Related:
Oktoberfest Parties
Apple and Pumpkin Picking
Great Fall Cocktails
Thursday, October 1: Barkley Square Bakery, a dog bakery and boutique in Alexandria, is hosting Barktoberfest to benefit the animal-rescue organization Homeward Trails. Make a donation to get beer, hot dogs, and brats, and dogs can enjoy free homemade treats and doggie beer. German dress—think dirndls and lederhosen—is encouraged. The store will offer 50 percent off toys, leashes, collars, and more, and the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria will be on hand with dogs in need of homes. 5 to 9.
Chef Art Smith of Capitol Hill’s Art and Soul is serving a $45 three-course, beer-inspired dinner. Get things started with beer-steamed mussels and a black-pepper/buttermilk biscuit, matched with a Penn Weizen brew from Pennsylvania. Next, there’s cider-braised pork shank with black-eyed-pea stew and spicy collard greens paired with an Oktoberfest lager from Delaware.
What would happen if MGMT conceived a child with U2 in Brooklyn? Amazing Baby! Part psycho-electronic, part up-tempo vocals, and far more impressive than your infant, Amazing Baby has been featured on MTV’s Buzzworthy blog and is bringing its space-age guitar riffs to DC9 on Thursday at 9. Tickets cost $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Must be 18 or over to enter.
The Phillips Collection will educate you about art—and provide you with cheap drinks—at its Phillips After 5 event tonight. Several local arts bloggers will give talks, and jazz saxophonist Marshall Keys will perform. There’s a cash bar and food as well. Things get started at 5.
Friday, October 2: For anyone who wants to know more about dance—and get a bargain—the VelocityDC Dance Festival is for you. The festival, which starts tonight at the Sidney Harman Hall in DC’s Chinatown (there’s also a show on Saturday night), includes several performances by world-class dancers put together on one stage. Each show is $15. Get tickets here.
Free food, free refreshments, free art—must be a First Friday event at Hillyer Art Space. There’s a full-scale art installation by Nekisha Durrett, plus food and live music. A $5 donation is suggested. 6 PM.
Check out more than 30 films from Spanish-speaking countries at the AFI Theatre’s Latin American Film Festival. Get the full schedule and more information here.
Saturday, October 3: For $25, revelers at the Mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest can sample four-ounce tastes from more than 30 breweries. Each patron gets ten drink tickets—depending on your thirst, that could add up to either a bargain or a bust. Regardless, Capitol City Brewery, which is sponsoring the event, will close off a street in Shirlington Village, pitch its own beer tent, and offer a day’s worth of German music as a drinking soundtrack. Swing by from noon to 7.
Washington City Paper’s Beerspotter blogger Orr Shtuhl ditches the mug and steps behind the bar to host Spice, a cocktail party, at the Warehouse tonight. The drink menu for the event features shooters, cocktails and punch—all created by Shtuhl, and all less than $7. DJ Sean P of Fatback will emcee the party. 9 PM. Take a look at the cocktail menu here.
Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood celebrates art and culture with Art on the Avenue. The festival brings together hundreds of local artists and craftspeople looking to showcase and sell their work. Plus, there’s food provided by local restaurants and musical performances. The festival runs from 10 to 6 along Mount Vernon Avenue between Bellefonte and Hume streets.
Everyone’s favorite knickknack extravaganza is back! Head to Adams Morgan between 10 and 5 today for Crafty Bastards, one of Washington’s most popular venues for handmade arts and crafts from independent artists. Marie Reed Learning Center (18th St. and Wyoming Ave., NW). Click here for more information.
Taste of Bethesda is today from 11 to 4, with more than 50 restaurants offering food samples. There’ll also be live music and performances on four stages plus activities and giveaways for kids. Free admission; tasting tickets sold in booklets of four for $5. The event takes place along Norfolk, Fairmont, St. Elmo, Cordell, and Del Ray avenues.
Sunday, October 4: The CoolOut, a popular party on the Beacon Hotel’s rooftop that offers great DJs, great drinks, and a great crowd, is bidding farewell. Head to the final CoolOut today starting at 3.
Record buffs should head up to Comet Ping Pong today, and the reason isn’t to get a slice of the delicious pizza. It’s the site of the Washington DC Record Fair. From 10 to 4, you can browse the collections of more than 25 record dealers. Just $2 will get you access to the fair, and there’ll be DJs, food and drink specials, and more.
Head to the Mall to catch parts of the Army Ten Miler. This race brings more than 20,000 runners to Washington every year. It starts at the Pentagon at 8 and snakes around the Mall and parts of Northwest DC. For more info, visit the race’s Web site.
Wine lovers and history buffs can wind down the weekend at Mount Vernon with the estate’s popular Fall Wine Festival & Sunset Tour. The $30 admission grants access to the rarely open cellar vaults—where George Washington stored his wine—and includes samples from 17 Virginia wineries and live jazz. Picnic-ready fruit-and-cheese boxes can be purchased for an additional fee. The festival runs from 6 to 9; click here for tickets and more. (But note that this event sells out quickly!)
Sarah is the Editor-in-Chief of Washingtonian Bride & Groom, and writes about weddings, fashion, and shopping. Her work has also appeared in Refinery29, Bethesda Magazine, and Washington City Paper, among others. She is a Georgetown University graduate, lives in Columbia Heights, and you can find her on Instagram at @washbridegroom and @sarahzlot.
