Events in October 2014

October 3–5: The Sonoma County Harvest Fair includes tastings of beer, cider and gourmet food, but most people come for the chance to sample more than 150 local wines over the course of three days. The “World Championship Grape Stomp” competition also never fails to be diverting.

October 3–13: Austin, Texas, has become one of the country’s top destinations for live music, and no more so than during the Austin City Limits Music Festival. The city’s loveliest green space, the 46-acre Zilker Park, hosts some 130 artists over the course of the event. This year’s program includes shows by world-renowned stars ranging from Belle & Sebastian and Lorde to Pearl Jam and Outkast. Several top gospel choirs also plan to perform.

October 4–12: The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta assembles 500 hot air balloons from more than a dozen countries, creating one of the world’s greatest and most graceful aerial displays. Two of the most popular events of the week are the “Mass Ascensions,” when all participating balloons launch together, and the “Balloon Glows,” held at night accompanied by fireworks. Balloon rides can also be arranged in advance.

October 10–19: Perhaps the best time to visit Berlin, Germany, is during the annual Festival of Lights, when monuments, squares and boulevards all over the city are bathed in wild colors and patterns. It’s possible to enjoy the display on foot, of course, but you can also join an organized “Lightseeing” tour by bicycle, boat or bus. Or for something more private, reserve your own horse-drawn carriage or sedan.

October 11–12: Openhousenewyork claims to be “America’s largest architecture and design event,” with building tours and other programs across all five boroughs of New York. All events are free, but some special tours require advance reservations. Those wishing to avoid standing in lines can make a $150 donation for an OHNY Passport.

October 11 – November 16: The town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, will draw gourmands from around the world for the 84th Fiera Internazionale Tartufo Bianco (International White Truffle Fair). In addition to shopping for truffle-related products in the large market, visitors can attend cooking demonstrations by notable chefs, wine tastings, concerts and truffle-themed dinners (and just for fun, classic car parades and donkey races).

October 22: Bonfires and huge torches light up Kurama, a small town near Kyoto, during the Kurama-no-Hi-Matsuri (Fire Festival). Nine-foot “watch fires” blaze at strategic points, and men clad in traditional costumes carry huge pine torches — some more than 15 feet long — through the streets.

October 23: India hosts its own festival of lights during Diwali, an ancient Hindu holiday celebrating the victory of light over darkness. The festival lasts five nights, and on the evening of Diwali itself, houses glow with candles, people exchange gifts with one another and fireworks illuminate the moonless sky.

October 30: Where better to celebrate Halloween than the United States’ voodoo capital, New Orleans? A parade of wonderfully grotesque floats peopled by all manner of ghouls, ghosts and goblins snakes its way through the French Quarter and Central Business District the evening before Halloween day. Watching the parade is great fun, but enthusiasts can also ride on a float by joining the “Krewe of Boo.”