We’re sprinting into the weekend like a queen running down 17th Street. This week’s High Heel Race crowned a painted champion named Parker – and kicked off D.C.’s Halloween week traditions.
Here’s to all treats and no tricks.
- Weekend weather: We’ll have a cool and sunny fall weekend with an extra hour of sleep as clocks fall back. Here’s the forecast.
Halloween highlights
🦇 Kids and teens in D.C. can join numerous free activities with the Department of Parks and Recreation, including a costume skate party, movie night and a silent disco. D.C. police will also host Halloween Safe Haven events across districts.
🪩 Dance ‘til you’re dead at a ‘70s Disco Halloween at Union Stage, Eighties Mayhem at the Black Cat, CarnEvil Nights at Dirty Habit and The Haunted Ballroom in Clarendon. Nightmare in Navy Yard promises lots of creepy decorations, multiple dance floors, and an open bar.
🏆 Enter a costume contest at Hi-Lawn’s Halloween Party, Hotel Hive’s Halloween Bash and Union Market’s new western bar Desert 5 Spot, which is transforming into Vampire Saloon.
📚 Find your coven at Lost City Books’ Fright Fête, Kraken’s Halloween Lucha Libre, Fantom Comics’ Halloween Party at Dupont Underground and Continues Arcade’s 21+ Halloween After Party in Alexandria.
👑 Serve looks and haunt nightmares with Unconventional Diner’s Drag Bingo Halloween Party, the Halloween Crystal Ball with Tula & Regina in Germantown or the Lincoln Theatre’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show” screening with a live shadow cast.
🪓 The infamous tale of accused ax murderer Lizzie Borden is now on stage in D.C. “Lizzie the Musical” is playing at Keegan Theater from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30.
🍿 Plenty of Halloween classics are screening at local theaters, including Halloween on Screen at AFI Silver Theater and Angelika Film Center pop-up.
🔎 Old Town has ghosts and spooky stories seemingly around every turn. Halloween weekend is the perfect time to take a ghost tour, learn about poisons at the Apothecary Museum and follow Edgar Allan Poe’s journey in Virginia.
👻 Check out our full roundup here for more options, including drag shows, a Lizzie Borden rock musical, family-friendly dance parties and scary movies.
😱 Ready for a real scare? Here are haunted houses worth the fright.
More things to do this weekend
Día de los Muertos
Día de los Muertos is a holiday that celebrates life and death – a joyful time to honor the memory of loved ones through festivals, lively celebrations and meaningful offerings.
Day of the Dead originated in and is most strongly identified with Mexico. The Mexican Cultural Institute in D.C. will show a traditional altar featuring art from Mexican artist Paloma Vianey through Nov. 26. The institute’s festival on Saturday is sold out, but you can walk up between noon and 4 p.m. to line up for walk-in admission.
The Wharf’s Celebración Día de los Muertos (Sat., 3-7 p.m.) will feature live music from Latin Celtic band La Unica, dancers and artistic activities including face painting and sugar skull decorating. At sunset, head to the M Street Landing to join the glowing waterfront light procession.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington will host a Dia de Los Muertos celebration and evening picnic on Saturday from 5-8 p.m., which includes after-hours access to the museum.
Free & family-friendly
PorchFest
Sat., 2-6 p.m., Adams Morgan, D.C.
🔗 Details
Explore Adams Morgan and see more than 100 bands performing at stages, businesses and (of course) porches. The center of the action will be on 18th Street, which will be closed between Columbia and Kalorama Roads NW, but make sure to explore the fringes, too.
Pick up a wristband to get deals at local businesses, including $5 beers and a $3 scoop of ice cream at Van Leeuwen’s location on 18th Street NW.
Family-friendly
Great Country Farms Pumpkin Chunkin’
Nov. 1-4, Bluemont, Virginia, $11-$14
🔗 Details
Stumped on what to do with leftover pumpkins? Why not smash them!
Bring your leftover jack-o’-lanterns to Great Country Farms for their annual Pumpkin Chunkin’, where you can let your pumpkin fly down The Silo Drop and Zip Wire Sploosh. The grand finale is an upside-down “fireworks display” of pumpkins falling from a 40-foot lift.
Afterward, the pumpkins are fed to pigs and cows or composted, so this is actually a very responsible way to dispose of your old gourds.
Concerts this weekend
Dim Wizard, 8 p.m. Thursday, Quarry House Tavern, $18.90
Infectious alt-rock. D.C. band carries on the power pop perfection of singer-guitarist David Combs’ recently retired group Bad Moves. Details.
Oddisee, 8 p.m. Friday, Pearl Street Warehouse, $40+
Hometown hero raps politically-focused, inequity-conscious lyrics over jazzy hip-hop and elements of go-go. He’s touring for the 10th anniversary of studio album “The Good Fight.” Details.
Herbie Hancock, 8 p.m. Saturday, Strathmore, $28-$138
A chance to see a genius. The legendary jazz pianist and composer played with icons in the ‘60s, was at the forefront of fusion, found crossover success with 1973’s perfect 10 album “Head Hunters,” and crossed over again with instrumental electronic pop hit “Rockit” in the ‘80s. And he’s still going at 85. Details.
