Fiesta Baltimore fills Patterson Park on Saturday and Sunday for its eighth year. Saturday afternoon, paddlers in Poe costume push off from Fells Point for the first-ever Edgar Allan Row, which ends at Mr. Trash Wheel. Out in Cooksville, Truck or Treat has kids trick-or-treating at tractors and emergency vehicles on Saturday.
Past those, there's the Maryland State BBQ Championship in Bel Air, live birds of prey at Cromwell Valley, a cannon muster at Hancock's Resolution, Vivaldi for babies at the Meyerhoff, an escape room inside the Peale, and glow-stick nights at Maple Border Farm.
Top Pick
8th Annual Fiesta Baltimore — Patterson Park, 2601 E. Baltimore St, Baltimore City Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM ET | All ages | Free
Baltimore's largest Latino cultural festival brings 20,000-plus people into the park for live music and traditional performances from across Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 50 food vendors, and an artisan market. There's a dedicated kids' zone and cultural exhibits, and the Parade of Latino Nations is part of the weekend.
Quick Weekend Wins
Free, and you can just show up
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Parkville-Carney Festival & Car Show — St. Ursula Church grounds, 8801 Harford Rd, Parkville (Baltimore County) Saturday, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM ET | Free Vendors, food, entertainment, and a car show on the church grounds, with Ms. Dee the Clown and a Kids' Play Zone.
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MD State BBQ Bash — Downtown Bel Air, 2 S Bond St, Bel Air (Harford County) Friday 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM, Saturday 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM ET | Free admission The Maryland State BBQ Championship puts 25-plus competition teams and 40 amateur Tailgate Challenge teams on the same downtown streets, with live music, food trucks, and artisan vendors around them. The Kids Tent on Thomas St, with Empire Dojo and Carnival Colors, runs Friday 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM and Saturday 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET.
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Edgar Allan Row — Baltimore Harbor, launching off Fells Point (S. Ann St & Thames St), Baltimore City Saturday, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET | Free Paddlers in Poe-inspired costume bring their own kayaks, canoes, rowboats, and paddleboards, hear Poe readings as they paddle the harbor, and finish at Mr. Trash Wheel with "The Raven" and a group photo. The Waterfront Partnership's Healthy Harbor Initiative runs this first one, and you can watch from the Fells Point waterfront.
Ticketed This Weekend
Truck or Treat — Gary J. Arthur Community Center, 2400 Route 97, Cooksville (Howard County) Saturday, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM ET | All ages | $5 per child (under 1 free), $2 per adult Kids come in costume, trick-or-treat at trucks, tractors, and emergency vehicles, and meet the people who drive them. Entry is by 75-minute time slot, and slots fill.
Glow in the Dark Night — Maple Border Farm, 3000 White Hall Rd, White Hall (Baltimore County) Friday 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM ET | $15 per person, under 2 free Glow sticks get handed out from 6:00 PM both nights, and the ticket covers the farm's whole fall lineup, including both corn mazes, wagon rides, the corn pool, and rubber duck races.
Budget-Friendly Finds
Fall Harvest Festival featuring Arts in the Park — Cromwell Valley Park, 2175 Cromwell Bridge Rd, Parkville (Baltimore County) Saturday, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM ET | All ages | $6 per vehicle The draw is the live birds-of-prey demonstrations, held to celebrate the fall raptor migration. Fall crafts, live music, food trucks, and Towson Arts Collective vendors fill out the day.
Family Day: Lanterns/Linternas — The Walters Art Museum, 600 N Charles St, Baltimore City Saturday, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET | Free Lantern-making workshops, performances, gallery games, and art activities. Lanterns made at October events can be carried in the Great Baltimore Lantern Parade on Oct 24.
For Toddler Families
Fall Harvest Festival & War of 1812 — Historic Hancock's Resolution, 2795 Bayside Beach Rd, Pasadena (Anne Arundel County) Sunday, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET | Free Kids build a scarecrow, make a corn-husk doll, grind corn into meal, and milk a wooden cow, with wool spinning, a bee demo from a park ranger, and music by the Overtones around them. The Ship's Company also fires a cannon during its War of 1812 militia muster.
