Events with a French Flair
To view our online photo gallery of recently completed events, click here.
Event Schedule: Upcoming Events 2009
Events are held at the Kamm House unless otherwise noted. Address: 1425 SW 20th Ave., near the Goose Hollow max stop.
Note: while we welcome visitors to this page which is updated periodically, we strongly encourage folks to subscribe to our snappy, free email bulletin which includes more details on all current events including French film offerings around town, updates on conversation groups, and more. Sign up in the red box on home page.
Alliance Open House "Portes Ouvertes" - June 11, 2009
The Alliance invites members, students and prospective students to visit our Open House on June 11 at 6 p.m. Enjoy complimentary refreshments and meet with our teachers to discuss your language goals. Sign up for summer classes at or before the open house and enjoy a 10% discount. Guest speaker at the Open House will be our summer intern, Marine Achache, who has lived in Paris all her life. She will give a presentation on her personal references for favorite restaurants in Paris, up-and-coming quartiers to visit and also unique sites to see, that are not always in the tourism guides.
House Party with Tété and Eric on Thursday, June 25, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Alliance board member Judy Kafoury will host a private House Party featuring Tété and Eric John Kaiser playing their music in the intimate setting of the Kafoury residence in Portland's Irvington neighborhood. Tickets to this unique event, a rare opportunity, are $40. Enjoy wine and hors d'oeuvres as you chat one-on-one with these singers, and enjoy their music, live. Participants will also receive a complimentary ticket to the following night's concert at Berbati's.
La Fête de la Musique Americas Tour II with Tété and Eric John Kaiser - June 26, 2009
The French recording star Tété completes a multi-city U.S. "Fête de la musique tour" in PDX on June 26, where he'll play brand new songs from his new album, in partnership with Portland's French Troubadour, Eric John Kaiser. Click here for complete details and to understand why we get so excited, and are so lucky, to have this event in Portland for its second year! Also check out Tété and Eric online for more information on the artists' music. The concert will be Friday, June 26, 2009 at 10:00pm Berbati's Pan, 231 SW Ankeny Avenue; tickets will be just $10 at the door. Attention, Alliance members who may not want to stand the whole time: there will be some table seating. Also note that we will have a special workshop on Tété's music, at the Alliance, on June 19. Visit the classes page for details.
Top Tarte II: The Alliance Française presents Le Concours de Tartes aux Fruits II - July 8, 2009
The Alliance again partners with our good friends at the Oregon Culinary Institute to hold the 2nd Annual "Concours de Tartes aux Fruits," to learn which pastry chef in Portland makes the best fruit tart. The juried competition will be held from 5:30-7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, at the Oregon Culinary Institute, 1701 SW Jefferson Street, in Portland. Participating chefs from these restaurants and bakeries will vie for awards: Beaverton Bakery, Carafe, Castagna, Fenouil, The Heathman Restaurant, La Joconde, Nuvrei Fine Cakes and Pastries, Oregon Culinary Institute, Paley's Place, Petite Provence Bakery and Bistro, St. Honoré Boulangerie, The Original Urban Farmer. Members of the public may attend the Concours for a fee of $20, which includes a sampling of the tarts and a tasting of French dessert wines. The event will be followed by an optional multi-course seated dinner at the Oregon Culinary Institute restaurant - the school offers a student-prepared, four-course meal for $18, with a 7:00 p.m. seating that night. Reservations for both the tart competition and the OCI dinner can be made by calling 503-223-8388. Click here to view some pictures of last year's event, and click here for complete details on this year's event! Merci Alliance volunteer coordinator, Elaine Cuyler. Tartes photo credit: John Valls.
Alliance Annual Dinner at Fenouil - July 9, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
The Alliance will hold its annual dinner at Fenouil just before the Bastille Day weekend festivities. On Thursday, July 9, join other Francophiles for this private party at Fenouil, 6:00 p.m.; enjoy a multi-course French regional dinner, served family style in generous portions, and French wine from the Beaujolais region. A portion of the proceeds from the dinner event will benefit the nonprofit's cultural programs. Tickets are $55 per person for Alliance members ($60 for non-members) and covers food, gratuity and wine! Call 503.223.8388 to reserve.
Vardian Vision Retrospective Starts July 10 at NW Film Center
The NW Film Center presents Vardian Vision, a monthlong retrospective featuring the works of Agnès Varda, a major French film director; click here for the complete schedule. Varda's movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary - with a distinct experimental style. The ten-film selection, shown over 4 weeks, features some of the seminal works of Varda, an artist New Yorker critic Pauline Kael termed "A full-fledged visual filmmaker . . .[who] sustains an unsentimental yet subjective tone that is almost unique in the history of movies." The Alliance is partnering with the NW Film Center to host a complimentary reception from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on July 10, the Opening Night of this retrospective, and the eve of our city's Bastille celebration in the Pearl. Also, we are featuring a special two-part workshop specifically designed to enhance understanding and appreciation of the Vardian Vision retrospective. Click here for details and sign up by June 11 to enjoy the early bird discount.
The 7th Annual Portland Bastille Festival in the Pearl, July 11, 2009
The Portland Bastille Day Committee will present the 7th Annual Bastille Day Festival at Jamison Square Park on Saturday, July 11 from 12:00 noon to 8 p.m. The event is free, open to the public and for people of all ages. Bastille Day festivals - held in cities all around the world - celebrate the storming of the Bastille Prison on July 14, 1789, an event which is recognized as the start of the French Revolution. For complete details visit our Bastille pages!
