Tag Archives: Halloween 2014

The Weekend Round-Up: October 11-13

Jumpin' the day away ay Ticonderoga Farms

Jumpin’ the day away ay Ticonderoga Farms



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It’s a three-day weekend for many of us — four for DCPS kids! — so along with this round-up, be sure to check out the Everyday Play page, which is loaded with staples for area recreation. I also recommend this great list of secret spots that won’t be so under-the-radar anymore since Prince of Petworth shared them. Now, go start planning your fun. Happy Weekend!

Friday Night Drive-In
Where: Union Market
When: Friday 8-10pm
Admission: $10/car

Union Market is bringing back the UM Drive-In series that they presented over the summer, and this week’s screening is one the family can enjoy. Monsters University will be the featured film, and your brood can view it from the comfort of your car in the UM parking lot. And word has it the DC Roller Girls will be on their skates serving snacks, old-school drive-in style.

Art Safari
Where: Torpedo Factory
When: Saturday, 12-4pm
Admission: Free

Alexandria’s tradition, Art Safari, is returning for the 19th year with a day of hands-on craft activities for kids and families. Resident and visiting artists will lead young guests in creative activities across a variety of media, including clay, papier-mâché, fiber, and printmaking. Make sure the kids wear clothes that can get a little dirty. Activities are most appropriate for ages 5 – 11 with some activities requiring parental assistance.

Taste of DC
Where: Pennsylvania Ave., 9th – 14th Streets NW
When: October 11-12, 12-7pm
Admission: $10, $5/ages 6-12, free for 5 and under

The annual festival celebrating food, wine, and culture in the city will takes lace during Columbus Day weekend. Along with the obvious — tastings from more than 40 area restaurants — there will be cooking demos, a chili eating championship, live entertainment, and a Family Zone with fun especially for kids.

Columbia Heights Day
Where: Tubman Elementary Field
When: Saturday, 11am – 6pm
Admission: Free

Whether or not you live in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC, you are invited to help celebrate the community on Saturday. Columbia Heights Day is bringing together residents and businesses for a day of fun festivities–live music, a KidsZone with games arts & crafts and more activities especially for little ones, an adult tricycle race, dunk tank, food trucks, family field day and much more! Stay for an outdoor movie starting at 7pm. The Tubman Elementary field is located at 11th & Kenyon Streets NW.

Hispanic Heritage Day: Innovators in Air and Space
Where: National Air & Space Museum
When: Saturday, 10am – 3pm
Admission: Free

Celebrates the contributions of Latinos to aviation and space exploration. Learn about early aviators from the last century who took great risks flying the first planes and breaking records, meet current Hispanic scientists and engineers, and more! Many of the activities and presentations are available in English and Spanish.

Show Time
Where: Local Theatres
When: Throughout the weekend
Admission: Varies by venue

* See a performance of The Night Fairy at Imagination Stage
* Groovy Nate is performing at Jammin’ Java on Saturday morning
* Doktor Kaboom’s LIVE WIRE! The Electricty Tour brings an explosive show to the Kennedy Center
* Catch Stuart Little at Adventure Theatre
* Watch Rapunzel let down her hair as The Puppet Co. presents the marionette version of the classic fairytale.
* Clowing Around and Tiny Tots Sing-a-Long are the featured Tiny Tots shows at The Puppet Co.
* Driving Miss Daisy is beginning its month-long run at Ford’s Theatre
* InterAct Story Theatre presents Not My Monkey at Gaithersburg Art Barn on Saturday
* Rocknoceros is playing a special Columbus Day show at Jammin’ Java

Fall Family Festival
Where: Smithsonian Art Museum
When: Saturday, 11:30am – 3pm
Admission: Free

Get set for fall with season-inspired crafts, including leaf rubbing and “monster-making,” a scavenger hunt to find autumn scenes in the museum’s galleries, live musical performances by “The Banjo Man,” stilt-walkers, ghost-stories, and face painting!

