
Fertile Ground Festival
New works of local theater, dance and comedy fill Portland's stages every year.
Oregon Arts Watch
Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival is a Fringe-style theater festival with a unique spin: it’s an un-juried festival that highlights exciting new work by local artists and performers. Produced by the nonprofit Portland Area Theater Alliance (PATA), this annual festival will return to PDX from April 4-19, 2025.

Credit: Owen Carey
This year, 64 performance projects are featured across 27 venues in the Portland Metro area. Offerings include site-specific theater, dance, solo performances, aerial shows, puppetry, and brand-new scripts from Portland playwrights.
Each year, there is way more to see than one person can manage — though you can try, with the purchase of an unlimited pass or passes that allow viewing of 6 or 10 shows — and stumbling into something on your own that turns out to be fabulous is part of the fun. It also offers an opportunity to experience a variety of local performance spaces, including CoHo Theatre, 21ten Theatre and the Back Door Theater (operated by Fuse Theatre Ensemble), which is presenting a lineup of exclusively LGBTQ+ creators, as well as more than 20 other locations.
If you like your performance arts like you like your produce — locally sourced and partially raw — then you’re sure to enjoy the Fertile Ground Festival’s bounty.
Hit the Stage
Explore more of Portland's vibrant performing arts scene.
Portland Theater
Portland has a well-established network of venues and theater companies and an increasingly dynamic and diverse small theater scene.
Comedy in Portland
There’s always something funny happening in Portland. From stand-up comedy to improv or even comedy classes Portland has any kind of comedy you may be looking for. Portland boasts many stages to bring you fresh, up-and-coming, and touring comedians.
Was this page helpful?