Portland Expo Center welcomes Cirque du Soleil and other popular spring shows; encourages visitors to use transit during key busy weekends

The event schedule at the Portland Expo Center marks a busy spring as popular shows such as Cirque du Soleil's OVO, the Portland Auto Swap Meet, Portland’s Largest Garage Sale and the Collector’s West Gun and Knife Show overlap on the 52-acre campus. An estimated 100,000 visitors are expected throughout the months of April and May.

Expo officials are reminding guests that ample parking spots will remain available on most event days, despite Cirque du Soleil’s Grand Chapiteau utilizing a portion of the lower parking lot through May 20.

Spaces designated for disabled drivers will remain available on all dates.

On five key dates however, the general parking lot will not be available and satellite lots will open with complimentary shuttle service to the facility’s front door.

Shuttle lot and service dates are scheduled for April 11-14, during the 48^th Annual Portland Auto Swap Meet (www.portlandswapmeet.com) in which no on-site parking will be available, and April 21 to accommodate space needs for Portland’s Largest Garage Sale (www.portlandgsale.com) and the Collectors West Gun & Knife Show (www.collectorswest.com).  Limited parking will be available on April 21.

Shuttle lot locations and other information can be found on the Portland Expo Center’s website at http://www.expocenter.org/maps-and-directions/shuttle-advisory.

General parking spaces will be open and available on all other event dates. Expo officials also suggest that visitors plan to use public transit, which serves the venue directly by TriMet’s MAX light rail Yellow Line, because of its convenience, sustainability and access throughout the region.

“We have been planning and preparing for this busy spring event season for months and we’re ready to welcome the many thousands of guests we’ll see coming through the doors at Expo this spring,” said Matthew Rotchford, Portland Expo Center director. “It’s an exciting time for the Portland Expo Center,” he added.

Information about TriMet’s MAX Yellow Line and other train and bus routes can be found at www.trimet.org. Expo visitors are encouraged to visit www.expocenter.org frequently for event updates and traffic advisories.