Happy Monday, DC! Jumpstart your Halloween and Día de los Muertos celebrations this week at a pumpkin fest or museum party. Also, the Home Rule Music Festival arrives in DC for part two of its annual outdoor concert.   Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend October 21–October 27 Home Rule Music Festival. Don’t miss part two of the Home Rule Music Festival’s bumping beats at Alethia Tanner Park. This celebration of DC’s musical legacy—formerly scheduled for July—was postponed to this weekend due to the summer heat wave. The fall concert arrives at the Parks at Walter Reed to showcase jazz, funk, and go-go performances from local groups including The Experience Band & Show and Be’la Dona. Also, festival-goers can shop at a record fair, order snacks from food trucks, and shop merchandise at vendor tents (Sat, free, $75 for VIP, Northeast DC).  PumpkinPalooza. There’s a lot of fall cheer and entertainment for kids, adults, and pets at Alethia Tanner Park. Kiddos can pick pumpkins, participate in henna art and face painting, meet baby alpacas, and enjoy appearances from Despicable Me movie characters. There’s a movie screening of Monsters Inc., and a Red Bear Brewing pop-up beer garden for adults (Thurs, free, NoMa). Día de los Muertos Family Day. Move your feet with Mexican folk dancers Corazon Folklorico, listen to a mariachi performance by Mariachi Aguila DC, and see a showcase of Latin American music and dance with Sol y Rumba at Día de los Muertos Family Day. Kids can participate in face painting, and all ages are welcome to make crafts and search for Día de los Muertos-themed items throughout the museum’s collections (Sat, free, Smithsonian American Art Museum). Nightmare in Navy Yard. If you are looking for a big weekend party, Navy Yard’s bash at Capital Turnaround is an option. This major dance jam boasts two dance floors with fog and laser shows, more than 50 animatronics, two DJs, an open bar, and food trucks. New this season, guests can visit the art zone for live painting, podcasting, and virtual reality on Meta Quest 3 (Sat, $50+, Navy Yard). Fidelio opera. Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, gets an exciting revamp by the Washington National Opera (WNO) at the Kennedy Center. The new production tells the classic tale of a political prisoner and his wife in a more modern way. The original opera is set in the 19th century, while the WNO’s revival is set in the 1950s. This is the first collaboration between WNO artistic director Francesca Zambello and music director designate Robert Spano (Fri through November 4, $45+, Kennedy Center). “Art and Graphic Design of the European Avant-Gardes.” This inaugural exhibit coincides with the opening of the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery at John Hopkins University. Art admirers can discover more than 75 rare works including art books, photography, and ephemera from Russia, Ukraine, Eastern and Central Europe, and the Baltics dating to the early- to mid-20th century (opens Wed, free, Northwest DC). Silver Spring Zombie Walk. Ghouls, witches, zombies, and other bone-chilling terrors will be roaming the streets of Silver Spring for the neighborhood’s annual costumed night. Due to construction, the Zombie Walk will be more of a gathering this year. The community night kicks off at Ellsworth Plaza with a DJ dance party, followed by an after-party at Quarry House Tavern. Also, moviegoers can watch a screening of the classic thriller Shaun of the Dead at AFI Silver Theatre (Sat, free for the gathering, $8+ for movie tickets, Silver Spring). RelatedOctober Culture Guide: 58 Things to Do in the DC Area Want More Things to Do? Arts and culture: A haunted house, multiple escape rooms, and a ton of scary attractions are now open at Laurel’s House of Horror (select dates through November 2, $34+, Laurel). Make patches and buttons at the library in celebration of 10 years of the DC Punk Archive (Tues, free, Mount Pleasant). Olympian Katie Ledecky discusses her new memoir, Just Add Water, with news host Jen Psaki at Lisner Auditorium (Tues, $45 for ticket and book, George Washington University). Observe a live mural painting, meet a drawing robot, and sit in on talks about art, science, and food as part of the DC Walls Festival (Thurs, free, Union Market). Put your pumpkin-carving skills to the test to win a