Dogtoberfest
When: October 20, noon–3 p.m.
Where: 559 Flat Shoals Avenue
Cost: Free, $5 to bring a dog, $5 to enter your dog in the costume contest
Details: East Atlanta Village is about to be filled with pooches. Expect adoptable dogs and cats on site, a pet costume contest, local food and drinks, and a craft vendor market. Proceeds will be given to the W-Underdogs, a nonprofit that pairs underserved youth with animals in need.
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s: Between The World and Me
When: October 22, 3 and 7 p.m.
Where: Atlanta Symphony Hall
Cost: $40–$80
Details: A live performance of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book, which is an examination of the state of race in the U.S.—a novel so powerful Toni Morrison once called the New York Times bestseller “required reading.” Pairing original compositions by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with “interactive visual storytelling” using a projector, excerpts of the book will be read monologue-style by guest artists to tell its moving story of a father writing letters to his son about the experience of being a black man in America.
Taste of Atlanta
When: October 18–20
Where: Historic Fourth Ward Park
Cost: $30 general admission, $75 for opening night party, $40 for Yacht Rock Revue concert
Details: With nearly 100 local restaurants participating, ranging from international eats on Buford Highway to the tony Tiny Lou’s, there are flavors anyone can enjoy. Some (of the many) highlights you shouldn’t miss: the Opening Night Party featuring dozens of well-known Atlanta restaurants, the Tasting Experience where there will be so many options you won’t know where to start, and the Yacht Rock Revue Concert.
Walker Stalker Con
When: October 18–20
Where: Georgia World Congress Center
Cost: Weekend admission $60; day passes available
Details: Convention founder James Frazier told the AJC recently that he’ll be ending the convention’s expansion into other cities, focusing solely on Atlanta as mania surrounding the AMC zombie drama cools. But here in Walking Dead central, the convention continues to bring out the show’s biggest stars, including Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Samantha Morton, and more.
Atlanta United vs. New England Revolution
When: October 19
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Cost: $20+
Details: The defending MLS Cup champions will begin the fight to hang onto their title during the first round of playoffs on Saturday. Atlanta beat New England at home 3-1 just two weeks ago, so here’s hoping this rematch is a victory for the Kings of the South.
Bonus event: Atlanta magazine’s Whiskey Fest
When: October 17
Where: Flourish Atlanta
Cost: $75–$100
Details: Warning: shameless plug incoming. For our fifth annual Whiskey Festival, we’ve outgrown our old location at The Estate and will be bringing more than 70 whiskeys, bourbons, and rums to Flourish Atlanta. Get unlimited tastings and cocktails, savor Southern foods and desserts, enjoy live music, and bring home a hand-rolled cigar and an Atlanta magazine rocks glass.