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    Things to do in Boise this weekend

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    Hi, I'm Marissa Lovell, a writer and lover of all things local. So glad you're here.

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    Things to do in Boise October 8-14

    This might be the most fall weekend of the whole season. We’re talking wiener dog races at Dogtoberfest, grape stomping in Caldwell, fresh hop beers at Hoptober & free pumpkins in Eagle. It’s also your last chance to shop The Boise Flea this year, so add that to your Sunday plans.

    Here’s everything happening this week:

    From Boise Things

    • Next Dinner Club: Wednesday, October 14 in Boise at 6:30pm + a super fun (secret location) after party! Book now🍴
    • NEW Singles Dinner Club: Wednesday, October 28 at 6:30pm! This isn’t speed dating or matchmaking. It’s just dinner with new people who happen to be single too. Snag your spot here ❤️‍🔥

    GRACE at The Dixon

    October 17, 22, 23, and 24

    LED kicks off its new season next week with GRACE, a world premiere from Lauren Edson and Andrew Stensaas. It’s part contemporary dance, part live music, part wrestling match and part 1940s dinner party, with eight dancers from across the country and Andrew playing the score live on stage. At its heart, it’s a show about conflict: the rules we agree to, what’s happening underneath them, and whether we can still give each other grace when things fall apart.

    GRACE runs October 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24 at The Dixon in Garden City.

    Read the full story
    credit LED

    Things to do

    Thursday, October 8

    • It (2017) is happening at The Egyptian Theatre at 7:30pm. It’s a screening of the horror hit about seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine who band together to take on Pennywise the clown. Tix are $5.
    • Witches’ Night Out is happening at The Village at Meridian from 6–9pm. It’s an annual fundraiser for Faces of Hope with live music, vendors, raffles & costume prizes for the best witches and warlocks. It’s free!

    Thursday, October 8 – Sunday, October 11

    • Trailing of the Sheep Festival is happening in Ketchum and around the Wood River Valley. It’s the 30th year of this celebration of Idaho’s sheepherding history and culture, with sheepdog trials Friday through Sunday, the Folklife Fair Saturday from 10am-4pm, and the Big Sheep Parade down Main Street Sunday at noon. There are also wool workshops, lamb cooking classes and dinners, and storytelling. Many events are free, and tix for specific events are on the festival’s site.

    Friday, October 9

    • Dogtoberfest is happening at Indian Creek Plaza from 5–9pm. It’s a dog-friendly twist on Oktoberfest with the “Running of the Wieners” wiener dog race, a stein holding competition, seasonal beer & live music from the Edelweiss Band. It’s free!
    • Spooky Movie Night is happening at Bernie Fisher Park in Kuna at dusk. It’s a screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas and a fun, family-friendly way to kick off Halloween season, with food trucks onsite. Bring snacks, blankets & low back chairs. It’s free!

    Friday, October 9 – Saturday, October 10

    • Sinfully Yours is happening at Visual Arts Collective with doors at 8pm and the show at 9pm. Dream Team Variety brings a sin-themed night of burlesque, circus arts, music, and drag, with performers acting out everything from sloth to wrath. Come early for cocktails at the VAC Lounge. Shows run through October 17. Tix are $30 plus fees, or $40 at the door. 21+

    Saturday, October 10

    • Pause, Look & Listen: Guided Birding is happening at Idaho Shakespeare Festival from 9–10:30am. It’s a slow, mindful birding experience with Golden Eagle Audubon, open to all skill levels with binoculars available to borrow. Registration is required.
    • The Nightmare Before Christmas & Critters are showing at The Egyptian Theatre. Catch Jack Skellington’s Halloween classic at 10am & the 1986 sci-fi horror comedy about fuzzy aliens terrorizing a farm family at 1pm. Tix are $5.
    • Saddle Up, Idaho! is happening at the Idaho State Museum from 10am–5pm. It’s a celebration of Idaho’s horse culture & heritage with hands-on crafts, live music, cowboy poetry, square dancing lessons and food trucks. It’s free!
    • James Castle Community Celebration is happening at the James Castle House from 12-5pm. It’s an afternoon celebrating the artist and Boise’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, with James Castle-inspired artmaking, free ASL lessons, a conversation café with ASL interpreters, tacos from MADRE Boutique Taqueria, and a scavenger hunt that earns a free ice cream. A storytelling session closes things out from 4-5pm. It’s free!
    • Inside the Studio with Oluwatobi Adewumi is happening at the James Castle House from 2-4pm. It’s an intimate studio visit with the resident artist, who shares his creative process and the work he’s made while living and working at the house. It’s free! No registration required.
    • Harvest Fest is happening at Heritage Park in Eagle from 10am–4pm. It’s a family-friendly fall festival with a pumpkin giveaway, blacksmith demos, live music, fall photo ops & over 100 vendors.
    • Pumpkin Days + Marketplace is happening at Lovely Hollow Farm in Caldwell from 10am–4pm. It’s a day of picking flowers & pumpkins while shopping local vendors, with food and drink vendors onsite.
    • Trunk or Treat and Food Drive is happening at Jordan’s Garden Center and Seasonal Market from 2–6pm. It’s an annual trunk or treat with a free pumpkin patch, live music, a petting zoo, straw maze & food trucks, plus bins to drop off non-perishable food donations. It’s free!
    • Change Your World Gala is happening at JUMP from 5–8:30pm. It’s the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights’ annual fundraiser celebrating their 30th anniversary, with a keynote speaker, live music, dinner, auctions & an awards ceremony.
    • Monster Truck Insanity Next Level Tour is happening at Meridian Speedway at 5:30pm. It’s a monster truck battle featuring Rat Attack, T-MAXX, Hillbilly, Midnight Panic & Cherry Bomb, plus a pre-show fest where you can meet the drivers and get photos with the trucks. Kids 10 and under are free, everyone else is $30.

