Weekend Picks in and around Washington, DC

Tricks & Treats events are not included, click here to see what’s happening this weekend as it relates to Halloween & click here to find out information on Fall farm fun. 

Now in its 11th year, Kids Euro Festival is one of the largest performing arts festivals for children in America, bringing Europe’s most talented children’s entertainers to the DC metro area each fall for two weeks of free performances, concerts, workshops, movies, storytelling, puppetry, dance, magic, and cinema. EuroFest takes place Oct. 20-Nov. 4.

Enjoy fall activities with the whole family at Fall Harvest Family Days at Mount Vernon Saturday & Sunday form 9am-5pm! Take a horse-drawn wagon ride and play colonial games on the bowling green before heading to the Pioneer Farm to observe 18th-century demonstrations and greet General Washington. Find your way through a straw bale maze and listen to the Itinerant Band play colonial tunes. Sightseeing cruises will be free throughout the weekend (while supplies last). 

Maryland Renaissance Festival is ending this weekend! The Rent Fest will be full of jousting while serving up lots of turkey legs! Take a time machine back to medieval times where you’ll see wizards, knights and wenches. With plenty of entertainment, including music, jousting, mazes, puppetry, pony rides, a huge pirate playground and so much more. Your children will see people dressed up in 16th century outfits and will be begging to participate while staring in awe. Dress like a knight and come participate or just watch! 

Have you entered to win tickets to see Story Pirates in November? It’s not too late!

Saturday

10:00am: Pizza Party at Matchbox
A hands-on pizza making classes will please any small chef. Come in costume and join us for a Halloween-Themed Kids Pizza Party. You’ll enjoy: A chef hat, crayons, and coloring page, a tour of the kitchen and pizza ovens, a pizza class where each child will make a customized personal pizza, a candy table decorated for Halloween with cookie jack o’lanterns for decorating, and a round of complimentary mimosas for the adults. Just $30 per child inclusive of tax and gratuity. Come have a blast with us! Recommended for ages 5-12.

10:00am-4:00pm: Archaeology Family Day
The National Museum of Natural History, the Society for American Archaeology, and Archaeology in the Community invite you to a family-friendly event celebrating International Archaeology Day! Talk to archaeologists. Learn about fascinating finds, career paths, challenges in the field, and the joy of discovery. Do archaeology. Practice the skills archaeologists use to piece together the past. Participate in mock excavations, illustration, decoding ancient writing systems, experimentation and artifact analysis. Explore collections. Examine museum artifacts in the Q?rius Collections Zone. Get resources. Find out about opportunities to get involved in archaeology in your community.

10:00am-1:00pm: Glen Echo: Saturday Art Explorers
Drop in for an art activity and play in the Candy Corner Studio for $5, no need to pre-register. Play on the playground afterwards, look around the Glen Echo Park Aquarium or catch a show at Adventure Theatre or the Puppet Co.

10:15am & 11:30am: Saturday Story Sessions at Strathmore with Baba Jamal Koram: Grio StoryMan
In this delightful, interactive workshop, miniature items and toys creates a captivating story. Parents will take away effective storytelling techniques that can be used at home to promote literacy and other cognitive skills.

10:00am-12:00pm: Michael’s BOO-tiful Crafts
They craft, you shop! Kids 3 and up can enjoy a quick project. Sign up in store or online, or just drop in. $2 per project, ages 3+, supplies included. Parent or guardian must remain on premises during the event.

10:00am AND 12:30pm: Family Crafternoon at AR Workshop Alexandria
Join us and make either of our Trick or Treat Totes at the morning session. Join us for a DIY class to make aCanvas Project! Choose from a Canvas Pillow, Canvas Wall Hanging or a Canvas Tote Bag at the afternoon session and drinks for parents. 

3:00pm-4:30pm: National Conservatory of Arts Open House
Please stop by to try out a new instrument, ask questions, or register for a class. Find out more information about our highly selective, full week,  music based after-school program, the Capital City Music Program.  Which offers comprehensive instruction in instrumental and vocal music, as well as musical theater which features singing, acting, and dance classes. Find out more information about our adult music lessons, music lessons for children, music classes, monthly masterclasses, monthly music theory classes. Find out more information about our no school camps, and other camps and workshops. Please RSVP on our Contact Us page.  

3:00pm-6:00pm: DC Diaper Bank is turning 8!
It’s time to celebrate! Join them at DC Brau Brewing Company for the first ever Diaper Olympics! There will be crafts, birthday cake, amazing beer and you! Bring the kids and your desire to help families. They’re asking you to donate $24 when you get there. That amount will allow them to diaper a baby in need for a month.

Sunday
See all of the fun Halloween events happening

10:00am-12:00pm: Red Panda Art Studio: DIY Halloween
Bambinos will create many different self-portraits in multiple different ways– and we will create a customized name plate wall hanging! This morning session is intended for ages 2 to 6.

11:00am-11:45am: Sunday Funday at Imagination Stage
Your child’s favorite stories will come to life through dramatic play activities, music, movement, and visual art. Each session you leave with a special take-home item we used or created that day, as well as a Parent Pack to extend the experience at home. These popular workshops are themed around beloved children’s books. Featured story: Where the Wild Things Are

11:00am-2:00pm: The Rumpus Room Family Dance Party: Halloween Edition
Welcome to the Rumpus Room, a daytime dance party for families, with sounds provided by DC’s top club DJs (who all happen to be parents themselves). Created by DJs who wanted to share the nightclub experience with their kids, the Rumpus Room adapts the club environment (think disco ball, lights, and of course music) into safe family-friendly fun. Get ready for a dance floor filled with little ones, parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. The soundtrack will be a family-friendly mix of dance hits and classics, all at a kid-friendly volume. We provide the shakers, hula-hoops, beach balls and other props. You come to dance.  Rumpus Room is designed for kids 8 and under and their caregivers, but older siblings are welcome. Drink specials for adults! No adults admitted without a child. Maximum 3 kids per adult. Infants/crawling children enter free. Advance ticket sales end one hour before doors.