Happy (almost) Halloween, DC!

End October with an exciting neighborhood Halloween party, then celebrate in early November with outdoor activities like the Adams Morgan PorchFest and the DC Beer Festival.

The best activities of this week and weekend

October 28th – November 3rd

1. 1. Adams Morgan Fall PorchFest. Fall PorchFest returns for another neighborhood-wide music event at Adams Morgan. The local lineup – a mix of rock, funk, go-go, classical, pop and jazz music – includes around 100 bands on 25 porches, storefronts and parks, and for the first time, 18th Street NW will be open to traffic closed for additional festival space (Sat, free, Adams Morgan).
   2. El Día de los Muertos at the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's annual El Día de los Muertos Festival returns this fall with family-friendly music and after-hours crafts. Museum visitors will have the opportunity to make calaveras and papel picado to decorate the community altar honoring their ancestors, attend a folk dance performance, have their face painted and watch a projection of a mapping project by video artists MasPaz and Guache (Sat, free, but registration required, National Portrait Gallery).
   3. 17. Street High Heel Race. Crowds of costumed spectators and neighbors will gather near Dupont Circle for the 17th Street High Heel Race. The colorful annual tradition, where drag queens, drag kings and community members race through the street at full speed to celebrate diversity, is now in its 37th year (Tuesday, free, Dupont Circle).
   4. DC Beer Festival. Gather your friends and best friends for a day of unlimited beer tastings and food from area food trucks. This weekend, the DC Beer Festival returns to Nationals Park, featuring samples from more than 70 breweries, bites along the food truck alley, and music from the dueling piano bar (Sat, $55+, Nationals Park).
   5. A funny thing happened on the way to the forum. What do salacious stories from ancient Rome evoke in modern audiences? “Comedy Tonight” of course! The play is an irreverent adaptation of the works of Plautus and one of the great musical comedies. This new production will be directed by Signature Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Tuesday through January 12, $40+, Arlington).
   6. Enchanted carnival weekend. Why go to just one party when you can go to three? The Clarendon Ballroom closes October with a multi-day dance festival. Put on your favorite spooky – or cute – costume and enjoy three floors of music and entertainment at three DJ parties: the annual Monster Ball on Thursday, a Haunted Carnival on Friday and the Afterlife Party on Saturday (Thurs-Sat, Free+, Arlington).
   7. Data. Another world premiere will make its debut on the Arena Stage this fall. Data– a new play by Matthew Libby – looks behind the tech scenes of Silicon Valley, where exciting secrets come to light. The opening night is already sold out, so we recommend you get a ticket for the run soon (Thurs through Dec 15, $75++, Southwest DC).
   8. Terror at every seam. Here's a unique way to celebrate Halloween: The DAR Museum opens its doors after hours for a fascinating look at period costumes in films and eerie works of art. The Curator of Textiles and Costumes will share historical facts and secrets about vintage clothing while guests sip drinks (Thursday, $25, downtown).

Would you like to do more?

Art and culture:

• Watch the digital “Hidden Wonders of the Ocean” at Artechouse; there is a new one Love is blind Date night option too (through November 19th, $22+, Southwest DC).
• Watch a terrible movie screening zombie at Comet Ping Pong (Mon, Free, Chevy Chase).
• There are still four more days of Wunder Garten's Halloween celebration with costume parties and scary movies (Mon-Thurs, free, NoMa).
• Watch a screening of the bloody thriller Saw X in the library (Tuesday, free, MLK Library).
• Writers, fashion designers, artists and musicians can create together at Eaton House's A Not At All Creative Kickback (Wed, $10+, Downtown).
• Experience the colors of fall with a tree walk through history at the Historic Congressional Cemetery (Wed, Free, Capitol Hill).
• Experience the spooky Christmas fun at Tapville's costume and cookie decorating party (Thursday, $10+, Columbia).
• View the original unedited version of The Rocky Picture Horror Show at the Lincoln Theater (Thursday, $55+, U Street Corridor).
• Learn to waltz in your best royal attire at the Jane Austen Ball at Dumbarton House (Fri, $55+, Georgetown).
• The Phillips Collection's new exhibition “Breaking It Down: Conversations From the Vault” examines the artworks of major past and present artists such as Sam Gilliam, Paul Klee, Sylvia Snowden and more (Sat. through Jan. 19, $20, Dupont).
• Shop for goods and art from nearly 40 makers at the Holiday Maker's Market & Street Festival (Sat, Free, Friendship Heights).
• Actor Matty Matheson from the TV show Carry reviews his new book at Sixth & I (Sun, $50 for in-person ticket and book, $12 for virtual ticket, $43 for virtual ticket and book, downtown).