Music Box: The Four Seasons — Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St, Baltimore City Saturday, 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM ET | Babies and toddlers | $10 The BSO String Quartet plays Vivaldi for 30 minutes while host Carole Lahan leads movement, storytelling, familiar songs, and imaginative play, with play activities before the concert starts. Seating is on the floor, so bring a blanket.
Tween-Approved
Shadows of The Peale: An Escape Room Experience — The Peale, 225 Holliday St, Baltimore City Running through Oct 25 | Best for ages 10+, groups of 4–8 | Pricing on the Eventbrite listing A one-hour escape room built on the Peale's own history, in which your group hunts for three missing gaslight tubes in Rembrandt Peale's office before Baltimore's gas-lighting debut.
When the Veil Thins: Ghost Walk Tour — starts at the Irish American Museum, 920 Lemmon St, Baltimore City Saturday, 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM ET | $15 per person ($10 members) A walk through Hollins Market and the 19th-century B&O corridor, with the stories of the immigrant communities who lived there, told for the season when "the barrier between worlds wears thin."
During the Week
- Haunted Laboratory: Halloween Science — Anne Arundel County Public Library, Crofton Library. Monday, Oct 12 (Indigenous Peoples' Day), 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET. Ages 6–10. Kids wander a spooky lab and finish the experiments a scientist left behind.
- Tree Time: Bats — Cylburn Arboretum. Tuesday, Oct 13, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET. Registration required. Stories, crafts, and outdoor exploration about bats, with a second session and different activities on Thursday, Oct 15.
- Kids Concert with Mr. Jon and Friends — Enoch Pratt Roland Park Branch. Wednesday, Oct 14, 10:30 AM ET. Ages 0–5. A Parents' Choice Award-winning musical comedy show of songs, rhymes, books, and puppets, starring George the Monkey.
- Kevin Sherry: "Scales & Tales" — Enoch Pratt Hamilton Branch. Wednesday, Oct 14, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET. Ages 9–11. Free with registration. The MICA-trained author of The Yeti Files walks kids through role-playing games (heroes, monsters, drawing games, epic quests), and registered kids go home with a book while supplies last.
- Walk a Mile in My SHADES: White Cane Safety Day — Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, 3345 Washington Blvd. Thursday, Oct 15, 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET. Food trucks, hands-on activities and demonstrations, and a community walk led by BISM instructors.
Mark Your Calendar
- Annapolis Sailboat Show — City Dock, Annapolis. Oct 15–18: Thursday–Saturday 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM ET, Sunday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET. $32, kids 7–15 $10, kids 6 and under free.
- Fall Festival at Gonce Marine — 8906 Avenue B, Edgemere (Baltimore County). Saturday, Oct 17, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM ET. Free. Crafters, vendors, pumpkin painting, and scarecrow making.
- Trunk or Treat at the Maryland Zoo — Bog Turtle Lot, Maryland Zoo, Baltimore City. Friday, Oct 23, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET. Free for everyone, no registration. Candy stations and visits from the zoo's animal ambassadors.
- Mushroom City Art Festival — Carrie Murray Nature Center, Baltimore City. Saturday, Oct 24, 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET. Free. Mushroom forays with experts, children's art-making, crankie performances by the fire, music, and a shiitake log inoculation workshop.
- Fell's Point Main Street Trick or Treat — Fells Point, Baltimore City. Saturday, Oct 31 (Halloween), 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET. Free. Participating businesses put up Treat Stop posters.
- Pumpkin Chucking Weekend — Clark's Elioak Farm, Ellicott City (Howard County). Saturday and Sunday, Nov 7–8. Bring a pumpkin or use one of the farm's, and a catapult launches it across the farm, a tradition 20 years running.
Also This Weekend
- Canton Brick Squad — Enoch Pratt Canton Branch, 1030 S. Ellwood Ave, Baltimore City. Saturday, 3:00 PM ET. A LEGO building meetup for kids and tweens.
- Robert I. Damie Race for Our Kids — Maryland Zoo, Baltimore City. Sunday, 7:30 AM – 10:00 AM ET. $15–$45, kids 5 and under free. A 5K run/walk, and participants get discounted zoo admission.