Here’s comes Columbus Day — or Indigenous People’s Day — weekend. The nearest parade honoring the Great Admiral is in Baltimore’s Little Italy. Closer to home, one can drink Argentinian wines, eat Salvadorean-inspired plant-based foods, chat with crafters in Del Ray and have your animals blessed in Georgetown. For more October events, visit The Georgetowner’s online calendar.
‘Como agua para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate)’
A dash of romance, a sprinkle of comedy and lots of quail, chile, mole and rose petals create an intense world of passion in this play, based on the novel by Laura Esquivel, performed in Spanish with English surtitles at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Final performances are: Thursday, Oct. 4, Friday, Oct. 5, and Saturday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $48. For details, visit en.galatheatre.org or call 202-234-7174.
Opening Reception: ‘Vienna Gold’
Arlington Artists Alliance will hold a free opening reception for “Vienna Gold: Inspired by Klimt” at Gallery Underground in Crystal City Shops, 2100 Crystal Drive in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. Gustav Klimt led the Vienna Secession art movement that rebelled against the classical style of painting prevalent in Europe in the late 1800s. For details, visit galleryunderground.org or call 571-483-0652.
Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood at Strathmore
Also on Friday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m., Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, Maryland, presents “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” cast members Mochrie and Sherwood in a live version of the improv-comedy TV show. Tickets are $34 to $64. For details, visit strathmore.org or call 301-581-5100.
Shake Up Your Saturdays at the Folger
The Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE, invites area children and their families to have fun learning and sharing Shakespeare’s language. The program on Saturday, Oct. 6, free with RSVP, is themed “Deception & Disguise.” Hour-long sessions begin at 10 a.m. (ages 4 to 7) and 11 a.m. (ages 7 to 11). For details, visit folger.edu or call 202-544-4600.
Art on the Avenue
This multicultural arts and music festival in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, features silversmiths, beaders, woodworkers, pottery makers, soap crafters, glass makers, painters, sculptors and fabric artists, along with food vendors and live Irish, folk, rock and country music. Kids can stuff a scarecrow, paint a pumpkin, design lotus flowers and weave screen art. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mt. Vernon Avenue between Bellefonte and Hume Avenues. For details, visit artontheavenue.org.
Catena Zapata Wine Tasting
On Saturday, Oct. 6, from 1 to 3 p.m., nine of the best wines from Argentina’s Bodega Catena Zapata — known for discovering high-altitude terroirs in the Andean foothills — will be poured and paired with Argentine dishes at Ris, 2275 L St. NW. The menu includes asado with chimichurri sauce, sweetbreads, lamb and squid. Tickets are $35. For details, visit eventbrite.com.
DC Vegan Foodie Night
Dwell DC’s Red Brick Carriage House, in the alley of the 1200 block of Florida and Trinidad Avenues NE, hosts a vegan foodie night on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. Chef V will share Salvadorean-inspired plant-based foods, along with a message of compassion and love for all. The menu includes vegan pupusas con curtido, savory and sweet empanadas and dairy-free desserts. There will also be aguas frescas and music. Tickets are $20 (or sliding-scale pay-what-you-can). For details, visit eventbrite.com or call/text 571-355-9256.
Baltimore Columbus Day Parade
Those wishing to celebrate Columbus Day can join Baltimore’s Italian community on Sunday, Oct. 7, for the nation’s longest-running parade and commemoration of its kind, now in its 128th year. The festivities include a 9:30 a.m. Mass at Saint Leo’s Church, 227 S. Exeter St.; an 11 a.m. wreath-laying at Christopher Columbus Piazza, corner of President Street and Eastern Avenue; and the parade itself, stepping off at 1 p.m. from Lot C of Oriole Park and ending in Little Italy with a wine festival and outdoor dining. For details, visit promotioncenterforlittleitaly.org.
Blessing of the Animals
Honoring the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3240 O St. NW, will hold its yearly Blessing of the Animals — organized by lover of four-legged souls Mary Bird — on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. on the lawn (inside, if it rains). Treats are courtesy of the Cheeky Puppy and G’Town Bites. Capital Canines and the Washington Animal Rescue League will be on hand. For details, visit stjohnsgeorgetown.org or call 202-338-1796.
Independent Schools 101
On Sunday, Oct. 7, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., CONNECTdmv — a nonprofit dedicated to helping close the access and opportunities gaps for students of color — will hold an independent-school information session at Sidwell Friends School, 3825 Wisconsin Ave. NW, with a keynote by Ned Johnson, author of “The Self-Driven Child,” and a panel of parents, students and faculty. There will be two simultaneously sessions, one for parents and one for students. Admission is free. For details, visit eventbrite.com or email Patricia Potts at ppotts.connectdmv@gmail.com.
Music of the Scottish Isles
Julie Fowlis — known for her exquisite voice, interpretation of Scottish Gaelic culture and ability to bring folk music out of the past and into our times — will give a free performance at the National Gallery of Art, 401 Constitution Ave. NW, on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 3:30 p.m. For details, visit nga.gov or call 202-737-4215.
Marina Tsvetaeva Birthday Poetry Reading
On Monday, Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m., the Russian Chamber Art Society will celebrate the birthday of Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941) with a reading of her poems in English translation and in the original Russian by Uli Zislin, founder of the Washington Museum of Russian Poetry and Music, and others at Bridge Street Books, 2814 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission, including birthday cake, is free. For details, call 202-965-5200.