Weekend Picks October 14-16

(Photo: StrangeCosmos)

Friday, Saturday & Sunday Sugarloaf Crafts Festival will take over Montgomery County Fairgrounds. More than 200 exhibits will showcase the high-quality work of independent artisans from across the U.S., as well as local up-and-coming talent. You’ll find an extensive array of contemporary alternative clothing designers, fine artists, metal workers, leather workers and more, each with handmade craftwork for both everyday use and special occasions. Free parking, kids 12 and under are free, $8 online / $10 at the door for others.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday NSO Pops: Cirque de la Symphonie: Halloween Extravaganza at The Kennedy Center is back by popular demand! Spooky fun abounds as Cirque de la Symphonie wows with sensational acrobatics and powerful music in a new Halloween-themed spectacular. Bring the whole family for this breathtaking and lively high-flying display.2 hour show, purchase tickets online.

Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am-7:00pm Maryland Renaissance Festival will be joisting and serving up lots of turkey legs weekends through October 23.  The festival is free to children 11 and under. Take a time machine back to medieval times. With plenty of entertainment, including music, joisting, puppetry, pony rides and so much more. Your children will see people dressed up in 16th century outfits. Dress like a knight and come participate!

Saturday & Sunday hop on the Wheaton Haunted Train and Creepy Carousel. If you enjoy heart-racing, adrenalin-pumping, throat-constricting Halloween activities, we have a train (and carousel) for you. Who–or WHAT?–lurks in the dark Wheaton woods as you ride the Haunted Train? And what’s that perched on the ghostly horse silently screaming next to you on the Creepy Carousel? We promise to do our very best to scare the pants (metaphorically speaking) off you. We’ll show free frightening movies, and have snacks for sale, too. Purchase tickets online.

Saturday & Sunday hop on the Eye Spy Train at Cabin John Regional Park. Looking for something fun to do this Halloween that won’t give your younger kids nightmares? Ride the “Eye Spy” Halloween Train at Cabin John Regional Park! Your kids will have fun looking for familiar friends and animals hiding in the woods and marking them off their “Eye Spy” card, while you sit back and enjoy the ride! A not-so-scary train for kids under 8. Purchase tickets online.

Saturday & Sunday you can fly high celebrating Maryland Fleet Week & Air Show in Baltimore.

Friday-

6:00pm-9:00pm: Spooky SPY Family Night at International Spy Museum
(800 F Street, NW  Washington, DC)
Ditch your Halloween costume and change your whole identity! 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 afterhours 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, explore all forms of spy tradecraft, and enjoy SPY snacks. Come in disguise as your favorite spy! Ages: 5 and up (one adult required for every five KidSpy agents)* Space is limited—advance registration required.  *Includes exclusive after-hours admission, SPY snacks, scavenger hunt, prize competitions, and more!

7:30pm-9:30pm: Hocus Pocus Movie at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park
(13220 Yates Ford Rd Clifton, VA 20124)
Join Adventure Links for our October Halloween Movie Night series under the stars at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park! Every Friday night in October we’ll be showing a halloween movie on our outdoor movie screen. Bring a blanket and enjoy a free movie! Upcoming shows: October 21st – The Nightmare Before Christmas & October 28th – The Blair Witch Project.

Saturday-

8:30am-9:30am: Capoeira for Kids Ages 3.5-7 at Bloombars
(3222 11th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001)
Capoeira provides physical fitness for children, ages 4 and up. It is intended to be a no- to low-contact martial art that helps children with gross motor planning and gross motor skills. Children will also learn maculele (a dance done hitting sticks against your partner’s sticks), samba, capoeira instruments, and Portuguese through this fun, interactive class.
Classes are $15 each or $120 for a series of ten classes.

9:30am-10:30am: Harambe with Baba Ras D at Bloombars
(3222 11th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001)
Think of it as your little one’s first opportunity to express his or her voice (into a microphone), dance, play a drum or percussion instrument, shout, or sing-along to songs that build character, confidence and community.With more than 10 years of experience in youth development, education and conflict resolution, program instructor Baba Ras D’s “Harambe” is a morning jolt of inspiration for parents, caregivers and children. Recommended for ages 0 to 7 years.  $7 per child $3 per adult suggested donation.

9:30am AND 11:00am: Valerie Branch “The People We Meet & The Friends We Keep” at National Theatre
(1321 Pennsylvania Ave NW)
Valerie Branch uses contemporary dance to focus on creating and sustaining healthy relationships between peers, family members, the new people we meet, and those within our surrounding communities. Families will have an interactive performance experience as they are invited to think about solutions to problems between friends, explore body movements for self-expression, and use elements viewed in the performance to choreograph their own dance sequence based on what they believe it would take to create and sustain healthy relationships. Tickets will go on sale at 10:00am the Friday a week prior to the performance. Click on the link to reserve tickets, and review our ticketing policies.

