A three-day Asian street food festival closed its Oregon debut Sunday, Sept. 13, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, bringing more than 100 vendors and a 15-foot inflatable panda to the downtown waterfront.

Panda Fest, a touring event that visits 25 cities in 2026, opened Friday, Sept. 11 and runs through Sunday at 98 S.W. Naito Parkway. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. General admission is $14, and children under 6 get in free. VIP tickets cost $35 and include fast-pass entry, exclusive VIP areas and a panda tote bag.

For its Portland stop, organizers designed a city-specific mascot: a panda dressed as a beaver holding a coffee cup. Every general admission ticket includes a Portland-themed panda pin and headband valued at $11.

The festival features 80 food stalls and 20 merchandise vendors offering more than 200 Asian street food dishes, according to The Oregonian. The menu spans cuisines from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, with items like Japanese grilled squid, tanghulu (candied fruit skewers), dumplings, sushi and mochi desserts.

Several Portland businesses joined the touring lineup. Portland Cider Co. created a custom Red Panda Cider for the event. King Squid is serving giant grilled squid on a stick. Bobablastic, a Portland-area boba chain with about 20 locations, also set up shop.

"I love to bring a panda topic to a foodie city," co-founder Ang Zuo told The Oregonian on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Zuo's wife, BiuBiu Xu, launched the festival in 2024 as a one-day event called Panda Day. Organizers say it drew more than 500,000 attendees across 13 events in 11 cities during its first year, The Oregonian reported. In a Sept. 8 news release, Xu called Portland "a city with a real passion for food, culture and creativity."

The weekend lineup also includes lion dances, K-pop performances, traditional art demonstrations and a panda bounce ring. Organizers expected about 10,000 attendees on Saturday alone.

The festival's rapid growth has not been seamless. Previous stops drew complaints about overcrowding and long lines.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, a fire marshal shut the event down early after citing issues with outdoor cooking operations, including unpermitted setups and exposed propane tanks in pedestrian walkways. The festival reopened the next day, and organizers offered refunds or ticket transfers.

Bobablastic staffer John Mac told The Oregonian on Saturday that the Portland stop went well. Zuo said he hopes to return next year with an even larger event.

Attendee Holly Simpkins told The Oregonian on Saturday: "Next year, it better be bigger."