Attendance at Portland’s major performing arts venues never fully rebounded from the pandemic, squeezing publicly owned theaters and the organizations that perform there.
About 800,000 people attended events at the Portland’5 downtown venues last year. That’s a 17% drop from their peak in 2018, when attendance approached 1 million.
The performing arts setbacks parallel other parts of Portland’s halting economic recovery, from the labor market to downtown foot traffic — a surge in activity as COVID-19 receded, then leveling off well below pre-pandemic levels…