Your guide to D.C.'s best fall festivals
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Oktoberfest at The Wharf brings on the dashing dachshunds. Photo: Courtesy of The Wharf
Fall is peak festival season in the DMV.
Why it matters: There's something for everyone — families, doggos, music and food fans, art lovers and, naturally, so many Oktoberfests.
Here are festivals you won't want to miss:
Key: 🎉 party, 🎨 artsy, 🎶 music, 🍂 outdoorsy, 😋 foodie, 👶 kid-friendly, 🐶 pet-friendly
🎨🎶 | Now-Oct. 11 | Tickets $25-$65
- Think Restaurant Week for theater geeks. Snag discounted $25, $45 and $65 tickets to musicals, dramas, comedies and more across the region, plus free events around town.
- New this year: Nearly 45 area restaurants are offering specially priced theater menus or late-night bites.
🍂🎶🎉🐶 | Now-Oct. 11 | Free entry
- NoMa's Bavarian beer garden is celebrating its 11th Oktoberfest with four weekends of German brews, live music, DJs, stein-holding contests and themed parties.
- Look for DOGtoberfest, PRIDEtoberfest, Oktoberfest markets and plenty of opportunities to break out the lederhosen.
Butler's Orchard Pumpkin Festival
🍂👶 | Now-Nov. 1 | Tickets $12-$20 online
- All the fall fun is here — pumpkin picking, hayrides, corn pool, farm animals and more. Peak weekends get packed, so book ahead.
🍂🎶👶 | Weekends through Oct. 25 | Tickets $17-$31+
- Revel Grove is celebrating its 50th season with jousting, turkey legs, costumes and general medieval merriment.
- Tickets are date-specific and online only.
🍂👶 | Select dates through Nov. 8 | Tickets $15-$30
- Northern Virginia's fall fun behemoth packs in giant slides, a "world-famous" hayride, farm animals, a cornfield adventure, fresh cider and the gloriously weird Foamhenge.
- Tickets are online-only and can sell out on busy weekends.
Fall Festival at Magnolia Meadow Farms
🍂👶 | Weekends through Nov. 1 | Tickets $17 online
- The home of Maryland's biggest corn maze goes all out for autumn with pumpkin picking, apple cannons, hayrides, farm animals and more than 20 activities.
- Feeling brave? The maze stays open after dark for Moonlit Maze nights Oct. 10 and 24.
😋🎶👶 | Oct. 3 | Free admission; food tickets extra
- Eat your way through Woodmont Triangle at the 34th annual food fest, featuring Bethesda restaurants, four stages of entertainment and kids activities.
- Food samples cost one to four tickets, sold in bundles of five for $10.
🎉🎶👶 | Oct. 3 | Free
- Celebrate D.C.'s musical legacy at this outdoor festival at Alethia Tanner Park, with performances spanning jazz, go-go, hip-hop, soul and more, plus a record fair, kids zone, food and local vendors.
😋🎉👶🐶 | Oct. 3 | Free
- The can't-miss Wiener 500 Dachshund Dash makes this one of the city's cutest Oktoberfest celebrations.
- Also on tap: stein-hoisting, beer and plenty of lederhosen on District Pier.
Mount Vernon Fall Wine Festival
😋🍂 | Oct. 9-11 | Tickets $51+
- Sip Virginia wines on George Washington's lawn overlooking the Potomac, with live music and rare after-hours access to the Mansion.
🎨🎶😋👶 | Oct. 10 | Free
- The 50th annual festival takes over historic downtown Fairfax with 400-plus arts, crafts and food vendors, multiple stages of entertainment, kids activities and beer gardens.
😋🎉🎶 | Oct. 10 | Tickets vary
- D.C.'s beastliest beer festival returns to Pennsylvania Avenue for its 14th year, pouring 450-plus beers and ciders from 166 American and international producers alongside food trucks and two stages of live music.
😋🎉 | Oct. 11 | Tickets vary
- The Salt Line's waterfront oyster bash brings together 10 East Coast oyster farms and top local chefs for an afternoon of slurping and snacking, plus plenty of seafood-friendly drinks.
- A portion of ticket sales benefits the Oyster Recovery Partnership, which works to restore oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay.
Shuck It! Oyster & Beer Festival
😋🎉🎶 | Oct. 17 | Tickets $75
- The 13th annual Georgetown waterfront shuckfest brings together oysters, local beer and wine, barbecue favorites and live music at Tony and Joe's. FYI: This one's 21+.
😋🎶🎨👶 | Oct. 18 | Free
- Take a trip to Türkiye without leaving Pennsylvania Avenue: The annual cultural fest brings Turkish food, coffee, live music, folk dancing, arts and crafts and kids activities downtown.
🎶👶 | Nov. 7 | Free
- Everyone's invited to AdMo's neighborhood-wide music party, with stages popping up on porches and patios and outside local businesses for an afternoon of free live music.