Key Takeaways
- Halloween lands on Saturday, October 31: Yebba headlines The Anthem at the Southwest Waterfront at 8 PM, Stamp & Scream fills the National Postal Museum on Capitol Hill from 11 AM to 3 PM free with a costume parade, and Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon runs 2 to 5 PM in Fairfax County
- Friday kicks off with Jukebox the Ghost's "HalloQueen" show at the 9:30 Club in the Shaw neighborhood of DC at 6 PM, Hudson Westbrook at The Anthem at 7 PM, and the three-night Trick or Drink DC bar crawl starting at the Sudhouse on U Street NW
- Sunday shifts to Día de los Muertos: the free Celebración at The Wharf on District Pier runs 3 to 6 PM with music, face painting, sugar skull decorating, and a community light procession, while Congressional Cemetery hosts its community ofrenda from 11 AM to 3 PM
- Family picks include Kidchella's Halloween edition at Arena Stage on Saturday from 10 AM to noon, the free Navy Concert Band Halloween show at Union Station on Friday at noon, and Mall-O-Ween trick-or-treating at Dulles Town Center on Friday from 4 to 6 PM
- Sunday the Capitals host the Minnesota Wild at Capital One Arena at 3:30 PM, FRESHFARM's Dupont Circle Farmers Market runs 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, and Butler's Orchard Pumpkin Festival in Germantown closes its season
Looking for things to do this weekend in the DMV? Halloween lands on Saturday, October 31, and the region leans in: Yebba plays The Anthem at the Southwest Waterfront, kids can trick-or-treat at Mount Vernon and the National Postal Museum on Capitol Hill, and Día de los Muertos celebrations close the weekend at The Wharf and Congressional Cemetery. Here is the day-by-day guide to October 30 through November 1.
Friday, October 30
Friday starts at noon with a free one: the Navy Concert Band plays a spooky Halloween concert in the East Hall of Union Station, right at the edge of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Then the music moves to night stages. Jukebox the Ghost brings its "HalloQueen" set to the 9:30 Club at 815 V Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood at 6 PM, while Hudson Westbrook plays The Anthem at 901 Water Street SW on the Southwest Waterfront at 7 PM. Show times are on the 9:30 Club's event calendar and The Anthem's event list.
For adults, the Trick or Drink: Washington DC Halloween Bar Crawl runs all three nights of the weekend, starting at the Sudhouse on U Street NW on Friday, and Dacha Beer Garden on 7th Street NW in Shaw hosts its own Halloween bar crawl the same night. Tickets and route details are on the Trick or Drink DC event page. Families in Loudoun County, Virginia can hit Mall-O-Ween at Dulles Town Center from 4 to 6 PM for storefront trick-or-treating, face painting, and magicians. The full roundup of the region's Halloween offerings is on Washington.org's Halloween and Día de los Muertos guide.
Saturday, October 31 (Halloween)
Halloween in DC starts early for families. Kidchella runs its Halloween edition at Arena Stage at 1101 Sixth Street SW from 10 AM to noon, and the National Postal Museum at 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE hosts Stamp & Scream from 11 AM to 3 PM: spooky stamps, artmaking, and a costume parade, all free. The museum sits on the edge of the Hill near Union Station, and Claude's Capitol Hill neighborhood guide maps the blocks from Eastern Market to Congressional Cemetery if the day turns into a house-hunting stroll.
In Fairfax County, Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon celebrates an 18th-century Halloween from 2 to 5 PM, with kids eating free at the Mount Vernon Inn afterward from 5 to 8 PM. Details are on the Mount Vernon event page.
Halloween night belongs to the stages and the waterfront. Yebba plays The Anthem at 8 PM, The Army, The Navy takes the 9:30 Club at 6 PM with Holywatr closing the night at 11 PM, and Judah & the Lion plays a Halloween-night show at The Fillmore Silver Spring in downtown Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. Over at the Navy Yard, the Navy Yard DC Halloween Bar Fest gives adults a costume-party option near the Anacostia River.
Sunday, November 1
Sunday turns the page to Día de los Muertos. The free Celebración Día de los Muertos at The Wharf fills District Pier from 3 to 6 PM with live music, cultural performances, face painting, and sugar skull decorating, closing with a community light procession organized with Fiesta DC. Full details are on The Wharf's Día de los Muertos page. Across town, Congressional Cemetery at 1801 E Street SE on Capitol Hill hosts its free community-built ofrenda in the historic chapel from 11 AM to 3 PM, its third year running, listed on the Congressional Cemetery events page.
Sports and slow mornings round out the day. The Capitals host the Minnesota Wild at Capital One Arena at 3:30 PM, FRESHFARM's Dupont Circle Farmers Market runs 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, and Undertale Live: The Determination Symphony plays The Anthem at 3 PM. In Montgomery County, Maryland, the Butler's Orchard Pumpkin Festival in Germantown closes its season Sunday, and the FRESHFARM market page lists every market across the region.
Between the costume parades, the bar crawls, and the ofrendas, this is the DMV at its most civic and most festive. Every part of the region celebrates a little differently, and the market varies just as much, so Claude's county-by-county breakdown of DC, Montgomery, and Fairfax is a useful reality check, and the buying guide walks through the whole search if a weekend visit turns into something more. Last week's weekend guide covered the Marine Corps Marathon and shows at The Anthem, so you can compare one October weekend to the next.
Claude Labbe
REALTOR · Douglas Elliman · DC, MD, VA
A Washington, DC metro REALTOR with more than two decades in real estate. Douglas Elliman's Washington DC office is at 1027 33rd St NW in Georgetown.