Taste of Bethesda
Where: Woodmont Triangle
When: Saturday, 11am – 4pm
Admission: Free, but you pay for food samples

According to some stats, Bethesda has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the U.S. Accurate or not, DC’s suburban neighbor definitely has a food scene worth celebrating, and you can do just that this Saturday. The 25th year of Bethesda’s famous food and music festival will bring 60 restaurants and five stages of entertainment to the downtown’s Woodmont Triangle. Along with delicious food samples and live entertainment, there will be a kid’s corner for face painting, arts & crafts, and more fun for young ones. Admission is free, and taste tickets are sold on-site in bundles of four tickets for $5. Food servings cost one to four tickets. Ticket sales end at 3:30pm.

Get Merry at Ren Fest
Where: Revel’s Grove in Crownesville, Md
When: Saturday & Sunday
Admission: $22/ages 16 and up, $10/ages 7-15, free for 6 and under

There are only a couple of weekends left to enjoy the bounty of merriment at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. The annual faire recalls medieval times with a village full of fun and entertainment for the whole family. This is one of my very favorite events in the DC area, and it could very well become one of yours, too. Huzzah!

Dig-It! Open House
Where: Dig-It! Studio in Bethesda
When: Saturday, 11:30am – 3pm
Admission: Free

Dig-It! Games, local developer of one of the most popular educational apps for middle school students, is opening its doors to families, educators, game lovers during the Taste of Bethesda this weekend. The Open House will offer guests the chance to go behind-the-scenes in game development, learn about programming, try their hand at digital art, and win prizes—like an iPad mini. Stop by 7801 Norfolk Avenue in Bethesda to check it out!

Russian Fall Bazaar
Where: St. Nicholas
When: Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 7pm
Admission: Free

St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral is hosting its annual Fall Bazaar located at 3500 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington D.C. Join them for Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, and Serbian food, plus a variety of Slavic folk music and dance performances. After trying some blini, pirozhki, golubsty, and poppy seed pastry, enjoy a folk music performance, start your Christmas shopping in the gift shop, and take a Cathedral tour. Activities for kids will include face painting and crafts.

International Day of the Girl Child
Where: Tenley-Friendship Library
When: Saturday, 11am – 12:30pm
Admission: Free

Join Arts for Global Development to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child with some creativity and inspiring stories that highlight the importance of investing in girls around the world. Celebrate love and respect for girls, educational equality, fair opportunity… a future free of violence and discrimination. Space is limited, so to rsvp(at)art4development.net

Centreville Day
Where: Historic Centreville Park
When: Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Admission: Free

The community festival features historical activities and tours as well as children’s rides and other fun, live entertainment, a great local marketplace with a trick or treat trail for the kids, a food court, a mini health fair, and more. Located in Historic Centreville Park in the Centreville Historic District, the setting is said to be lovely, green, and inviting. There will be free remote parking and shuttle to the main venue.

Baby, Bash, & Bling Expo
Where: Renaissance Dupont Circle Hotel
When: Saturday, 1-5pm
Admission: $23.99/adult, $5/ages 4-18

Baby Bash & Bling Expo and Show returns to Washington, DC, this week. Designed for expectant parents, fabulous moms, and their families, guests can look forward to loads of special features, including the “Bump the Runway”™ fashion show, the Beauty and Bump Bar and the Fashion and Style Lounge, and an interactive session showcasing wardrobe styling for new moms.

Celebrate the Season
Where: Throughout the area
When: All weekend long
Admission: Varies by locale

Enjoy autumn fun and then some at a number of farms around the area. Pick pumpkins, whiz down slides, visit animals, jump on giant inflatables, take pony rides, indulge in caramel apples, and much more. This guide to fall festivals has details on all of them.

Wicked Fun
Where: Around the DC Metro
When: Throughout the weekend
Admission: Varies by locale

Get the Halloween party started early with activities and events that celebrate the spooky spirit throughout October. This post has details on where the tricks and treats are happening.