Community and Heritage:

• Join Black Girls Vote and the Washington Wizards for a dinner and discussion about the upcoming election (Wed, free, Capital One Arena).
• Guests can take a guided tractor ride through the Mount Vernon countryside and learn about the process of forest regeneration (Friday through November 5, $28, Mount Vernon).
• Films and panel discussions explore black religions at the Smithsonian NMAAHC's Forward Conference (Fri-Sun, free, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture).
• “The Negro Motorist Green Book” — an exhibit exploring the history of black travel in America — opens at the library (opens Saturday, free, MLK Library).

Theater and shows:

• It's the last call to see Matthew Broderick in his outstanding one-man performance. Babbitt, at Harman Hall (closes Sunday, $39+, downtown).
• Check out Washington Improv Theater's political satire POTUS among us before the show ends at the Studio Theater (closes Saturday, $20, Logan Circle).
• Laughs and a murder mystery steal the show at DC Improv's Halloween Whodunit 2 (Wed, $25, Downtown).
• DC artists and actors share their experiences with personal care in a new production The Art of Care (Thurs through Nov. 24, $50, H Street Corridor).
• Celebrate Diwali with comedian Zarna Garg (Fri, $45+, Kennedy Center).
• TV star and comedian David Cross performs at the Warner Theater (Fri, $81+, Downtown).

Music and concerts:

• Guitar veteran T Bone Burnett plays two live shows at Wolf Trap (Mon-Tue, $48+, Vienna).
• Gremlins and goblins are invited to the party at Decades on Halloween night (Thursday, $15+, Downtown).
• Classical music fans can listen to the melodies of Tchaikovsky and Raskatov performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra (Thurs-Sat, $17+, Kennedy Center).
• Jamaican-American singer Masego performs live at the Kennedy Center (Sun, $59+, Kennedy Center).
• The Go! The Black Cat team combines the sounds of disco and old-school hip-hop (Sun, $27+, Shaw).
• The Doo Wop Project reimagines your favorite doo-wop classics at Wolf Trap (Sun, $55, Vienna).

Exercise and wellness:

• Relax with a meditative sound bath in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Mon, $25, Kennedy Center).

Snacks and drinks:

• Wizards and Muggles can pour their own butterbeer and enchanted cocktails between games Harry Potter-Themed quizzes and bingo to win prizes at Tap 99 (Thursday, free, Navy Yard).
• Get your face painted, sip drinks and dance to Mexican tunes at Penn Social's Day of the Dead & Tequila Fest (Fri, $15+, Penn Quarter).
• Cheers to fall at the Harvest Party on the roof of District Winery (Sun, $99+, Navy Yard).

Activities with children:

• Kids can trick-or-treat at Audi Field and watch an outdoor performance Halloweentown (Wed, free, Navy Yard).
• The Fall Festival at Woodrow Wilson Plaza features a hay bale maze, balloon twisting, mini pumpkins, music, face painting and more family-friendly fun (Wednesday, free, city center).
• Children can look forward to puppetry and storytelling in the new production The Light House (Sat, $18, H Street Corridor).
• In Sailing on a line, Babies and toddlers discover an art world made of strings (Sat. through Nov. 5, $15, Kennedy Center).

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Briana A. Thomas is a local journalist, historian and tour guide who specializes in researching DC history and culture. She is the author of the Black History Book, Black Broadway in Washington, DCa story first published in Washingtonian in 2016.