Spotlight: A Family Arts Festival
September 20 & 21, 11am – 3pm
Sponsored by PDX Parent
Portland is a treasure trove of incredible art.
For one weekend only, you can see it all in one place!
Music, dance, theater, and visual art will fill every corner of THE JUDY, Portland’s downtown hub for youth arts.
Most enjoyed by ages 5 and up
Pay-what-you-will starting at $10
Meet the Artists
PSU Mariachi Ensemble is made up of music majors, non-music majors, and community members. With trumpets, violins, harps, vihuelas, guitars, guitarrónes, and vocals performing traditional mariachi repertoire, the ensemble celebrates the rich tradition of music in Mexico and the Mexican diaspora in the United States.
enTaiko performance group is a youthful, high-energy experience that fosters community. Taiko drumming strengthens individuality and creativity within the interplay of a group dynamic. The group performs throughout the city of Portland, carrying on a centuries’ old musical tradition from feudal Japan.
Mo Phillips is a teaching artist and a fun-time maker based in Portland. He writes and records songs, makes oddball videos, and produces choose-your-own-adventure musicals, all of which center on joy, exploration and being silly! Mo is also a dad. That’s his favorite job—the rest is just gravy.
Catalyst: NWCT’s Youth Company is an advanced training program for performing arts and technical and design theater students ages 12 to 18. At Spotlight, they’ll be performing a selection of group and solo numbers from various Catalyst shows and summer intensives.
Jeff Sanders (aka Brick Bending) is a local Portlander whose geometric LEGO creations have been seen nearly 250 million times across online platforms. Come help him use his iconic LEGO building style to create larger-than-life community builds unlike anything you have ever seen! Come build, play, or just sit back and watch the magic unfold.
Maeve Stier is a singer accordionist based in Portland, OR.
Since returning from their Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, they have been bringing their eclectic arrangements of jazz, folk, klezmer, and opera to street corners and stages all over the Pacific Northwest.
Sarada Kala Nilayam nurtures students who aspire to become serious practitioners of the South Indian dance art forms of Bharatanatyam and Nattuvangam. Their Spotlight performance is divided into four fun sections: rhythmic demonstrations, interactive storytelling based on familiar children’s stories, traditional dance, and a special hands-on segment in which young audience members will join in by reciting rhythms and using dance hand gestures to tell stories they know and love.
Special appearances by characters from the 2025-26 Season! Get ready to meet Pete the Cat, Dorothy, the Mad Hatter and many more characters from the upcoming season! Keep an eye out for these famous stars in the lobby of The Judy—you can even get your picture taken with them!
Festival Schedule
Spotlight tickets for each day are sold individually. Performances and demonstrations start at 11am and run until 3pm across all performance spaces at The Judy: The Schnitzer Stage, The Ball Black Box, The Family Cinema, and The Lobby. Stay as long as you’d like!
Each individual performance is 30 – 45 minutes long.
Performers and timeslots are subject to change, and additional artists may be added.
Saturday, September 20
THE STAGE
11:05am & 1:05pm: enTaiko
12:05pm & 2:05pm: Catalyst
THE BLACK BOX
11:25am & 1:25pm: PSU MARIACHI
12:25pm & 2:25pm: Sarada Kala Nilayam
THE FAMILY CINEMA
11:45am-2:45pm: Brick Bending
THE LOBBY
All day: 2025-26 Season Characters
Sunday, September 21
THE STAGE
11:05am & 1:05pm: PSU MARIACHI
12:05pm & 2:05pm: Catalyst
THE BLACK BOX
11:25am & 1:25pm: Mo Phillips
12:25pm & 2:25pm: Maeve Stier
THE FAMILY CINEMA
11:45am-2:45pm: Brick Bending
THE LOBBY
All day: 2025-26 Season Characters