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Wicked Fun Ways to Celebrate Halloween in 2014

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Costume choices are nearly finalized, front yards are being decked out with fake cob webs and creepy decor, grocery store shelves are chock full of candy… Halloween is here! We may have a few weeks to go before the actual day, but prepping for the festivities is half the fun, right? Even more, events and activities that capture the spooky spirit are happening all month long. And this annual KFDC list has all the details on where and when you can scare up a good time and celebrate one of the best holidays of the year (and if it looks familiar, that’s because it’s last year’s list updated). Happy Halloween!

“Eye Spy” Halloween Train
Where: Cabin John Regional Park
When: October 11, 12, 17-19, & 24-26, 29-30 & Nov. 1
Admission: $5 and a can of food

Hop on board the Halloween Train! Cabin John’s “Eye Spy” features just enough “boo” power for kids age 8 and under. Along the ride through the woods on the train, kids can try to find Halloween friends hiding along the way and mark them off their “Eye Spy” game cards that they receive with admission. Guests can also enjoy Halloween movies every night, face painting on Saturdays and Sundays, and light refreshments for sale. The train runs 3-8pm on weekdays and 1-8pm on weekends. Purchase tickets online here.

Haunted Train & Creepy Carousel
Where: Wheaton Regional Park
When: October 11, 12, 17-19, & 24-26, 29-30 & Nov. 1
Admission: $5 and a can of food

Wheaton Regional Park’s Haunted Train and Creepy Carousel are back and scarier than ever! This annual Halloween attraction is best for guests ages 8 and up, because they do their best to make it “very scary” (and this is part of the website description, so take their word for it). Admission includes one ride each on the train and carousel, plus entrance to the Hall of Jack o’ Lanterns movie theater presenting scary films every night. The train and carousel run 6:30-9:30pm each night. Purchase tickets online here.

Haunted Museum Historic Ghost Tour
Where: National Building Museum
When: Sundays, October 12-28, 8pm & 9pm
Admission: $10/members, $15/non-members, adults are free

Take a nighttime tour of the National Building Museum’s historic home. Guests will wander the dark and lonely halls by lantern light, being regaled by ghost stories and other curious tales. Who are the mysterious figures wandering the halls after hours? What causes the giant columns to swirl with ghostly figures? Also learn about a gruesome murder and sinister characters immortalized in sculptural busts. This tour is recommended for ages 10 and up. Tickets are limited and sell out quickly.

Trick or Treat at Tudor Place
Where: Tudor Place
When: October 18, 10am – 12pm
Admission: $7/members, $10/non-members, $3/adults

Costumes too great to wear just once deserve a preview! Celebrate a Spooktacular Halloween at Tudor Place. Children in Halloween costumes are invited to trick-or-treat through the enchanting north gardens on the estate and participate in pumpkin painting, crafts, face painting, and games.

Boostravaganza
Where: Frying Pan Farm Park
When: October 23, 6-8pm
Admission: $8/child

Children ages 3-8 are invited to come to the Indoor Arena Barn dressed in their favorite costumes anytime between from 6-8pm. Enjoy fun, games, and a wagon ride. Finish the evening with treats and a small pumpkin. Reservations are required, and space is limited, so sign up soon!

Spooky SPY Family Night
Where: International Spy Museum
When: October 24, 6-9pm
Admission: $14

Ditch your Halloween costume and change your while identity at the Spy Museum’s annual Halloween event! Has your brother been spying on you? Is grandma really a secret agent? Does dad really have lethal ninja skills? Now’s your chance to find out as your family of spies gains exclusive after-hours access to the Museum. Test your family’s spy skills as you run top secret missions, go deep undercover and transform your appearance with the help of professional make-up artists, challenge yourself in Code Cracker competitions, and enjoy SPY snacks and a chance to explore all forms of spy tradecraft. Come in disguise as your favorite spy! For ages 5 and up, includes exclusive after-hours admission, SPY snacks, scavenger hunt, prize competitions, and more! Space is limited — advance registration required.