Boris, 8 p.m. Saturday, Fillmore Silver Spring, $36.50
Two decades ago, this mind-melting Japanese experimental metal trio – with doom, drone, noise and psychedelia in its arsenal – was on the cutting edge of blending heavy metal and shoegaze. This is the 20th anniversary of the album “Pink.” Tickets.
Earth, 7 p.m. Sunday, DC9, $25.75 (advance)/$31.93 (day of)
Hard to imagine the sound of a heavy metal band of this volume and intensity fitting in a venue so small, but if DC9 can handle Baroness, it can handle Earth. Dylan Carlson’s decades-running project is a pioneer of drone rock and other experimental offshoots of metal. Details.
More to do in D.C.
Art Deco Masquerade: Thurs., 6-9 p.m., National Building Museum, $20
Salvador Dalí, Contemporary Spanish Art, and the Future of Museums: Thurs., 6:30 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center – Embassy of Spain, free
Creature Feature – A Halloween Drag Show: Thurs., doors at 7 p.m., Rhizome DC (6950 Maple St NW), free but donations welcome
Mahjong at The Stacks: Thurs. (plus Nov. 6 and 13), 101 V Street SW, free
Double Exposure Film Festival: Thurs. to Sun., Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, $17.53 (single ticket) to $285.65 (all-access pass)
Friday (Halloween)
Theater – “Lizzie the Musical”: Oct. 31 to Nov. 30, Keegan Theater, $54-$65
Movie – “Psycho”: Fri., 7 p.m., The Miracle Theatre, $8
Nightmare in Navy Yard: Fri., 8 p.m. to late, 1385 Canal St SE, $66.60
Eighties Mayhem: Fri., doors open 9 p.m., Black Cat, $30
Fantom Comics Halloween Party: Fri., 5 p.m. flea market, 8 p.m. music, Dupont Underground, $30
Spooktacular Trick-Or-Treat: Fri., 3-7 p.m., Union Market, free
Drag Bingo Halloween Party: Fri., 6:30 p.m., Unconventional Diner, $60 per guest
Fright Fête at Lost City Books: Fri., 8 p.m., 2467 18th St NW, $53.49
Adam’s (Morgan) Family Halloween party and costume contest: Fri., 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., 1819 Columbia Road NW, $15-$25
Saturday and Sunday
Greater Washington Region Heart Walk: Sat., National Mall
Dia de Muertos 2025 at the Mexican Cultural Institute: Sat., plus exhibit Nov. 1-26, 2829 16th St NW, free
Día de los Muertos: Sat., 3-7 p.m., The Wharf, free
PorchFest: Sat., Adams Morgan, free
Navy Yard Halloween Bar Fest: Sat., 2-9 p.m., $24.99
National Museum of Women in the Arts Free Community Day: Sun., 1250 New York Ave. NW, free
Halloween Family Friendly Dance Party: Sun., 2-4 p.m., Dupont Underground, $5
Día de los Muertos at Historic Congressional Cemetery: Sun., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1801 E Street SE, free
More to do in Maryland
Dave & Boo-ster’s Boo Bash: Weds., Gaithersburg, $14.99 per person
Not so Spooky Skate: Thurs., 5:45-7:45 p.m., Wheaton Ice Arena, $20
Paranormal Cirque III: Fri. to Mon., Great Frederick Fair in Frederick, $20-$65
Halloween Crystal Ball with Tula & Regina: Fri., BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, $45
Mystery Mansion: Fri. and Sat., Woman’s Club of Chevy Chase, $20
Concord Emancipation Day Celebration: Sat., noon to 5 p.m., District Heights, free
Montgomery County’s Maryland Emancipation Day celebrations: Sat., various events
Commanders vs. Seahawks: Sun., 8:20 p.m., Northwest Stadium
More to do in Virginia
Ghost tours in Alexandria: Various tours
Poe in Alexandria: Weds., Lyceum in Alexandria, $20
The Simon & Garfunkel Songbook: Weds. and Thurs., The Barns at Wolf Trap, $43.25
Fall Colors Sunset Kayak Paddle: Fri., 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., Reservoir Park in Ashburn, $35
Spooky Animals Campfire: Fri., 6-7 p.m., Gulf Branch Nature Center in Arlington, $7-$8
Continues Arcade 21+ Halloween After Party: Fri., 9 p.m., Alexandria, $44.52
Alexandria Fall-O-Ween with costume parade: Sat., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., John Carlyle Square in Alexandria, free
Theater – “Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus”: Nov. 1-23, Synetic Theater in Arlington, $45+
Northern Virginia Veterans Parade: Sat., 11 a.m. to noon, Old Town Manassas, free
Nightmare On Wilson Blvd bar crawl: Sat., 3-10 p.m., Clarendon, $7.18
Great Country Farms Pumpkin Chunkin’: Nov. 1-4, Bluemont, $11-$13
Purcellville Artisan Tour: Sat. and Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., free
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