October Culture Guide: 58 Things to Do in the DC Area

Happy October, DC!

The arrival of fall brings glowing leaves and a wide range of pumpkin, Halloween, and music events to town. Wear your best spooky outfit to a neighborhood fall fest or a haunted house. Or, attend a theater premiere and film festival this month.

10 Best Things to Do in DC

by Pat Padua

Theater

Romeo and Juliet

OCT 1 – NOV 10

The Folger launches its first season in its newly renovated space with the timeless tragedy of love and politics that, four centuries later, still speaks to troubled contemporary times. Director Raymond Caldwell promises to bring the oft-adapted romance into the 21st century with both reverence and relevance.

Books

Malcolm Gladwell

October 3

When Gladwell wrote about topics like crime and epidemics in 2000’s The Tipping Point, his theories were drawn on a very different global canvas. Now his sequel, Revenge of the Tipping Point, looks at how our perceptions of, say, bank robbers and Covid are viewed through a veneer of social engineering that’s ever more prevalent and insidious.

Museums

“The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography”

October 6–April 5

The Me Decade was a period that transformed the very look of the United States. This exhibit examines that volatile period with work from more than 80 photographers–including Lewis Baltz, Susan Hiller, and Helen Levitt (above)–who explored topics such as industry, the art world, and family.

This Japanese group, whose members purportedly met in a supermarket, deploys hooky synth-pop and intricately choreographed dance moves for a high-energy spectacle. They’ve said they wish they could have worked with the Beastie Boys; imagine Ad-Rock and crew in sailor uniforms and you have some idea of this J-pop act’s irrepressible energy.

Podcast

MrBallen

October 15

With a modest style that suggests a guy at your local bar, former Navy SEAL Jonathan Allen has built an empire recounting true-crime stories and supernatural mysteries. MrBallen brings his hit podcast to town for a suspenseful show that will get you in the Halloween spirit.

Born in New York in 1897 to immigrants from Romania and Ukraine, the cartoonist and painter contributed his satirical illustrations to the New York Tribune as well as radical left-wing publications. The first exhibition of Gropper’s work in Washington highlights the artist’s startling blend of expressionism and social realism.

Music

Fuerza Regida

October 19

Equally at ease in mariachi, reggaeton, and hip-hop, this popular Mexican American group began its career in San Bernardino as a cover band. Last year, it earned its biggest hit with the Latin chart phenomenon “Bebe Dame,” a collaboration with Grupo Frontera.

Music

Fontaines D.C.

October 19

They’re from Dublin, not the District, with a distinctive post-punk sound and a singer who broods about his panic attacks over a sinuous, bass-heavy beat. The band will be here promoting its new album, Romance.

Beethoven’s only opera gets a striking new production that places the tale of a political prisoner and his wife in a more modern milieu. This first collaboration between Washington National Opera artistic director Francesca Zambello and music director designate Robert Spano shifts the action to an unspecified oppressive regime in the 1950s.

Theater

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

October 29–January 12

What do ribald tales of ancient Rome evoke for modern audiences? Why, “Comedy To­night,” of course! Irreverently adapted from the works of Plautus, the theater staple is one of the great musical comedies. This new production is helmed by Signature artistic director Matthew Gardiner.

Want More Things to Do?

by Briana Thomas

Arts and culture:

• Art on the Avenue fills the heart of Del Ray with ceramics, books, candles, clothing, home goods, and other artist-made products (October 5, free, Alexandria).
• Meet local authors and listen to poetry readings at Literary Hill BookFest (October 6, free, Capitol Hill).
• Put on your dirndl or lederhosen for Polka on the Pier. There’s music, a stein-hoisting competition, and wiener dash at this Oktoberfest celebration (October 5, free, Wharf).
• Browse hundreds of arts-and-crafts booths—featuring wood, jewelry, glass, pottery, digital art, and more—at Fall Festival (October 12, free, Fairfax).
• F1 Arcade is a new  virtual and social racing destination for Formula 1 fans (opens October 13, free entry, Union Market).
• View the works of portraitists Felix Gonzalez-Torres in a new exhibit at National Portrait Gallery (opens October 18, free, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery).
• Celebrate 100 years of the Turkish Republic at a folk and traditional festival (October 20, free, Downtown).

Halloween and Día de los Muertos:

• A haunted house, multiple escape rooms, and a ton of scary attractions are now open at Laurel’s House of Horror (select dates through November 2, $34+, Laurel).
• Listen to spooky stories on a guided DC by Foot walking tour about the Ghosts of Georgetown (ongoing, $25+, Georgetown).
• This National Gallery Nights event is an artsy nod to Día de los Muertos (October 10, free, but registration required through lottery system, National Gallery of Art).
• There’s after-hours access to zoo animals and trick-or-treating at Boo at the Zoo (October 18-20, $35, National Zoo).
• PumpkinPalooza invites families to pick pumpkins, dress up in Halloween costumes, watch a movie, and listen to live music at Alethia Tanner Park (October 24, free, NoMa).
• Kiddos can eat Halloween treats and explore flight exhibits at Air & Scare (October 26, free, but registration required for outdoor events, Chantilly).
• Enjoy Mexican folk dancing and face painting at Día de los Muertos Family Day (October 26, free, Smithsonian American Art Museum).
• The Capital Turnaround transforms into Nightmare in Navy Yard (October 26, $50+, Navy Yard).
• Take kids and teens Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon for 18th-century fun (October 26, $25 for kids, $30 for adults, Mount Vernon).
• Create a mask and watch food demos and dance performances at the Smithsonian’s Día de los Muertos celebration (October 27, free, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian).