Halloween Festival
Where: Bethesda Row
When: October 30, 5-7pm
Admission: Free

Ghosts, goblins, and ghouls of all ages can participate in some retail scare-apy and trick-or-treating while enjoying the last evenings of fall. The Halloween festival offers families the chance to walk shop-to-shop trick-or-treating with their littles, while enjoying live entertainment and unprecedented deals on fashion, food, housewares and more. Guests will be treated to an evening of frights and bites, and can enter to win $100 to Paper Source.

Boo at the Zoo
Where: National Zoo
When: October 24-26, 5:30-8:30pm
Admission: $20/members, $30/non-members

Princesses, mythical creatures, kid-wizards, and other costumed guests are invited to join the National Zoo’s annual Halloween event. With nearly 40 not-so-spooky treat stations, animal demonstrations, keeper chats, and decorated trails, this event is frightfully fun for the whole family. Boo treat bags will be brimming with goodies at the end of the evening — traditional chocolates, healthy snacks, souvenirs, and other items will be handed out to guests. Costumes encouraged!

The Haunted Toy Shop
Where: Bradley Farm in Herndon
When: October 24 & 25
Admission: $5

Looking for a some spine tingling fun this Halloween? The Bradley Farm Haunted House promises everyone a ghoulishly fun time, and for a good cause — proceeds from the community fundraising event help Herndon – Reston FISH bring emergency help to folks in our community. This year’s “Haunted Toy Shop” theme promises fright and fun! On Friday and Saturday evening from 6-10pm, it offers a dark and scary adventure that’s perfect for tweens, teenagers, and adults. For the younger crowd, there’s a non-scary version on Saturday afternoon from 1-5pm that will include trick-or-treating inside the haunted house for children 10 and under. Local vendors have provided many giveaways for “monsters” to hand out to the children along the haunt. After you brave the Haunted House, visit the concession stand to chase away your “chills” with warm caramel apples and hot cider. Food and entertainment will also round out the fun.

Spooky Trick-or-Treat
Where: Rhode Island Row
When: October 25, 4-6pm
Admission: Free

Head to DC’s Brentwood neighborhood for a center-wide trick-or-treating event. Kids can enjoy free face painting, balloon artists, and live entertainment, while they also trick-or-treat at restaurants and retailers. Rhode Island Row is a new urban community of apartments, restaurants, shops, and a Main Street scene located at 2300 Washington Place NE.

Halloween Carnival
Where: Falls Church
When: October 25, 6-8:30pm
Admission: $2/children ages 2 and up (adults free)

The City of Falls Church is scaring up family fun at the annual Halloween Carnival that’s been running for over 30 years! Take a frightful walk down a Haunted Trail, then shake out the Halloween jitters in the Moon Bounce. If scary dares are not for you, enjoy the many carnival games and craft activities that are sure to provide a great time for children and parents alike. Halloween candy and snacks will be plentiful, with far more treats than tricks. A live Creepy Creature Show featuring some of Mother Nature’s spookiest critters will take place twice during the evening, once at 6:30pm and again 7:30pm, and is suitable for all ages.

Halloweenville
Where: Village at Leesburg
When: October 25, 3-7pm
Admission: Free

You know Fido is dying to debut his Halloween costume early, so bring him to this pet-friendly Monster Mash celebration and enter him into the pet costume contest! The rest of the family can enjoy free hayrides, costume contests, trick-or-treating, and plenty of other (not so) frightful fun!

Haunted Hangar
Where: College Park Aviation Museum
When: October 25, 7-9pm
Admission: $4/adults, $3/seniors, $2/ages 2-18, free for under 2

Wear your costume and enjoy fun fall themed activities. Explore the museum’s gallery and all of its hidden haunts. Arts, crafts, hayrides, and spooky fun are waiting for kids and families.

