Skidmore Saturday Market

I was able to go to the Saturday Market right as it was closing down. I assumed I wouldn’t be able to buy anything since the store owners are busy at this time but my friend and I were able to score some nice souvenirs! I bought a tapestry from a Tibetan store, and my friend bought a dream catcher bracelet from a Native American booth. It was all so unique and beautiful, and more importantly, tax-​free!!! I would love to go to back to this market when I am ever in Portland again and explore it even more!

Wandered in here after we left the Portland Saturday market and really could just skip it. Looks like any other generic outdoor market with unhealthy uninteresting food and mass produced t shirts and other unnecessary items. Really was strange to feel the drastic change in atmosphere and quality. No need to go here cept to walk thru to get back to hotel.

This is a review for both the Skidmore & Portland Saturday Markets (even though we visited on a Sunday). Side-​by-​side, it’s not obvious to the visitor where one fair ends and the other begins, so let’s say the complement one another.
There’s a fun variety of unusual market vendors, along with the expected ones (sweets, women’s clothing, Indian imports, etc.). It’s worth going just for the unexpected ones, and savoring the canonical ones along the way.
Prices went from very reasonable to just-​for-​desperate-​tourist crazy, and interesting items included:
* 5−0-tree (a pun on the Portland area code, 503) shirts
* things made from recycled 35 mm film stock
* belts made from recycled bicycle tires
* beautiful hand-​drawn playing cards with secrets of many cities
For a city of food trailers, with an eclectic mix found only a few blocks away, the culinary offerings at the fair seemed almost mundane, save the corn on the cob with parmesan & spices.
Lots of choices for everyone, very nice vibe, would happily visit again.

Great food here!
Was a little disappointed by the shopping, but i guess nothing was really my style.
Thats ok. We had a great time walking around, browsing and people watching.
It was a great day!

I loved it. It’s quite different from the weekend markets we have here in Southern California. Many of the same elements, but with more delicious food and more handmade crafts. Not any fresh fruit and vegetables like we have down here, but I loved strolling around and looking at all the artisan THINGS. I love THINGS.
Try the empanadas. They are fabulous!

I was pretty excited to check out a local Farmer’s Market in Portland, so after looking it up on Unilocal we went down there.
Only to find that they were closed from January 1^st through March! Maybe next time, Portland.

The Portland Saturday market is a classic piece of PDX. You can find pretty much any good you could possibly want, with the exception of food. A produce section would be a great addition to the market, but considering it’s geography, the concept of year round produce doesnt quite work. So, Carry on Skidmore, with your flint lighters, wool caps and art pieces galore, Carry On.

So as a tourist I confused this with the Portland Saturday market. The experience isn’t horrible. The food selection is few and far between. The crafts are overpriced. But it was a beautiful day with many lovely things to look at. A great place to visit!

Wow, what a diamond of an event in Portland. It’s great to see a local market bringing the community together. There is certainly your imported junk, but also a presence by a lot of local artists and craft makers. It’s a perfect way to spend a beautiful day experiencing the local flare and supporting local business.

I recently spent about five days in Portland as a precursor to a soon to be move to the area and during my time there, I wanted to experience what the town was really about. To this end, I was told I had to visit the Saturday Market, and so I ended up here on the weekend of my stay.
Like others have pointed out, there are actually two different markets that occur on the weekends during the summer in Portland, and yes, this one is the black sheep of the two. Although you will find some decent food here, the majority of the booths are simply people trying to sell you junk they bought in bulk from some place in Asia by passing it off as homemade craft.
If you are going to visit the Portland Saturday Market, the better of the two, you might as well walk through the Skidmore Saturday Market as well since they are literally across the tracks from one another. However, I would not make a trip just to visit the Skidmore side. It is simply not worth it.

The Skidmore Saturday/​Sunday Market seems to be the red headed step child to the flashier Portland counterpart on the other side of the fountain. Actually, I’m not too sure which Market the in-​between Ankeny Arcade belongs as there’s a clear cultural transition as you move towards the water.
Just as they say that it’s impossible to under dress in Portland, maybe it’s also difficult to over grunge here. It’s all good, especially regarding the variety of people watching and the whole egalitarian hustle and bustle. And just because the Portland Saturday Market uses jury selection to pick it’s vendors, doesn’t mean that there aren’t treasures to be found among the «unwashed» masses over here.

There’s an easy way to describe the differences between the Portland and Skidmore Saturday Markets. The Portland market has a jury-​based approval system, the Skidmore market has a money-​based system. Basically, if you are rejected from the Portland market, just cough up some extra bucks and you can set up your tent over at Skidmore.
The good news about this side of the tracks is, it makes the stuff over in the real Saturday Market a lot more appealing. Skidmore is the sour that makes the Portland market that much sweeter.

Consider me a purist, but I’ve always preferred the Portland Saturday Market to its seedier sister across the tracks. For years these two markets have almost seamlessly blended together to the point that most visitors probably don’t realize they are two different things.
This year PSM moved to their new space in Waterfront Park, so they no longer connect under the Burnside Bridge. However, there are still PSM stalls on the other side of Naito Parkway towards the Skidmore Fountain so most people still wander from one to the other.
You’ll notice differences in the type of vendors and food booths. There are going to be more hemp based products here. The Skidmore Saturday Market bans dogs, while PSM has an insane amount of people with pooches. I used to avoid this market, but as PSM has gone slightly more upscale, I tend to enjoy my visits to Skidmore a bit more. It is a different kind of people watching and they tend to have better live music.