    Saturday, October 10 – Sunday, October 11

    • Beethoven’s 7th is happening at the Morrison Center at 7:30pm on Saturday & 2pm on Sunday. It’s the Boise Phil’s season opener, featuring guest violinist Timothy Chooi on Sibelius’s Violin Concerto alongside Smetana’s The Moldau and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Tix are $37–$111, or $19 for students & youth.

    Sunday, October 11

    • City of Trees Marathon is happening along the Greenbelt, with the marathon and half marathon starting at 8am and the 5k at 8:15am. Every runner gets a finisher’s award. The 10k is sold out. Registration closes Saturday, October 10 at 11:59pm. Prices are $125 for the marathon, $110 for the half, and $60 for the 5k.
    • The Boise Flea is happening at Boise State’s East Stadium Lot from 10am–4pm. It’s the last flea of the year, with tons of vendors to shop. Parking in the Stadium Lot is $5 per car. Free admission!
    • Gold Panning for All Ages is happening at the Idaho Museum of Mining & Geology from 1–3:30pm. It’s a hands-on gold panning experience in the courtyard of the Women’s Prison at the Old Pen, and everyone takes home a speck of gold. Tix are $10 for adults, $5 for kids & free for museum members. Pre-registration is required.
    • Idaho Steelheads vs. Tahoe Knight Monsters is happening at Idaho Central Arena at 4:10pm. It’s a preseason exhibition hockey game to kick off the Steelheads season. Tix start at $23.05.

    Tuesday, October 13

    • Ballerina Story Time is happening at JUMP from 10:30–11:30am. It’s a storybook read aloud with a real-life Ballet Idaho ballerina, followed by a mini creative movement dance class for kids. No registration needed, just drop in. It’s free and so cute!

    Wednesday, October 14

    • Trivia with Geeks Who Drink is happening at Boise Brewing from 7–9pm. It’s a weekly trivia night where you can win free beer every round.

    Wednesday, October 14 – Thursday, October 15

    • Bluey’s Big Play is happening at the Morrison Center at 6pm both nights. It’s a live puppet stage show based on the hit kids’ TV series, with Bluey & Bingo pulling out all their games to get Dad off his bean bag. Tix start at $32.25.
    credit Indian Creek Plaza

    Food finds & things to drink

    Saturday, October 10

    • Boise Farmers Market is at 1500 Shoreline Drive from 9am-1pm.
    • Capital City Public Market is on the Grove Plaza from 9:30am-1pm.
    • Meridian Main Street Market is at Meridian City Hall from 9am–1:30pm.
    • Nampa Farmers Market is at Lloyd Square Park from 9am-1:30pm.
    • Bark & Brunch is happening at The Boardwalk Apartments in Garden City from 11am–1pm. It’s a patio brunch fundraiser for The Animal Retreat & Green Heart Rescue with mimosas, brunch bites from Ground Rules and Spitfire Tacos + Tequila, a DJ, local vendors & dog photography, and people-friendly pups are welcome. Tix are $65. 21+
    • Hoptober 2026 is happening at Boise Brewing from 12–10pm. It’s a focused fresh-hop tasting experience featuring hard-to-find beers from Boise Brewing, Level Beer, Aslan Brewing, Matchless & more, plus live music and hourly giveaways starting at 2pm.
    • Harvest Party is happening at Huston Vineyards in Caldwell from 12–5pm. It’s a hands-on harvest celebration with grape stomping, a behind-the-scenes winery tour & BBQ from Papa Bear’s, and every guest gets a glass of wine plus a Harvest logo glass to take home. Tix are $25.
    • Freedom Brewfest is happening at Indian Creek Plaza from 1–6pm. It’s the Caldwell Rotary Club’s 9th annual brewfest & car show with live music, food, raffles and games, plus proceeds support local veterans. It’s free! Tasting tix for 30 Northwest beers & hard ciders are $35 in advance or $40 day of.
    • Telaya Wine Co. Silent Disco is happening at Telaya Wine Co. from 6:30–9pm. It’s a dance party with wireless headphones and three music channels to switch between, plus a half glass of wine included with your ticket. Tix are $30.23.