Air and Scare
Where: Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air & Space Museum
When: October 25, 2-7pm
Admission: Free, but parking is $15 until 6pm

Discover the spooky side of air and space at the Udvar-Hazy Center’s 10th Annual Air & Scare! Arrive in costume for safe indoor trick-or-treating. Participate in creepy crafts, spooky science experiments, and other Halloween-themed activities. Bring the tiniest visitors by the Tot Zone to play dress-up and hear a story. Be sure to pose for a photo with your favorite Star Wars or Ghostbuster character!

Glen Echo Fall Frolic
Where: Glen Echo Park
When: October 25, 1-4pm
Admission: Free, but small cost for some activities

It’s a safe and fun Halloween event with something for everyone! Explore the arts through hands-on crafts, Halloween activities, and performances at Glen Echo’s annual celebration. There will be pumpkin decorating and face painting ($1 fee for pumpkin; $1-2 for face painting) and other craft activities, including decorating trick-or-treat bags to use in the Park. And new this year are pumpkin-themed kiddie games with prizes. The Halloween celebration will end with a costume parade through the Park at 3:30pm.

Trick or Treat with the Boo-tiques
Where: Old Town Boutique District in Alexandria
When: October 25, 11am – 6pm
Admission: Free

Bring your little ghosts and goblins for a day of trick or treat in the Old Town Boutique District. The OTBD’s annual Trick or Treat with the Boutiques event is a great way for families to enjoy a safe and fun Halloween day in Old Town Alexandria. All of the participating OTBD stores will offer treats, and some may also offer family-friendly tricks. Halloween costumes are encouraged. Tricks and treats will be available during the day and during store hours.

Spooky Science
Where: Maryland Science Center
When: October 25, 12-4pm
Admission: $16.95/adult, $13.95/ages 3-12

Celebrate the chills and thrills of Halloween at MSC’s 6th annual Spooky Science, where creepy chemistry and mysterious science combine to provide a hauntingly good time. There will be hair-raising activities, creepy crafts, and fangtastic demonstrations. Visitors can look forward to making gooey, glowing slime, decorating pumpkins and trick or treat bags, playing mummy bowling, and exploring mystery boxes filled with eerie items. Save room for more spooky fun with Reptiles Alive! Their live animal show will feature slithering snakes, terrifying toads, beaded dragons and more. Shows will be at 1pm and 3pm. Costumes encouraged!

Falloween Family Festival
Where: Port Discovery
When: October 25, 10am – 4:30pm
Admission: $13.95/ages 2 and up

Dress the kids up in their favorite costumes and join Port Discovery’s annual festival! Enjoy not-so-scary, family friendly programs and performances include nature-themed activities, crafts, tutu making, wildlife adventures, spooky science, live entertainment, and more.

Haunted Chocolate House Workshop
Where: Tudor Place
When: October 25, 1:30-3pm
Admission: $12/members, $15/non-members, $3/adults

Enjoy a Spooktacular family friendly tour through the historic gardens. After the tour, children participate in a chilling chocolate workshop to create their own 3D haunted chocolate houses to take home! Recommended for ages 5 and up.

Monster Mash
Where: National Children’s Museum
When: October 25, 10am – 4pm
Admission: $10, under 12 months are free

Wear your favorite costume for a day of non-spooky fun! The NCM is planning special Halloween programming, including a dance party, and hands-on activities like making masks, bats, spiders, and paper bag pumpkins, and much more! If that’s not enough, the Museum’s theatre staff will debut a brand new show, The Adventures of L.G. and I.F. I.F. will show L.G. what can happen when we use our imaginations to play – no tablets, no phones, no TVs required, just imagination and you!

Falloween
Where: Market Common Clarendon
When: October 25, 10am – 1pm
Admission: Free

Enjoy some Halloween and fall fun at the shopping center, a petting zoo, face painting, the festive photo stop, pumpkin decorating, treats and tastes from restaurants and retailers and much more! Don’t miss featured musical performances are by DC-region favorites, Mr. Knick Knack at 10am and Rocknoceros at 11:45am.

