The city's parade page describes the event as a tradition dating to 1957, with more than 100 entries including marching bands, floats and civic and cultural organizations.

The Beaverton Farmers Market will also be open on parade day.

Two weeks later, the Korean Society of Oregon hosts the Chuseok Korean Thanksgiving Festival at The Round, 12600 SW Crescent St. The free, all-ages event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, and features traditional and modern Korean dance, music, games and food, according to the event's Eventbrite page.

Chuseok translates to "autumn evening." The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art traces the holiday's origins to the ancient Silla kingdom roughly two thousand years ago.

Along with Lunar New Year, it is one of Korea's most important celebrations, a harvest festival when families gather and give thanks to their ancestors.

The festival brings that tradition to downtown Beaverton. Nearly one in five of the city's roughly 97,500 residents was foreign-born as of 2022, according to Census data cited in the Beaverton Resource Guide.

Both events appear on the Beaverton Arts Commission's Sept. 9 meeting agenda, which also lists several other September dates. Michelle Tan, the city's arts program manager, is the staff liaison for the commission and can be reached at 971-462-7702 for event details.

More September events in Beaverton:

  • Thursday, Sept. 10–Saturday, Sept. 19: Welcoming Week
  • Saturday, Sept. 19: Beaverton 5K/10K/Half Marathon, 6:30 a.m.–noon, Portland Running Co., Nimbus Ave.
  • Tuesday, Sept. 22: National Night Out, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Evelyn Schiffler Memorial Park
  • Thursday, Sept. 24–Sunday, Oct. 4: Friends of the Library Book & Media Sale, Beaverton City Library