Theater:

• Matthew Broderick is the standout star in Babbitt—a political satire based on the century-old novel by Sinclair Lewis (October 1 through November 3, $39+, Downtown).
• The Broadway musical version of the comedy film Mean Girls makes it way to the National Theatre (October 15-20, $59+, Downtown).
• Race, identity, and success are themes of The Other Americans at Arena Stage (October 18 through November 24, $59+, Southwest DC).
• The world premiere of Data goes behind the tech scenes of Silicon Valley (October 31 through December 15, $75+, Southwest DC).

Shows and performances:

• Watch a mix of old and new movies at Washington West Film Festival (October 10-13, $20+ Reston, Tysons).
• The highly-anticipated Middleburg Film Festival returns to Virginia for four days this month (October 17-20, $125+, Middleburg).
• Funny duo Steve Martin and Martin Short are still on The Dukes of Funnytown comedy trek (October 18, $235+, National Harbor).

Music:

• Chromeo & The Midnight fire up an electro-funk dance party at The Anthem (October 3, $45+, Wharf).
• ’90s R&B singer Maxwell teams up with October London and Jazmine Sullivan for The Serenade Tour (October 4, $49+, Capital One Arena).
• Grammy-winning instrumentalist and singer Meshell Ndegeocello performs a tribute to the works of James Baldwin at the Music Center at Strathmore (October 5, $28+, Bethesda).
• Listen to jazz, Americana, and classical melodies outdoor at Tregaron Conservancy (October 5, free, Cleveland Park).
• Composer Marcos Valle plays at Howard Theatre (October 5, $35, Shaw).
• Rock group La Luz plays live at The Atlantis (October 6, $25, U Street Corridor).
• The Ramble Festival is a laid-back, three-day festival at Harford County’s 200-acre Camp Ramblewood featuring daytime and midnight concerts (October 11-13, $235, Darlington).
• Larry June performs at the Howard Homecoming Concert (October 15, $50, Howard Theatre).
• Local soul singer Josee Molavi performs at Songbyrd Music House’s Girlgenius Showcase (October 19, $15+, Northeast DC).
• Illuminati hotties performs songs from her latest album Let Me Do One More (October 19, $20+, Shaw).
• Makaya McCraven headlines Jazz in the Heights at Sycamore & Oak (October 20, free, Congress Heights).
• Big Flock raps his local hip-hop songs at Union Stage (October 20, $25+, Wharf).
• Don’t miss this folk music collaboration with Aoife O’Donovan and Bonny Light Horseman at the Kennedy Center (October 22, $33+, Kennedy Center).
• Indie rock vocalist Daphne Eckman performs at Pearl Street Warehouse (October 24, $15+, Wharf).
• Pop legend Cyndi Lauper brings her Farewell Tour to Capital One Arena (October 27, $29+, Capital One Arena).

Bites and beverages:

• Mount Vernon Fall Wine Festival serves unlimited sips from Virginia vineyards on the grounds of George Washington’s estate (October 4-6, $54+, Mount Vernon).
• The 32nd annual Taste of Bethesda will offer five stages of entertainment paired with fare from several area restaurants (October 5, free; taste tickets come in bundles of four for $5, Bethesda).
• Treat yourself to unlimited tastes of coffee from specialty roasters and local shops including Grace Street Coffee, Lost Sock Roasters, and more at DC Coffee Festival (October 5-6, $24+, Union Market).
• The MD State BBQ Bash has activities that most food festivals don’t: ax-throwing, a rage-room trailer, and a martial-arts dojo for kids (October 11-12, free, Bel Air).
• More than 40 providers will offer samples of beer, wine, and cider at Hops & Harvest Festival (October 12, $50 to drink, $18 for designated drivers, and free to $10 for kids, depending on age, Columbia).
• Snallygaster—named after a folkloric beast—returns with more than 450 beers from 175 brewers, plus ciders, cocktails, and wine; food trucks; and bands on two stages (October 12, $75+, Downtown).
• Wine enthusiasts can sip, shop, and listen to music from DJ Hollywood as part of the fall edition of DC Wine Fest at Dock5 (October 19, $35+, Union Market).

Things to do with kids:

• Cherry Hill Park transforms into a children’s wonderland, with a petting farm, pumpkin and birdhouse painting, scarecrow crafts, beekeeping and blacksmith demos, and pony rides at Farm Day (October 5, free, Falls Church).
• There are kid-friendly derby rides and tractor vehicles at the Stafford County Fair (October 17-20, free, Fredericksburg).
• Kids can discover what life was like during the 18th century in America, with demonstrations of laundry techniques, horseshoeing, candle making, and more fun at Mount Vernon (October 19-20, $26, Mount Vernon).

A version of this article appears in the October 2024 issue of Washingtonian.