Things I'm Talking About

• Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday, so expect lots of road closures and take the metro where you can around downtown, and expect bus detours...
• ...but if you want time in your car, Beach Drive is open to cars for the entire length of the road for a scenic driving day on Saturday--so watch out if you are a pedestrian or biker!
• Rental laws have been passed recently in DC to stop extra monthly service and admin fees being charged to tenants and to stop billing tenants for utilities used in common areas or empty units. However, some corporate landlords are creating new fees in lease renewals to get around it.
• The trade association for third party ticket resellers is suing DC to block the RESALE Act (which aims to curb ticket scalping).
• Savannah Bananas are coming back in the spring, and you can enter the ticket lottery through October 31.
• I said last month that there with all the good pop music released, there would be some good shows coming up. Check out the ones I have my eye on.
• Last fall, I stumbled upon a Fast CAT event. Basically you watch dogs compete and run as fast as they can after a lure, and it was really cool to watch how fast those dogs can go. There's a Fast CAT event coming up this weekend near Front Royal if you want to pair it with some leaf peeping. Thanks to @lucky.lincoln.gs for finding this.

Valerie

Give your opinion, and check back next week for the results.

Last week, we asked: What do you want to do for Halloween? You responded:

• Stay home (60%)
• Go to a friend's party (34%)
• Go to a bar or concert (6%)

The White House has been doing Halloween for decades. This version comes with paint.

Halloween at the White House is a long-running tradition, and Art After Hours is a way in without actually going there.

The Halloween happy hour takes over The People’s House: A White House Experience, the White House Historical Association’s museum on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The night starts at the craft table. Paint a fall-themed piece with a seasonal cocktail in hand, with every supply provided.

Once your piece is done, the exhibits are yours. Ticket holders get the museum after hours, so you can wander the galleries without the daytime crowds.

$30 covers supplies and two drink tickets, with extra drinks and snacks for sale if you stay a while. It’s Wednesday, October 28 at 1700 Pennsylvania Ave NW. 18+.

🎟️ Get tickets before it sells out >>>​

Tried & True features your favorite go-to restaurants that have been around for a while and serve you consistently good food.

This Week's Feature: Ristorante i Ricchi

"YES! @iricchidc has the best Italian food " Parisa

Location: 1220 19th Street NW in DC
​Website​

😋 What is your favorite tried and true restaurant?

Where do you find yourself going back time and time again? Reply and let me know who should be featured and why, and share the love for a local DC restaurant.

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• 📖 Yellowstone’s bison manager Chris Geremia and photographer Tom Murphy discuss their new book on the herd’s recovery from near-extinction at this Natural History Museum talk. A Postal Museum educator will also be on hand to talk about the 2026 bison stamp featuring one of Murphy’s photographs. Wednesday 10/21. Free.
• 🖌️ Chevy Chase Creates: Decoupaged Pressed Flower Jars is an adult workshop on turning dried blooms and leaves into a glass jar you can use as decor, storage, or a lantern. All supplies provided. Wednesday 10/21. Free.
• 🤸 The last session of Fit @ Met Park closes out the fall series with a boxing class led by Marvin from FindYourFit. Punch cards carry over from previous weeks, with prizes like a gym bag or Makers Union gift card for those who’ve stacked up stamps. Wednesday 10/21. Free.
• 🖼️ NMWA Nights is the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ monthly after-hours event, with open galleries, cocktails, live music, and art-making activities. Wednesday 10/21. $25.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Watch the new episode of Survivor on the big screen at DC9’s Survivor Watch Party, held on the venue’s roof deck. 21+, with the usual spread of predictions, arguments, and tribal council commentary. Wednesday 10/21. Free.

