Fall Events Fill Weekend Calendar
Fall is in the air, and it is time to start your holiday shopping. There are of plenty of shopping opportunities this weekend like the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Gaithersburg, The Art of John Lennon in Tysons Corner, the American Field Pop-Up Market in Georgetown, the Bethesda Row Arts Market and the Takoma Park Street Festival. There are plenty of other fall activities on tap as well.
Green Line trains will operate at regular weekend intervals. However, Red, Orange, Silver, Blue and Yellow line trains will operate every 24 minutes beginning at 10 p.m. Friday. On the Red Line, trains will single track between Dupont Circle and Van Ness/UDC and between Takoma and Silver Spring. Orange, Silver and Blue line trains will single track between Eastern Market and Stadium-Armory, while Yellow Line trains will single track between L’Enfant Plaza and Pentagon City and will only operate between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square.
A shopper browses artwork at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival. (Photo: Sugarloaf Crafts Festival)
Sugarloaf Crafts Festival
More than 250 top artisans will display and sell their unique creations in pottery, sculpture, glass, jewelry, fashion, home décor, furniture and home accessories, items for the garden and photography at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival. The show also features interactive demonstrations with master craftspeople and live music from Jazz Lobsters, Matt Miskie, Janet Spahr, Eirinn Abu and David Young. Children’s entertainment includes Middle Earth Studio with costume storytelling with audience participation. Food will also be available.
Oct. 16 and 17 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Oct. 18 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, 16 Chestnut St., Gaithersburg. Admission is $8 in advance or $10 at the door and is good for all three days. Children under 12 and parking are free.
The Art of John Lennon
John Lennon’s A Cat Napping (Drawing: John Lennon)
Though he’ll forever be known for his music, John Lennon, who would have turned 75 last weekend, started focusing more on his drawing around the time the Beatles broke up. At The Art of John Lennon, his art and limited edition prints of his work, managed by the Bag One Arts program, will be on display and available for purchase at this Tysons Corner exhibition.
Oct. 16 and 17 from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Oct. 18 from noon-6 p.m. at Tysons Corner Center, 1961 Chain Bridge Road, Tysons Corner. Admission is FREE!
Halloween Ride and After Party
This year’s D.C. Bike Party Halloween ride has a supervillan theme. (Photo: Bicycle Kitty)
D.C. Bike Party is celebrating Halloween early with its Halloween Ride and After Party, a supervillain-themed bike ride. Riders will meet at Dupont Circle in costume. The trek starts at 8 p.m. and Sound Bike D.C. will be blasting monster mash-up tunes during the trek. Then the party moves from the street to a warehouse where ska band The Originators D.C. will kick out the jams. Beers will be $6 each. Choose your costume wisely – the Doctor Octopus costume isn’t exactly conducive to riding a bike.
Oct. 16 starting at 7:30 p.m. at Dupont Circle followed by after party at 1325 Fifth St. NE. Admission is FREE!
American Field Pop-Up Market
The American Field Pop-Up Market in Georgetown features all merchandise made in the U.S.A. (Photo: American Field)
The American Field Pop-Up Market is setting up shop up and down the East Coast, and this weekend it lands in Georgetown. The open-air shopping destination, which features more than 50 companies, celebrates independent brands that are made in the U.S.A. At the market, you’ll find food, menswear, hat and more from such companies as Ball and Buck, Narragansett Beer, Randolph Engineering and General Knot & Co.
Oct. 17 and 18 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Georgetown Park, 3276 M St. NW. The entrance is at the corner of M and Potomac Streets. Admission is FREE.
Family Day
Illustrator and author Jerry Pinkney is featured at Saturday’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Family Day. (Photo: National Museum of African American History and Culture)
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture presents Family Day with illustrator and author Jerry Pinkney. It is a celebration of families, storytelling, music and art. At 11 a.m., Pinkney will present a music program for families in the Warner Bros. Theater followed by a noon book signing. There will also be an art making activity for all ages in the 2nd floor gallery.