What We've Been Up to: Recently Completed Events
- French vs. Oregon Pinot Noirs, degustation a l'aveuge at Thirst Wine Bar - May 19, 2009.
- Bal Breton, 1st Annual Event - May 9, 2009.
- PFS Annual marche en plein air - May 9, 2009.
- Sounds of Carla Bruni in the Parel - April 18, 2009.
- Basics of Burgundy with Scott Paul Wright - April 3, 2009.
- Alliance Open House - Mar. 19, 2009.
- Blazers "French Night" with Nicolas Batum - Mar. 1, 2009.
- PIFF Film Events on Feb. 12 and Feb. 15
- FETE DES ROIS at the Alliance - Jan. 18, 2009.
- Boating the Inland Waterways of France - Jan. 23, 2009. 55 attendees.
- Conseiller elu Claude Girault at Alliance, 3-4pm - Jan. 24, 2009.
- TETE Events at Alberta Street Pub, FAIS and Fenouil - Jan. 10 and Jan. 12, 2009.
- Alliance booth with Andeo International Homestays at FAIS Holiday Market, Dec. 5 and 6, 2008.
- Alliance Quarterly Open House - Dec. 4, at 6pm.
- Canadian Author Nicolas Dickner at the Alliance - Oct. 30, at 6pm.
- Fresh French Short Films at NW Film Center - October 17, at 6pm. 100 attendees at the reception, 380 at the screening.
- Alliance Quarterly Open House - Sept. 4, at 6pm; 70 attendees with guest of honor Claudine Fisher, Honorary Consul.
- Alliance section at the home game between the Portland Timbers and l'Impact de Montréal on Aug. 16.
- Special Screening of the Film, le fils de l'Epicier on Aug. 6 at Living Room Theaters, 55 attendees.
- Belgian art historian and author Andrée Parisis presented her novel, l'Amour Partagé, on Friday, August 1, at 6:30pm.
- Bastille Day Celebration in Jamison Square Park, July 12, 11-6; 6000 visitors.
- Portland's First "Concours de Tartes aux Fruits - July 8 at Oregon Culinary Institute; 50 attendees.
- Fête de la Musique USA Tour Featuring Tété, Eric John Kaiser and Scott Fisher in Concert - June 26 at Berbatis.
- CD-Signing: Up Close with French Recording Star: Tété - June 25 at Uptown Billiards.
- Alliance Quarterly Open House - June 12, at 6pm with Special Guest Raphaël McFeat.
- Annual Alliance Dinner at Fenouil - May 29 - 50 attendees.
- FACC/Alliance NetwWine Evening - May 14 at Square Deal Wine Company - 20 attendees.
- Fête du Muguet at the Alliance - May 4 at the Kamm House - 30 attendees
- Visiting author/artist Christophe Blain from Paris, French Author on USA Tour - April 30 - 25 at the Alliance, 30 at Floating World Comics.
- Laurence Raybois Seminars on Living and/or Working in France - April 25 at First Congregational Church - 40 at each seminar.
- Feb. 15, 2008 - Alliance Pre-film Reception and sponsorship, with FAIS, of film in Portland International Film Festival, attended by close to 400.
- Feb. 14, 2008 - Reception for Consul General Adjoint, at the Kamm House
- Feb. 8, 2008 - Cercle de lecture (fluent speakers' book club meeting)
- Feb. 3 & 24, 2008 - Hosted 2 meetings of the Salon du dimanche group
- January 24, 2008 - Presentation on Alliance Loire Immersion Program
- January 22, 2008 - First Monthly Conversation Group at Fenouil Restaurant (in the bar)
- January 6, 2008 - Alliance Quarterly Open House
- December 7 & 8, 2007 - Alliance Sponsors FAIS Holiday Market (LW)
- December 3, 2007 - Paris in Portland - French Immersion Dinner at Le Bouchon - sell-out/45 (LW)
- November 16, 2007 - Beaujolais Nouveau at the Heathman, co-organized with FACC PNW - 400 revelers (LW)
- October 2007 - French Flair online auction (followed by onsite auction at the Heathman)
- October 2007 - Alliance Cercle de Platine Patrons Dinner (BV/JR)
- Alliance Portes Ouvertes (Open House event) on September 6, 2007, with VIP guest Claudine Fisher, Consul Honoraire de France
- Helped promote the photo exhibition of Paris photographer François Diascorn, July 24 at the Freimann Building; 80 attendees.
- Portland Bastille Day in the Pearl, July 14, 2007; 30 exhibitors, 5,500 attendees.
- June 14, 2007 - Alliance Portes Ouvertes - Open House at 6pm
- World League Volleyball, France vs USA, University of Portland, May 26 & 27, 2007.
- Alliance participated in the PFS "En Plain Air" Market on May 12, 2007, from 10-5pm.
- French Elections Forum organized by the Alliance and hosted at the French American International School on May 2; attended by 50.
- Social Event March 27: La Bouffe at Touché Restaurant & Bar
- March 22, 2007 - Alliance Portes Ouvertes - Open House at 6pm
- Portland Art Museum NW Film Center Pre-Show Reception Feb. 18, 2007 - attended by 200-300.(KS/All)
- Beaujolais Nouveau Festival at the Heathman on November 17, co-organized with the FACC, attended by 400
- Film Reception at the NW Film Center, Andrée Stevens Room, attended by 100
- Marché de Noël hosted by Dufossé and featured Provence linens, wine and hand-crafted goods, December 9
- Alliance Portes Ouvertes (Open House events) on December 7 and September 6, 2006
- Alliance Exhibit at FAIS International Family Fair and Conference of Translators (PSU), both on September 30