In Sixth Year, Sneaker Week Portland has Sights on Future, Growth — Sport Oregon Voices

Sport Oregon Voices: Now with new Sport Oregon partnership, Sneaker Week marks return to in-person programming with neXposure theme, Aug. 4-10

There’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to this year’s Sneaker Week Portland. Coming up Aug. 4-10, the popular event marks its return to full, in-person programming and will celebrate this year with a “neXposure” theme, highlighting a series of experiences focused on shaping the future of the sneaker industry.

Sneaker Week is a week-long festival dedicated to connecting the global sneaker community to Portland’s thriving footwear industry. The event is designed to bridge the gap between sneaker enthusiasts and industry professionals through a series of celebratory and educational experiences hosted throughout Portland.

Six year’s into the annual event, Sneaker Week has become a popular destination that attracts locals and visitors from outside the area to celebrate all things sneakers and the surrounding culture. But organizers are focused on continuing to grow Sneaker Week even further and showcasing it as a can’t-miss event, this year entering into a strategic partnering with Sport Oregon to expand the appeal and reach of Sneaker Week.

“We are very thankful for the team at Sport Oregon to help get us to the next level,” said Megan Davis, co-founder of Sneaker Week Portland. “To have the support or an organization like Sport Oregon, which is so established in the city and within the state of Oregon, is exciting and appreciated.”

As with previous Sneaker Weeks, the 2022 event focuses on transforming the landscape of sneaker culture by creating opportunities for aspiring professionals, athletes and enthusiasts to showcase their talents to the global sneaker community and Portland’s thriving footwear industry. Featuring seven headlining events, Sneaker Week is a unique combination of co-branded and community experiences.

Considering all these elements, the event was a natural fit for Sport Oregon to get involved with. Ultimately, the partnership joins two like-minded organizations that are focused on community impact and driving sports tourism to the state. Sneaker Week has proven to be much more than a collection of sneaker enthusiasts, as the event has grown to include an expanded network of civic organizations, non-profits and various community groups that benefit from partnering on the event.  

“By partnering with Sneaker Week, we can get civic, business and political leadership, and citizens to recognize how sport and events like this drive economic vitality, connectivity, entrepreneurship, creativity and positive outcomes in every community,” said Maika Janat-Vennemann, senior director and general manager of Sport Oregon. “We really see our role as elevating this great, existing event to the business community, to the sports tourism community, while also increasing its national visibility.”

Travel Portland has also played a pivotal role in helping to elevate Sneaker Week on the hospitality and tourism side. Considering that Sneaker Week takes place at locations all over Portland, organizers see it as a great opportunity to showcase the area’s communities, culture and people in addition to Portland’s world-class footwear industry that brings everyone together each summer. While Sneaker Week has always stayed true to being an authentic opportunity for the city of Portland by bridging the gap between the industry and community, it is also a great opportunity to attract people from outside of the area.   

As with past Sneaker Weeks, this year’s schedule includes a different theme for each day, with each featuring a prime event, a co-branded event and a community event. The headline themes this year include art, design, music, sports, media, tech and science.

“Each of those themes relate back to key things that are very relevant within the industry, and sneaker culture as well,” said Davis. “There’s so many different cultural movements, areas, industries and disciplines that tie into sneaker culture and drive the industry.”

The week begins Thursday, Aug. 4, with a kickoff party at the Arium at Jupiter Next, a supporter of Sneaker Week since 2017. On Friday, Design Day takes enthusiasts across the river to the Bodecker Foundation for a “Design Combine,” which puts top-tier designers through a number of design-related skills tests. Music Day hits the Moda Center on Saturday for “Albina’s Best,” an all-day festival supported by Friends of Noise and the Moda Center that celebrates the art, culture and music of Portland’s Historic Albina District.

Tech Tuesday, sponsored by Wacom, brings the founders of Gravity Sketch back to Sneaker Week for a discussion around virtual reality, virtual design, the future of digital art, NFTs, the Metaverse and more. Sneaker Week wraps up on Wednesday, Aug. 10, with Science and Sustainability Day, featuring a host of engineers, inventors and scientists. The event is supported by Athletic and Outdoor Professionals and will include a Sustainability Soiree party at OMSI.

In addition to the events, Sneaker Week places an emphasis on exposing job opportunities that exist within the footwear industry. As Davis says, a lot of those positions are essentially a hidden secret that “unless you know, you don’t know” exist. There’s designers, engineers, people focused on materials, people focused on colors, digital renderings, augmented reality – the list goes on and on. According to Davis, getting that information to young, emerging designers and people interested in sneakers can be difficult at times.

“That’s a big channel that Sneaker Week fills in – pulling back the curtain on all the different opportunities in the footwear industry, and how people can get into the industry, all while celebrating the culture at the same time,” she said.

Sneaker Week’s theme this year, neXposure, highlights a series of experiences focused on shaping the future, providing who’s up next with the right exposure of Portland’s global influence. This will provide a chance to peek behind the scenes of sneakerheads’ favorite athletic and outdoor brands and make meaningful connections with other designers and enthusiasts while getting one step closer to accomplishing their goals. Sneaker Week also gives lesser-known brands and designers a platform to launch their wares and gain exposure for their skills and creativity. 

New this year, Sneaker Week has introduced a membership model also. It is free to join and offers members exclusive information and drops related to Sneaker Week.

While attendees of past Sneaker Weeks will get to experience many of their familiar favorites related to the event, it’s clear that this year will be even bigger and better, with a bright future and further growth in store for future years.

If You’re Going
If you’re interested in attending Sneaker Week Portland 2022, one-day passes and three-day passes are currently available for purchase. One-day passes include an Art Day Pass, Design Day Pass, Music Day Pass, Media Day Pass, Tech Day Pass and Science Day Pass.

For More Information
To stay up to date on event specifics and for more information on all the events and schedules related to Sneaker Week, be sure to check the event website and the Sneaker Week social media channels, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.