When skies do clear this month, we will be treated to excellent views of Saturn, the Leonid meteor shower, and a nice conjunction between Jupiter and Mars. 

Hood River Valley High School freshman Vivaan Sharma joined Sense of Place on Oct. 14 to show off robots and let audience members try driving them. On stage with Sarah Fox before the lecture, Sharma shared how robotics has taught him perseverance and teamwork, discussing the team’s state championship trip to an international competition.

THE DALLES — A pillar of the Gorge’s robust creative scene, Mark Nilsson has painted many canvases throughout his storied, 50-year career. Vibrant, mostly acrylic works — decades-old and brand new — scattered the walls of The Dalles Art Center (TDAC) on Oct. 15, where the internationally collected artist reflected on his remarkable evolution and ongoing exhibition “50 Years of Art.”

HOOD RIVER — Sense of Place begins its 17th season Oct. 14 with “Homegrown Drone: How a Rural Place Launched a Tech Revolution” at Columbia Center for the Arts, 215 Cascade Ave.

Directed by former The Dalles High School theater teacher Lowry Browning, a stage adaptation of the classic 1953 novel premiered at Columbia Center for the Arts (CCA) on Oct. 9 and will run for three weekends.  

STEVENSON — The Stevenson Mushroom Festival returns Saturday, Oct. 17, inviting mushroom lovers, curious explorers and families to spend a fall day discovering Stevenson through a town-wide celebration of fungi, food, education and local businesses.

THE DALLES — Garry Estep, a retired physicist and concert pianist, opened City Council’s meeting on Sept. 28 to request formal recognition for the Dalles Performing Arts Society (DPAS), a recently formed community organization hoping to host free community concerts next year.

HOOD RIVER — Columbia Center for the Arts (CCA) will stage Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” directed by Lowry Browning, from October 9 through October 25, 2026, in the CCA Theater at 215 Cascade Avenue in downtown Hood River. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

WHITE SALMON — The annual White Salmon Valley Reads, the local community reads program series, centers on the book “Crisis on Mount Hood: Stories from a Hundred Years of Mountain Rescue,” by Hood River author and physician Christopher Van Tilburg.

BINGEN — What if a man born in the Upper Paleolithic survived to the present — through every plague, war, discovery, and disaster? Big Britches Productions’ (BBP) latest play, “The Man From Earth,” proposes this question and more, examining time, mortality, and religion in a tight but challenging 90 minutes. 

BINGEN — Big Britches Productions, a 501(c)(3) community theater in Bingen, Washington, will present Jerome Bixby’s “The Man From Earth,” adapted by Richard Schenkman and directed by Joe Garoutte, running Oct. 2-17 at The Bingen Theater.

THE DALLES — Singer-songwriter Mac Cornish will perform at Wine on Second downtown on Oct. 1, touring in support of her second studio album “Wayfaring Woman,” which dropped on Sept. 25.

STEVENSON — A group of women chat amongst themselves, circling a tapestry of lace designs. They each tend to their own designated triangles, weaving them into the collection one at a time.

A sold-out Twerk 101 class, lead by Acacia René, learns the basics at NK Studios in Bingen on Sept. 15. She began the class by speaking of the history of the twerk, which stems from traditional African dances for fertility. “Practice makes juicy,” René told the crowd.       

THE DALLES — The Dalles Art Center (TDAC) is proud to present “Mark Nilsson: 50 Years of Art,” a special exhibition celebrating the remarkable artistic journey of one of the Columbia Gorge’s most recognizable painters. Combining a retrospective of works spanning five decades with an exciting collection of new paintings, the exhibition offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience the evolution of an artist whose vibrant use of color and unmistakable style have become synonymous with the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

Washington Gorge Action Programs, a non-profit community action agency, organized the event in collaboration with several community partners, vendors, and live performers.     

THE GORGE — The Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association (CGOA) opens its 2026-2027 season with an expansive lineup across four distinct ensembles: orchestral, jazz, choral, and musical theater. This fall, audiences can look forward to high-energy big band showcases and a new chapter for the Gorge Sinfonietta.

HOOD RIVER — Two new art exhibitions, each confronting the history, humanity, and meaning of place, debuted at Columbia Center for the Arts (CCA) on Sept. 4 and will run through the end of October.