Weekend Activities in Austin

• There are a couple very important birthdays happening this Saturday (MINE MINE MINE), including the Draught House’s 42nd. Their party is an all day affair running from 1:00PM to 10:00PM with plenty of beer, food and music. Don’t forget to bring your lawn chairs! Seriously, don’t forget them. There are sure to be a ton of people at this thing and you don’t want to be stuck sitting on the payment.
• Now, to stick with the beer-related activities, Austin Beer Week starts on Sunday. Beer Week will feature 30 happy hours, 9 dinners, 19 beer and food pairings and a whole lot more. There will be 107 events total in this week of hops and barley. You can even head back to the Draught House on Sunday for the 1st Annual Beer Olympics. Don’t forget your lawn chairs!
• We’re just a little over a week away from the best candy night of the year so it’s time to start ramping up the Halloween activities. First up, the Halloween Children’s Concert put on by the Austin Symphony at the Long Center on Sunday. In addition to the spooky music, everyone is encouraged to wear their costumes. And you know your kids are just dying to wear their costumes already. And, let’s face it, you are too.
• To really get in the Halloween spirit (hehe, spirit), you’ll need a pumpkin. So, head out to Evergreen Farms for their Pumpkin Hunt. Not only can you get a great pumpkin to take home and carve into the Star Wars character/death star of your choice, but they also have a real pumpkin hunt where you can take a wagon ride into the Christmas tree fields to search for mini pumpkins that are hidden in the trees. There are also activities like a pumpkin launcher, pumpkin golf and pumpkin spinner. I have no idea what any of those are, but they sound fun, right?
• Want something spooky? Pioneer Farms has a Haunted Trail that includes a walking tour with fortune tellers, ghost stories around a campfire, and even headless horsemen. The trail is only open this Saturday and next Friday and Saturday from 7:00 to 10:00PM. The scarecrows were already all booked up the other nights with Jazzercize and underwater basket weaving classes.
• Arthouse at the Jones Center is having an extravaganza of reopening events this weekend. That’s right, construction is complete and they are ready to show off their new space, which sounds amazing. There’s a super fancy (with corresponding super expensive ticket price) celebration tonight, but I’m looking forward to the Public Reopening Party on Sunday. That one offers free admission, plus part of Congress right by Arthouse will be closed that day and there’ll be some yummy trailers on hand.
• You'll notice that I'm a little obsessed with all the home tours that go on in Austin. My obsession perpetuates because I always forget about a home tour I heard about and want to attend until I’m writing my Friday Thoughts and realize I’ve already scheduled something that I can’t get out of so I’m missing yet another one. So, yes, I’m talking about another home tour. Sunday is the 7th Annual Downtown Living Tour. This tour is a chance to see some of those fancy downtown condo and loft buildings. Sadly, it does not include the Austonian. Or an explanation of why that building is named the Austonian since Austinites don’t refer to themselves that way. Also, sadly, I will miss this one because we're meeting my mom for a birthday lunch.