Save the Date: October events

Oct. 1-Nov. 1: Get your knives and forks and tuck in your napkins, because it’s time to Dine the Couve, Vancouver’s annual dining month featuring 31 days of deals at 31 local restaurants. Savor three-item dinner specials for $23 — any combination of soup, salad, appetizer, main dish, dessert or craft beverage. Tickets aren’t needed; just ask for the Dine the Couve menu. See a list of participating establishments with menus at VisitVancouverUSA.com/DinetheCouve.

Oct. 5-7: Ridgefield’s BirdFest & Bluegrass celebrates the return of migratory sandhill cranes with three days of live bluegrass music, arts workshops, a vendor marketplace, guided birding walks and canoe trips. The festival happens in charming downtown Ridgefield and in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. It’s free to attend, although some workshops have registration fees. Check out the full schedule at RidgefieldFriends.org/BirdFest-Bluegrass.

Oct. 5: There’s hardly a better way to get into the spirit of the season than downtown Camas’ Pumpkin Pageant and Disney Costume Contest from 5 to 8 p.m. on First Friday. Vote for your favorite carved pumpkins and show off your most elaborate Disney costumes. There also will be live music, games and crafts for kids, art shows, and after-hours shopping. DowntownCamas.com/Event/October-First-Friday-Pumpkin-Pageant-Costume-Contest

Oct. 6: If you love Sasquatch, logging and craft beer, you’ve got to be at Bigfoot Bash at Logtoberfest from 1 to 7 p.m. at Wind Mountain Ranch, 192 Erickson Road, Stevenson. With live music, a bevy of regional breweries, logging demonstrations, chainsaw art, blacksmithing and vendors selling PNW-themed art and products, you’ll be in lumberjack heaven — and you might even catch a glimpse of Bigfoot himself. Facebook.com/BigfootBashLogtoberfest

Oct. 6: The Old Apple Tree Festival, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., pays homage to the Northwest’s oldest living apple tree, planted in 1826 and now enshrined at Old Apple Tree Park, 11 S.E. Columbia Way, Vancouver. Get cuttings from the tree (while they last) and enjoy tree-pruning workshops, food, live music, rope-making, corn-grinding and tours of Fort Vancouver. Bring your own apples and containers for cider-making. CityofVancouver.us/UFC/Page/Old-Apple-Tree-Festival-0

Oct. 6: “Discovery of King Tut” opens at OMSI, 1945 S.E. Water Ave., Portland, offering an immersive multimedia experience based on the diaries of archaeologist Howard Carter. See more than 1,000 artifacts — including King Tut’s funeral mask, golden shrines, sarcophagi and wall painting — reproduced especially for this exhibit by Egyptian artists and renowned Egyptologists. Tickets are $22, $18 for seniors and $15 for youth. OMSI.edu/KingTut

Oct. 13: Have you ever heard of a ghost shark or a ghost snake? Did you know there is a species of bat that honks? Learn about these and other Weird and Wacky Halloween Animals from 1 to 3 p.m. during the free, family-friendly Second Saturday at the Water Resources Education Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way, Vancouver. CityofVancouver.us/PublicWorks/Page/Second-Saturday-Water-Center

Oct. 14: It’s apples, apples and more apples at the free Apple Festival, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Riverside Christian School, 463 N. Shepherd Road, Washougal. Get whole apple pies, enjoy warm apple dumplings and buy discounted apples by the pound. Kids will love the pony rides, face painting, bounce house and pie-eating contests, and grown-ups will love the local vendors selling artisanal goods and prepared food. Facebook.com/Riverside.Applefest

Oct. 20: The Cowlitz Powwow is a daylong festival of dancing, drumming, feasting and remembering. “Honoring the Spirit of All Cowlitz People,” will be held at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, 17402 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield. Doors will open at 10 a.m. for dance competitions, including visually stunning “grand entries” at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. There will also be a free community salmon dinner at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Cowlitz.org

Oct. 27-28: The Headless Horseman Train Ride departs from the Yacolt Train Station, 207 N. Railroad Ave., Yacolt, at 9:30 a.m., noon and 2:30 p.m. both days, pulled by the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad’s 1929 steam engine. Costumes are encouraged, with candy and games for the kids and complimentary refreshments. The train chugs through a 330-foot rock tunnel to the Heisson area with a stop at Yacolt Falls … but beware the infamous Headless Horseman! Tickets.BYCX.org

Oct. 27: Nothing beats the taste of just-pressed apple cider — so get your fill at the Cedar Creek Grist Mill’s Apple Cider Pressing from 9 a.m. until they run out of apples (usually 3 or 4 p.m.). Volunteers will press about 10,000 pounds of apples into fresh cider using hand-cranked presses. Visitors can help crank the presses, enjoy live bluegrass and tour the historic mill. CedarCreekGristMill.org

Oct. 27: Washougal’s Pumpkin Harvest Festival from noon to 3 p.m. is a charming, small-town celebration of autumn goodness, with free medium-sized pumpkins for the kids, music and entertainment, games with prizes, and free candy, popcorn and apples. Wear costumes to get into the spirit, and be prepared for fall fun in Reflection Plaza, 1703 Main St., Washougal. CityofWashougal.us

Oct. 24: Bring the whole family to downtown Camas for Boo Bash from 3 to 5 p.m., when businesses along Fourth Avenue from Adams to Franklin will give out candy and Halloween prizes to children–but the best part is seeing all the kids (and adults) in costume. Streets will be closed for safety, and bikes, skateboards and scooters should be left at home. DowntownCamas.com/Event/Boo-Bash-Trick-Treat