• 🕺 This one-day choir session gathers singers of all levels to learn and perform a group arrangement of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" in a single evening, no auditions or prior experience required. Thursday 10/22. Donation.
• 🧑‍🍳 Cook & Gather: Preservation & Canning is a hands-on class at Hill’s Kitchen using Moon Valley Farm’s late-fall harvest to teach traditional canning and preservation methods. You’ll leave with new techniques and jars of your own pantry staples for winter. Thursday 10/22. $155.
• 🎭 Aziz Ansari brings his Hypothetical Tour to the Warner Theatre for two shows, both being recorded for his next stand-up special. Thursday 10/22. $59+
• 🍾 Libras & Libations at Shanklin Hall closes out Libra season with a party built around the sign, dress code included (“drip or drown”). Expect a full night of dancing and drinks in the Parlor. Thursday 10/22. Price not stated.
• 📖 Live! At The Library opens the Library of Congress’s Thomas Jefferson Building on Thursday evenings for happy hour drinks, exhibits, performances, and rare public access to the Main Reading Room. Thursday 10/22. Free.

• 🍾 The National Zoo's Night of the Living Zoo is back for an adults-only Halloween party where you can explore the zoo after dark with a spooky twist. It's 21+ only, so get ready for a night that's way more fun than scary. Friday 10/23. $75.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Steal Their Look: Great Blue Heron Birdy Fashion Show has you dressing as a bird of your choice using everyday clothing, then walking an ADA-accessible flyway in front of volunteer judges at Meadowside Nature Center. Prizes go to the best looks, with light refreshments and a DJ for the rest of the flock. Friday 10/23. $10.
• 🕺 The Capital aka F Fascism Beatbox Battle bills itself as DC’s first official beatbox battle, with open elims and a $500 prize pool. Friday 10/23. Free.
• 🕺 A Halloween Cover Band Spooktacular at St Stephen’s Church features five local bands covering Smashing Pumpkins, Danzig, AFI, Sublime, and Nirvana, with proceeds benefiting Thrive DC’s work on housing and food insecurity. Friday 10/23. $15 suggested donation.
• 📖 Altitude with Mona Mekkawi brings the production designer behind the Emmy-winning documentary Oversight and Netflix projects to Goethe-Institut to talk about building worlds for film and live events. Friday 10/23. Price not stated.
• 🖌️ Bring Your Own Craft Night at The Cozy Catfe is an open crafting session where you work on your own diamond art, crochet, or scrapbooking alongside the cafe’s rescue cats. Messier crafts get tables up front, away from curious paws. Friday 10/23. $13.
• 🐾 FAST CAT is a timed 100-yard dash where dogs chase a lure across a cornfield in White Post, Virginia, and any breed can enter. Friday 10/23. Cost varies by entry.
• 🍾 Chicken + Whiskey’s hidden bar turns into a Haunted Circus for the night, complete with creepy clowns and Halloween cocktails alongside the Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Costumes welcome, not required. Friday 10/23. Free.
• 🕺 The Jane Austen Ball at Dumbarton House is an evening of waltzing, desserts, and optional mansion tours at one of Georgetown’s Federal-era historic homes. Regency attire is welcome but not required, and no dance experience or partner needed. Friday 10/23. $100+.
• 🍾 Golden Hour at Eunoia is a mixer built for meeting strangers, with a welcome drink, DJ, and low lights doing the heavy lifting. Come solo or with friends; only 20 spots guaranteed before they may cancel for an unbalanced ratio. Friday 10/23. $23+.

