Pumpkin Festival, Zombie Walk on Tap
Fall is in the DMV in full force with leaves turning yellows and orange, and starting to fill our yards. With only a week until Halloween, there’s plenty of holiday events from a Pumpkin Festival at Butler’s Orchards in Germantown and a Zombie Walk in Silver Spring, to a harvest festival at National Geographic to the annual High Heel Race on 17th Street NW. And of course, many bars will be celebrating with parties and crawls. There’s plenty other events on tap to fill your weekend too.
This weekend, Orange, Silver, Blue, Yellow and Green line trains will operate at regular weekend intervals, except at Greenbelt, Landover and New Carollton stations. The Greenbelt station will be closed, and buses will replace trains between Greenbelt and College Park. Travelers should allow an extra 15 minutes. At Landover and New Carrollton stations, trains will arrive and depart every 20-25 minutes between 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Red Line trains will operate every 24 minutes with additional trains running about every 12 minutes between Medical Center and NoMa-Gallaudet from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. On Sunday, Metrorail will open at 5 a.m. for the Marine Corps Marathon.
Pumpkin Festival
It’s time for Butler’s Orchard’s 34th annual Pumpkin Festival. Admission includes free hayrides, a twisted pumpkin corn maze, straw maze, a pumpkin coach ride (pictured above), pedal tractors, barnyard animals, giant slides, a corn home, a corn box, a spider web and admission to Pumpkinland along with live music. There is also a pumpkin cannon, pony rides, face painting and kids crafts for additional fees. Food for sale includes pit beet, cider, caramel apples, apple cider donuts and more.
Oct 25 and 26 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Butler’s Orchard, 222000 Davis Mill Road, Germantown, Md. Admission is $11. Children under 2 are free.
Craft 2 Wear
Craft 2 Wear is a show and sale of wearable art. Jewelry, clothing and accessories from over 50 craft artists, who have all be juried into past Smithsonian craft shows will be selling their wares.
Oct. 24 from 5:30-9 p.m., Oct. 25 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Oct. 26 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Admission is $65 for the advance chance party includes wine and a light buffet on Friday and $8 cash at the door Saturday and Sunday.
Walk to End HIV
Formerly Aids Walk Washington, the Walk to End HIV is a fundraiser for Whitman-Walker Health. This year’s event includes both a 5K walk and run, traveling the same 5 kilometer route along sections of Pennsylvania Avenue NW and around part of the National Mall along Independence Avenue SW. The walk and run begin and end at Freedom Plaza. Same-day registration and other activities, including an “uplifting program of music, speakers and warm-up exercises,” precede the walk at Freedom Plaza at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. A post-walk celebration, including performances and awards, is scheduled to begin in Freedom Plaza at 10 a.m. Entertainment includes performances by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, Shi-Queeta Lee and Drag City, and Kaution Dance Kru.
Oct. 25 with registration, speakers and warm-up start at 7. a.m., the run starts at 9:15 a.m. and the walk steps off at 9:20 a.m. Walk registration is $25. Run registration is full. Admission is FREE!
Harvest Festival
In conjunction with National Geographic’s exhibit “Food: Our Global Kitchen,” the museum will hold a daylong Harvest Festival that includes composting and pickling classes, cooking demonstrations and, of course, delicious food including samples from Sweetgreen, apple varieties from Arcadia, induldge in Nicecream Factory’s liquid nitrogen ice cream. You can make a smoothie using a bike-powered blender, help DC Central Kitchen make a garden in the bed of a pick-up truck and play food-related games.
Oct. 25 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Fall Frolic
Glen Echo Park Partnership hosts its annual Halloween-themed Fall Frolic. Visitors of all ages are invited to the park to explore the arts through hands-on crafts, Halloween activities, trick-or-treating and visiting open studios. It’s a safe and fun Halloween event with something for everyone! For the kids, there will be pumpkin decorating and face painting ($1 fee for pumpkin; $1 and $2 for face painting). All other craft activities and trick-or-treating are FREE! The Halloween celebration will conclude with a costume parade through the park at 3:30 p.m. (weather-permitting).
Oct. 25 from 1-4 p.m. at Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Md. Admission is FREE!
Silver Spring Zombie Walk
It’s the night of the walking dead as zombies invade Silver Spring during the Silver Spring Zombie Walk. The walk starts at Sligo Avenue and Georgia Avenue. After winding it way through downtown, the walk ends at the AFI Silver Theatre, which will show the 1985 classic Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead at 10:30 p.m. There will be a free Zombie Dance Party at Downtown Silver Spring at 8 p.m.
Oct. 25 starting at 9 p.m. at Sligo and Georgia Avenues. The walk and dance are free, movie admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7 for children online or at the box office.
Gladys Knight
The Empress of Soul returns to Washington on the heels of her new gospel album, Where My Heart Belongs. And even though she’s touring without the Pips, it doesn’t mean you won’t hear hits like Midnight Train to Georgia and I Heard It Through the Grapevine.
Oct 25 starting at 8 p.m. at Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. Tickets are $102.50.
Marine Corps Marathon
The Marine Corps Marathon is back this weekend taking participants on a 26.2 mile journey through Rosslyn, Georgetown, The Kennedy Center, The National Mall, West Potomac Park, Tidal Basin, Crystal City, the Pentagon, past Arlington National Cemetery to the finish line near the Marine Corps War Memorial. The Arlington Cemetery Metro Station will be closed until 8:30 a.m. Many streets will be closed also, some as early as Saturday. You can see the full list of street closures here.
Oct. 26 starting between the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery on Route 110. Wheelchair and hand cycle participants will begin at 7:40 a.m. followed by runners at 7:55 a.m. Viewing is FREE!
Fashion Yards
After a successful summer edition, Fashion Yards returns for another gathering of fashion trucks and pop-up vendors. Organizers promise more menswear, shoes and unique accessories this go-ground. Fashion trucks include Pichardo Boutique, Tin Lizzy, Urban Pearl, Strut DC, Street Boutique, The Thread Truck and Craft Commons. Pop-up vendors include Bespoke Not Broke, The Pink Armoire, Duo DC, Evo Furniture Gallery, Bull and Moose, Stubble and Stache, Hippgyps, Carnelian Boutique, Handmade Habitat, Lettie Gooch, Reddz Trading, ADMK Jewelry, Saadia Arts, Typecase Industries, Rosies and Rockers, DeNada, The Vintageista and Dawn Price Baby.
Oct. 26 from 1-5 p.m. a the Yards Park, 300 Tingey St. SE. Admission is FREE!
High Heel Race
The 28th annual 17th Street High Heel Race brings together drag queens to run in high heels on 17th street between P and S streets NW near Dupont Circle. This tradition has occurred every year since 1986.
Oct. 28 with the parade starting and 7 p.m. and the race taking place at 9 p.m. Racers should sign in at Cobalt, 1639 R St. NW, and bring high heeled shoes that are at least two inches tall. Admission and registration are FREE!
Jason Derulo
Jason Derulo is known for two things: emphatically singing his name during songs and emphatically singing about butts. But according to a recent Rolling Stone interview, the Wiggle and Talk Dirty singer isn’t going to do either for much longer. So if those are the things you love about the rising R&B star, you might want to catch him when he performs in Silver Spring on Tuesday.
Oct. 28 starting at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore, 8656 Colesville Road, Silverspring. Tickets are $43.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.