prize at Quincy Hall (Sun, free, Arlington). Take a Spooky History Tour of the National Building Museum after hours. Plus, there’s a dance party, Halloween costume contest, and craft brews (Thurs, $20, Penn Quarter). Visit Virginia’s Pactamere Farm to eat pumpkin pie and carve pumpkins with cuddly goats (Thurs, $15, Glen Allen). Watch films, join industry discussions, and participate in an art workshop at DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival (Thurs-Sun, $17+, Adams Morgan). Learn how to carve a pumpkin at Right Proper Brewing (Sun, $35, Shaw). Community and heritage: Bring your pups to Met Park for a day of art-making, doggie trick-or-treating, a pet costume contest, and bites from pop-up cafe Rossana (Tues, free, Arlington). Intelligence historian Nigel West debriefs “Russian Assassinations in the UK” at The International Spy Museum (Wed, free, virtual, Southwest DC). Meet Vietnamese diplomats, dine on Southeast Asian cuisine, view a fashion show, and partake in other cultural entertainment at the Embassy of Vietnam (Wed, $64, Kalorama). There will be a giant moon bounce, a magician, a ton of pumpkins, and live music from local band Little Red & the Renegades at Pumpkins in the Park (Sat, free, Capitol Riverfront). Create a mask and watch food demos and dance performances at the Smithsonian’s Día de los Muertos celebration (Sun, free, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian). Theater and shows: Race, identity, and success are themes of The Other Americans at Arena Stage (through November 24, $59+, Southwest DC). The Washington Ballet performs three different dance works in their new show when WE take flight (Thurs-Sun, $25+, Warner Theatre). Travel to Naples with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s romantic production Napoli (Fri-Sun, $62 for in-person, $36 for virtual, Annapolis). Music and concerts: Don’t miss this folk music collaboration with Aoife O’Donovan and Bonny Light Horseman at the Kennedy Center (Tues, $33+, Kennedy Center). Enjoy the symphonies of the Peabody Chamber Orchestra at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center (Tues, free, Northwest DC). Indie rock vocalist Daphne Eckman performs at Pearl Street Warehouse (Thurs, $15+, Wharf). Heist—a Dupont Circle club— is throwing three adults-only Halloween parties (Fri, Sat, October 31, free entry, table reservations $500+, Dupont). Retro music, ’80s costumes, and a Beetlejuice theme are highlights of Black Cat’s Halloween dance party (Sat, $25, Shaw). Pop legend Cyndi Lauper brings her Farewell Tour to Capital One Arena (Sun, $29+, Capital One Arena). This family-friendly musical performance for Halloween will feature a ghostly attired National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michelle Merrill (Sun, $22+, Kennedy Center). Plan ahead: Honor your ancestors and decorate sugar skulls at the Dia De Los Muertos celebration at Historic Congressional Cemetery (November 2, free, but rsvp required, Capitol Hill). Tickets are on sale for DC Central Kitchen’s annual Capital Food Fight fundraiser (November 7, $350+, Wharf). Bites and beverages: Watch a pink-themed fashion show by local designers, and enjoy bites from Hen Quarter Prime to help raise funds for Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Foundation (Fri, free, Southwest DC). Sip unlimited taste of ale from local breweries at the Real-ly Local Ale Festival (Sat, $10+, Northeast DC). Things to do with kids: The Capitol Hill family fright night returns to Eastern Market this weekend (Fri, free, Capitol Hill). Kiddos can eat Halloween treats and explore flight exhibits at Air & Scare (Sat, free, but registration required for outdoor events, Chantilly). Take kids and teens Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon for 18th-century fun (Sat, $25 for kids, $30 for adults, Mount Vernon). Kids (and adults) can compete in a costume contest, and together can decorate trick-or-treat bags for kids at Fall Frolic (Sat, free, Glen Echo). Watch a movie screening of Hocus Pocus 2, and watch a pet parade at Harbor Halloween (Sun, free, National Harbor). If you enjoyed these events, please don’t forget to share this post with a friend on social media, and sign up for our newsletter for more things to do.The post 40 Things to Do in the DC Area This Week and Weekend first appeared on Washingtonian.