Another Weird Event near Portland: Gresham’s Delightful Teddy Bear Parade
Join us at the Gresham Teddy Bear Parade, another delightful and weird event near Portland. At the parade, you’ll find lots of teddy bears, learn about community organizations—I learned about this club for tall people!—and hear music…sometimes with a teddy bear twist.
In today’s video, I’ll share backstory on the teddy bear parade—which is now over 40 years old!—and show highlights from the 2024 teddy bear parade.
We’re joined by our Little Explorer, who was delighted that we caught this teddy bear from the Black Bear Diner float, and by our own giant teddy bear, Marvin, who got to ride in the stroller since our Little Explorer doesn’t like it.
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The teddy bear parade is in downtown Gresham, about 25 minutes’ drive east of Portland.
Check parking information online for the year you go, but in 2024 a good bet for parking was the nearby shopping center, Gresham Town Fair.
The Teddy Bear Parade is typically held at the end of September.
It dates back to 1983, when the owners of the “Toy Bear” toy shop joined with other local business leaders to organize a week of events to attract people to downtown Gresham. Given the name of the toy shop, and that 1983 was the 80th anniversary of the teddy bear, the events had a bear theme and ended with the first teddy bear parade.
It’s become an annual tradition.
It’s now run by a non-profit called the Soroptimists, which supports empowerment programs for women and girls.
If you enjoy weird fall events near Portland, consider checking out another favorite, the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta…in which participants race across a lake inside boats carved from giant pumpkins. Click the link for our video on that event: • West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta | Weird O...
For more on the history of the Gresham Teddy Bear Parade, check out the Soroptimists' website here: https://www.sigresham.org/history-hig...