Back to School Summer Jam Returns — Twice

Celebrate the end of summer twice – on Saturdays, Aug. 5 and Aug 19 – during the annual Back to School Summer Jam in Northeast Portland.
The event provides an afternoon of activities for all ages, including a free lunch, carnival booths and games, a giant slide, live entertainment, prize giveaways, a basketball tournament and a tour of a Portland Fire Bureau fire engine. All food, events and activities are free and open to the general public.
The festival's signature event, however, is a school supplies giveaway that provides a head start on the school year for neighborhood children and families. Since 2001, organizers say, the festival has given away over 3,000 bags of school supplies to area children.
This year's event will be held twice, at two different locations, and aims to give away more than 1,500 bags of school supplies.
The Back to School Summer Jam is set for noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at Alberta Park, corner of Northeast 22nd Avenue and Killingsworth Street; and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at the International Fellowship Family Church, 4401 N.E. 122nd Ave.