10:00am-3:00pm: Wildlife Festival at Patuxent Research Refugee
(10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop Laurel, MD 20708)
Discover groundbreaking research conducted at Patuxent! Activities include live animal displays, children’s crafts, tram tours, research exhibits, and behind-the-scenes tours of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to see endangered whooping cranes and much more!

10:00am-2:00pm: Truck Touch at Suburban Nursery School
(7210 Hidden Creek Rd., Bethesda, MD)
Halloween meets trucks! Enjoy spooktacular treats, pumpkin decorating, bounce house and many, many trucks.

10:00am-4:00pm: The Big Build at The National Building Museum
(401 F Street NW Washington, D.C. 20001)
Each year at the Big Build, amateur builders young and old can discover what it’s like to build a brick wall, carve stone, hammer nails, and much more as they work side-by-side with designers, builders, and artisans demonstrating their skills. You can meet plumbers, ironworkers, landscape architects, woodworkers, and experts in many other fields to learn about their professions and hobbies. A free hands-on Family Festival of Tools, Trucks, and Construction.

10:30am: Jammin Java’s 15th Anniversary Party with Rocnoceros
(227 Maple Ave E Vienna, VA 22180)
Fifteen years ago the Brindley Brothers started Jammin Java, and with the support of the amazing JJ staff and live music fans like you, it has become one of the premier nightclubs in the country! Join us as we celebrate Jammin Java’s 15th Anniversary with special concerts and parties all day and night! With the pending release of Plymouth Rockers, the band’s fifth record, Rocknoceros have hit their creative peak. The new batch of songs entertain and educate in equal measure. So Come to Jammin’ Java and help them celebrate the release of their new record!

10:30am-11:30am: Harambe with Baba Ras D at Bloombars
(3222 11th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001)
Think of it as your little one’s first opportunity to express his or her voice (into a microphone), dance, play a drum or percussion instrument, shout, or sing-along to songs that build character, confidence and community.With more than 10 years of experience in youth development, education and conflict resolution, program instructor Baba Ras D’s “Harambe” is a morning jolt of inspiration for parents, caregivers and children. Recommended for ages 0 to 7 years.  $7 per child $3 per adult suggested donation.

10:30am-11:15am: Saturday Song Circle at Imagination Stage
(4908 Auburn Ave Bethesda, Maryland 20814)
You and your child are invited to a fun, interactive musical experience! An Early Childhood Teaching Artist explores a popular children’s book with your family through song and musical instruments, and you will receive a list of all the songs to practice at home. Activities in Saturday Song Circle are best for 1-3 year-olds but 4-5 year-old siblings and friends are also welcome to join in the fun. Featured book: Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

11:00am-4:00pm: Kensington Fall Festival
(10417 Armory Ave. Kensington MD 20895)
Enjoy a day of live music, including The Great Zucchini, food trucks, antiques, face painting, moon bounces, books and craft vendors.

12:00pm-4:00pm: 8th Annual World of Montgomery Street Festival
(Montgomery College Rockville)
Celebrate and explore the rich cultural heritages of the DC Area with international music, food, dance, exhibits and hands-on arts, crafts activities, and more.

Sunday-

10:00am-10:45am: Sunday Fun-Day at Imagination Stage
(4908 Auburn Avenue Bethesda, Maryland 20814)
We invite you and your child to bring your favorite stories to life through dramatic play activities, movement, music, and visual art. Each session you leave with a completed craft, as well as a Parent Pack to extend the experience at home. These popular workshops are themed around beloved children’s books. Activities in Sunday Fun-Day are most appropriate to 3-5 year-olds but 1-2 year-old siblings and friends are also welcome!Good Night Galaxy is the story this weekend. $8 per person.

3:00pm-4:00pm: Family Concert- Ghoulishly Good Music at Atlas Performing Arts Center
(1333 H Street Northeast Washington, DC, 20002)
Our Family Concerts are always fun, interactive and educational. This year’s program is inspired by the spookiness and fantasy of Halloween, so come in costume to join in the fun! Face the ghosts and ghouls of Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre and Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, or enter the fairy tale world of Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Along the way you’ll learn how the instruments of the orchestra combine to bring these amazing stories to life. Conducted by Victoria Gau. Join us 30 minutes before show time to meet the musicians at our Instrument Petting Zoo. You just might discover your new favorite instrument. Adult tickets $25, student tickets $15, FREE tickets for kids age 16 or under