    Tuesday, October 13

    • Wine Down with Jose is happening at House of Wine from 5–7:30pm. It’s an informal tasting of three wines picked by Retail Manager Jose, so you can learn about new styles and regions at your own pace. It’s free!
    • Spooky Telaya Bites: Savory Girl is happening at Telaya Wine Co. from 6–8pm. It’s a guided tasting of five chef-curated spooky bites from Savory Girl, each paired with a Telaya wine. Tix are $52.86.
    credit Huston Vineyards

    Comedy & storytelling

    Thursday, October 8

    • Alan Bromwell Live at Liquid Laughs Underground is happening at Liquid Laughs Underground at 7:30pm. It’s a night with Denver comedian Alan Bromwell, who has appeared on Comedy Central’s Up Next! and shared the stage with Ron White and Dave Chappelle. Tix are $21.20. 21+

    Thursday, October 8 – Saturday, October 10

    • “Big Irish Jay” Hollingsworth is happening at The Comedy Lounge at 7pm. It’s a run of shows from a comedian with more than 150 million online views and a Grammy nod, known for a brutally charming style. Tix are $26.50, with a 2-drink minimum.

    Thursday, October 8 – Saturday, October 10 and Wednesday, October 14

    • English is happening at Boise Contemporary Theater at 7:30pm. It’s the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Sanaz Toossi, set in 2008 in an Iranian classroom where four students in an English class wrestle with a new language and what they stand to lose by learning it. It’s funny, moving, and full of heart. Shows run through October 24. Tix are $25.

    Thursday, October 8 – Sunday, October 11

    • The Medea Project is happening at the Meridian Masonic Lodge at 7pm Thursday through Saturday and 2pm Sunday. The Boise Bard Players and The Luminary Theatre Co. team up for a modern, original retelling of Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy, in which a woman betrayed by her husband plots a devastating revenge. Shows run through October 18. Tix are $20. Contains adult themes and language.

    Friday, October 9

    • The Cabin Readings & Conversations: John Green With Anthony Doerr is happening at the Morrison Center at 8pm. Bestselling author John Green talks with Pulitzer winner Anthony Doerr about John’s adult fiction debut. Tix start at $65.
    • Matt Rife: Stay Golden World Tour is happening at the Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa at 8pm. The comedian is known for quick crowd work and unfiltered humor, and this show is staged in the round so the audience surrounds the action. Tix start at $40.50.

    Friday, October 9 – Saturday, October 10

    • The Haunting of Hill House is happening at Stage Coach Theatre at 7:30pm. It’s a stage adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s classic ghost story, in which a paranormal investigator and his team move into a notoriously creepy mansion and wake something that doesn’t want them there. Shows run through October 31. Tix are $25. 13+
    • The 39 Steps is happening at Boise Little Theater at 7:30pm. It’s a fast-paced comedy that mixes a Hitchcock thriller with a dash of Monty Python, with a cast of four playing over 150 zany characters, plus an onstage plane crash and some old-fashioned romance. Shows run through October 24. Tix are $20. Ages 10+
    • Legend of Sleepy Hollow is happening at the TVCT Theater in the Overland Park Shopping Center at 7pm Friday and 2pm Saturday. Treasure Valley Children’s Theater stages Washington Irving’s spooky tale, with limited, unassigned seating, so grab tix in advance. Tix are $20. Parental discretion is advised due to spooky special effects and themes.

    Saturday, October 10

    • Craig Gass is happening at the Egyptian Theatre at 7pm. He’s the voice behind celebrity impressions on Family Guy, King of Queens, and the Howard Stern Show. Tix are $20 to $40.
    • Almost Scary Comedy Show is happening at The Creative Space in Garden City at 8pm. Recycled Minds mixes live true-story storytelling with improv. Tix are $15.99 for adults and $5.99 for kids 5 to 12.

    Sunday, October 11

    • Campfire Stories: Beasts & Freaks is happening at The Modern Hotel & Bar from 7 to 9pm (doors at 6pm). It’s the Season 12 finale of this intimate storytelling series, with Idaho writers Aurora Stone Mehlman, Sequoia Barakah, Dave Yasuda, Ryan Marsh, and Desmond Everest Fuller reading around the fires in the courtyard, hosted by Rebecca Evans. It’s free! Reservations for seating are available at themodernbar.com, and walk-ins are welcome.

    Wednesday, October 14

    • If These Walls Could Talk is happening at The Comedy Lounge at 7pm. It’s a live reading of four domestic violence survivor stories, presented by the WCA. Tix are $15.
    credit The Modern Hotel

    Tunes & shows

    Thursday, October 8

    Friday, October 9

    Saturday, October 10

    Sunday, October 11

    Monday, October 12

    Tuesday, October 13

    Wednesday, October 14

    Just trust me…

    mentally, physically, spiritually here 🐈‍⬛

    Thanks for reading!

    With love from Boise,

    Marissa

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