• 🎈 The Adams Morgan Apple Festival brings heirloom apple tasting from Licking Creek Bend Farm plus 16 local bakers competing for best pie, with slices sold off to benefit The Platform of Hope. Saturday 10/24. Free.
• 🛍️ The Aroid Fair at Plants Alive! brings Ecuagenera’s rare aroid collection to Silver Spring, alongside a Makers Market, hands-on workshops, live music, and food trucks. Saturday 10/24-10/25. Free.
• 🕺 Everyday Holiday Fall Edition brings DJs, a 1v1 open styles dance battle with prizes on the line, and indoor and outdoor lounges to The Garage in Baltimore. 21+. Saturday 10/24. Free.
• 🎈 Arcadia Farm’s Fall Funtacular is a free fall festival with games, crafts, garlic planting, and chickens to meet. Registration includes a hot dog, popcorn, apple cider, and donut while supplies last. Saturday 10/24. Free.
• 🕺The infamous horsegiirL plays her happy hardcore style at Berhta with support from hyper pop star Ren G. Saturday 10/24. $66.
• 🖌️ Onsite Floral Design at Hillwood is a small-group workshop where you’ll build a fall arrangement using bronze and gold chrysanthemums, inspired by Marjorie Merriweather Post’s collection of them. All materials are included and the class is capped at twelve people. Saturday 10/24. $80.
• 🕺 Turnstile at the Washington Monument is a free show with donations going to Human Concern International, split between relief efforts in Palestine, Sudan, and Lebanon. Saturday 10/24. Free.
• 🐾 The Dachtoberfest Dash is a dachshund race at The Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farm, with five heats covering puppies, seniors, mixes, and special needs dogs. Entry includes a shot at trophies from Sassy Woof, and spectators get a complimentary mimosa and a food truck on site. Saturday 10/24. Free to attend, $15 per dog to race.
• 🎈 Acoustics & Ales: Witchy Waters pairs dueling pianos from Bialek’s Music with the sight of witch-costumed paddlers crossing Little Seneca Lake at Black Hill Regional Park. Grab tacos, beer from Waredaca or Silver Branch, and a spot by the firepit, or bring your own watercraft and register to paddle. Saturday 10/24. Free.
• 🎈 Atlas Brew Works Fall Fest brings pumpkin painting, haunted terrarium building, face painting, and wreath making to the Bridge District, with Gordon Sterling and Rick Tiene playing classic rock and blues outdoors. $5 Festbiers and Angry Orchards run all day. Saturday 10/24. Price varies.

• 🛍️ Electrix Vintage brings 4,000 pounds of secondhand clothing to Hook Hall for its fill-a-bag sale, $10 for as much as you can stuff in, plus a curated vintage section for more targeted shopping. Sunday 10/25. $10.
• 🎈 A Halloween Happening takes over Congressional Cemetery with hayrides in DC(!!) through the headstones, a costume contest, and a DJ from Scorpio Entertainment. Sunday 10/25. Free.
• 🧠 Learn the basics of fungi cultivation at Grow Your Own Mushrooms at Edgewood Community Farm, where you’ll cover substrates and growing conditions before inoculating one yourself. Everyone leaves with a starter kit to keep the project going at home. Sunday 10/25. $20.
• 🖌️ Poisoned Printmaking covers the history of deadly pigments (lead, arsenic, the works) while you carve your own poison bottle design into a 4”x6” linoleum block. You’ll leave with two prints and a reprintable block, no carving experience required. Sunday 10/25. $65.
• 🍽️ The Carpenter’s Cook-Off at The Birchmere gathers nearly 20 DMV restaurants like Hank’s Oyster Bar, Rustico, and True Food Kitchen for tastings, with proceeds going to Carpenter’s Shelter’s work with people experiencing homelessness. Live and silent auctions run alongside the food, with online bidding open ahead of the event for anyone who can’t make it in person. Sunday 10/25. $75.
• 🎭 DC9 screens The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live performance by Jane Saw. Tickets are capped at 70, and costumes are encouraged (prop bags cost $5 extra). Sunday 10/25.
• 🤓 The Battle of the Branches Chess Tournament pits DC library branches against each other in a five-round contest at MLK Library, with the reigning champs defending their title. Matches are unrated and grouped by skill level, open to anyone who knows how to play. Sunday 10/25. Free.
• 🖌️ This beaded embroidery workshop at Woven History & Silk Road covers all materials, so you leave with a finished piece and the tools to keep going. Sunday 10/25. $50.
• 🐾 Cafe du Paws Halloween turns the Café du Parc terrace into a costume contest for dogs, with prizes including an overnight stay at Willard InterContinental and a pet portrait from local illustrator Alexandra Schmeling. $10 from every ticket goes to the Humane Rescue Alliance, and humans attend free. Sunday 10/25. $25.
• 🍲 Republic Cantina is hosting a Chili Cookoff with a People’s Choice award up for grabs, and 10+ chilis to taste. Sunday 10/25. $20.

🤫 Psst! I couldn't fit everything in this issue. See all the events happening over the next week!

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* Items marked with an asterisks contain affiliate links (for which I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you) or sponsored. Events are featured based on if I find them interesting and think others will too, regardless if they are affiliate or sponsored.