Oct. 17 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Bethesda Row Arts Festival
Artists will fill the streets of Bethesda Row this weekend. (Photo: ehpien/Flickr)
The Bethesda Row Arts Festival transforms four blocks in downtown Bethesda into an outdoor art gallery features 190 juried museum quality artists showing and selling their wares. The streets of Bethesda Row transform into an outdoor art gallery. Art collectors and lovers will find one-of-a-kind quality ceramics, drawings, pastels, fiber art, wearables, glass, graphics, prints, jewelery, metalwork, mixed media 2D and 3D, oil and acrylic painting, photography, digital art, sculpture, watercolor and wood. Live music will be provided by the Rick Whitehead Duo, Seth Kibel, Colonel Josh, Todd Baker & Andrew Brown, Julie Mack and Justin Trawick. Choose food from more than 50 restaurants serving everything from ice cream to find dining as well as Sherri’s crab cakes.
Oct. 17 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Bethesda Row, 4841 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda.
Best of Brookland
The Best of Brookland takes place along the Arts Walk at the Monroe Street Market. (Photo: Bozutto)
The Best of Brookland festival pulls together a lot of things that we love about the Northeast D.C. neighborhood: A beer garden from Brookland Pint and food from Smith Public Trust, Brookland’s Finest, &Pizza, Busboys and Poets, Halsa, The Drew Drop Inn, Menomale and others. There also will be music from South Rail and the Low Counts, a mobile photo booth, face painting and balloon twisting for kids.
Oct. 17 from 1-5 p.m. at Monroe Street Market, 701 Monroe St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Take a virtual tour of D.C.’s punk scene at the MLK LIbrary. (Photo: MLK Library)
D.C. Punk Underground
Before the area round the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library was filled with chains, the neighborhood was ground zero for the D.C. punk scene. To celebrate the first anniversary of the library’s D.C. Punk Archive, Banned in D.C. photographer Cynthia Connolly will lead a virtual walking tour of the 9:30 Club when it was at 930 F St. NW, D.C. Space at Seventh and E Streets NW, the Lansburgh Center at Seventh Street between D and E Streets, the Lonestar Beefhouse on Ninth Street and Oscar’s Eye at Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW with then and now photographs augmented with vintage film clips.
Oct. 16 from 2-3:30 p.m. at the MLK Library, 901 G St. NW, Room 307. Admission is FREE, but registration is required.
Takoma Park Street Festival
The Takoma Park Street Festival will fill Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park to Carroll Street in Takoma. (Photo: Julie Wiatt)
Get started on your holiday shopping at the 34th annual Takoma Park Street Festival The festival features paintings, photographs, pottery, silk-screening, soaps, stained glass, jewelry, ceramics, children’s items and more. Activities include face painting, inflatables and a performance by children’s entertainer Mr. Gabe on the Gazebo Stage. Non-profits, green companies and variety of food trucks and food vendors will also be there. There will also be a crawl with festival attendees purchasing Takoma beer mugs good for discounted pours throughout the day: Busboys and Poets will offer $3 drafts and $2.50 lattes; Capital City Cheesecake has $3 medium lattes or iced lattes; Evolve offers $2 off drafts; Kin Da will served $3 Thai tees, Thai coffee or ginger iced tea; La Mano Coffee Bar has $2 lemonades and iced teas; Middle East Cuisine and The Olive Lounge are serving $3.75 drafts; Republic will have a $5 select beer; Roscoe’s Pizzeria will have $5 Peronis; and Takoma Station Tavern will offer a $3 draft.
Oct. 18 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. along Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park, Md. to Carroll Street NW in Takoma , D.C. Admission is FREE!
World of Montgomery Festival
The World of Mongomery Festival will celebrate the cultural heritages of China, El Salvador, Ethiopia and India. (Photo: Carly Glazier)
The seventh annual World of Montgomery Festival celebrates the cultural heritages of China, El Salvador, Ethiopia and India – the four country of Montgomery County’s Sister Cities Partnership that have the largest local immigrant populations — with music, food, dance, exhibits and arts and crafts activities. There will be chef demonstrations, a global spice market and hands-on cooking for kids to learn to make tortillas, vegetarian sambusa, rice balls and roti. Music performers include Robbie Schaefer, the Crawdaddies, Pablo Antonio y la Firma and Verny Varela. There will also be a community service project onsite and a “parade of cultures” at 1:30 p.m. with African drummer, Bolivian dancer and performers in native dress.
Oct. 18 from noon-5 p.m. at Montgomery College, 900 Hungerford Dr., Rockville. Admission is FREE!
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.