Crime Museum Halloween – Just for Kids!
Where: National Museum of Crime & Punishment
When: October 26, 1-5pm
Admission: $10/costumed child, $10/adults accompanying children

Batman, Wonder Woman, police officers, and all other costumed characters can enjoy a day of Halloween fun at this Penn Quarter museum. Festivities include a regular museum tour, Police Academy Jr. Activity Sheet, McGruff the Crime Dog appearances, finger print identification cards, candy, and more.

NSO Family Concert: Halloween Whodunit
Where: Kennedy Center
When: October 26
Admission: $15-18

There’s a mystery in the Concert Hall on All Hallows’ Eve! For this frightfully fun third chapter in the NSO’s popular Spooktacular concert series, don your freaky-deakiest costumes and join all the ghoulishly attired musicians for a wickedly wacky, music-filled whodunit. When the NSO’s Stephen Dumaine alerts the orchestra that his tuba has been stolen, NSO Assistant Conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl asks the audience to help them rewind time, follow the clues, lure out the “thief,” and crack the case! Go early for trick-or-treating and a special Haunted Hall Musical Instrument “Petting Zoo.” Then take your seats for spine-tingling classics, including Adam Glaser’s March of the Little Goblins, the “Infernal Dance” from Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird, and Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, plus new favorites like “Let It Go” from Frozen, a special appearance by 13-year-old NSO Youth Fellow and tuba player Diego Stine, and plenty of Halloween surprises!

Family Halloween Party
Where: Courtyard Marriott Navy Yard
When: October 26
Admission: Free

The Waterfront Church invites families to join them for an evening of good, clean fun. There will be games, pumpkin painting, candy and more. Enjoy a safe, fun, local, and free fun event for kids.

Halloween at the Harbor
Where: National Harbor
When: October 26, 11am – 2pm
Admission: Free

Join the Spooktacular family event that will include activities for everyone. Go trick-or-treating at select stores and restaurants. Visit the Pumpkin Patch at the Miller Farms Farmer’s Market to buy a jack-o-lanter-to-be. Enjoy a showing of Hocus Pocus on the Plaza Big Screen (movie will begin at 11:15am). And take advantage of free rides on the Capital Wheel for kids 12 and under dressed in costume (with adult purchase)!

Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon
Where: Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens
When: October 31, gates open at 3:30
Admission: $10/adult, $5/child

Join Mount Vernon’s costumed cast for a special opportunity to trick-or-treat in the historic area. Guests can participate in a Halloween craft activity in the greenhouse; go on a scavenger hunt; view special trade demos, like 18th-century wool carding, spinning, and fish net making. There will also be Halloween-themed stories in the straw bale amphitheater, colonial games, dancing demonstrations, and wagon rides. All young guests are invited to join in the children’s costume parade around the Mansion at 6pm. Prizes will be awarded for the best “George” and “Martha” costumes!

Hilloween
Where: 7th Street SE in front of Eastern Market
When: October 31, 5:30-7:30pm
Admission: Free

Capitol Hill’s annual event is a legendary neighborhood event for little ones. The block of 7th Street SE next to Eastern Market will be closed to traffic for one of the best community Halloween celebrations in the city. Hayrides, moon bounces, goody giveaways, and even a mini carousel add to the excitement. The best part is seeing the masses of jubilant kids in all kinds of costumes indulging in the extravaganza.

Halloween Yoga
Where: lil omm
When: November 1, 2:30-3:30pm
Admission: $20/family

Do some post-Halloween poses to work all the frights out. It’s an Oh-So-Omm Halloween party for families with kiddos ages 2 and up. Kids are encouraged to wear costumes for the afternoon of spirited yoga, dance, and movement with lil omm friends, Pleasance and Rhiannon. Be sure to register in advance!

Dia de los Muertos
Where: National Museum of the American Indian
When: November 1-2
Admission: Free

Join the American Indian museum for its annual Día de los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”), a celebration originating in Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Central America, to commemorate the lives of the dearly departed and welcome the return of their spirits. Learn and take part in this centuries-old tradition, which includes pre-Hispanic and Spanish customs alike.

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