What's Happening in Northern Nevada: October's Second Week

This is the latest in our weekly roundup of what's happening in Northern Nevada, written to show California transplants what life actually looks like after the move. Every event below was verified with its name, date, and location on this run. The week of October 5 through 11 is the second full week of the month, and it is a big one: Reno's most famous fall festival shuts down Virginia Street, Palisades hosts its signature autumn market, and Carson City quietly packs three very different events into a single Saturday.

Reno: The Great Italian Festival Takes Over Virginia Street

The headline all weekend is the Eldorado Great Italian Festival, the 43rd annual edition, on Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at THE ROW on Virginia Street in downtown Reno. It is free to attend, and it is a full block party: the famous grape stomp, a wine walk, an Italian farmers market, a sauce and salsa cooking contest, a gelato-eating contest, food booths, and live music on two stages. Bringing the family is easy, and there is no better crash course in how Reno celebrates fall.

Carson City: Film, Roller Derby, and Frights at the Museum

The capital stacks three good reasons onto Saturday, October 10. The Carson Creepy Film Festival screens Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10, at 7 p.m. at the Brewery Arts Center at 449 West King Street, two nights of horror programming to set the Halloween mood. In the daylight, the Battle for the Silver Skate roller derby runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Carson City Community Center at 851 East William Street, a fast and friendly way to spend an afternoon. Then, once it is dark, Fright at the Museum takes over the Nevada State Museum at 600 North Carson Street from 6 to 9 p.m. New to town? Our Carson City neighborhoods guide is a good place to start.

Lake Tahoe: Made in Tahoe and a Literary Weekend

Up the mountain, the Made in Tahoe Festival fills The Village at Palisades Tahoe on Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., an artisan market of local makers with a beer and wine garden and mountain views as the backdrop. It is the kind of event where you can finish half your holiday shopping and call it a day trip.

Bookish weekenders have the Tahoe Literary Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday, October 9 through 11, with author events around the lake. If you are considering lake life, our Lake Tahoe area guide walks through the communities behind all of this.

Fall Rhythms: Markets and Harvests to Keep

The season still has color and produce to offer. The Riverside Farmers Market at Idlewild Park in Reno keeps running every Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in every season, rain or shine, so the farm stand habit never has to end. South of town, the Corley Ranch Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Patch in Gardnerville runs daily through October 31, and the Andelin Family Farm Fall Festival in Spanish Springs, with its five-acre corn maze, pumpkin patch, hayrides, and zombie paintball, is open weekends through the end of the month.

For braver nights, the Dark Prison Haunted House inside the historic Nevada State Prison in Carson City operates on Friday and Saturday evenings through November 1. It is one of the most talked-about haunted houses in the West, and not for young kids.

On the Horizon

Two dates are worth penciling in now. The Town of Genoa's Harvest Festival, the family event longtime locals still call the Genoa Oktoberfest, takes over Genoa Town Park on Saturday, October 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with live music and arts and crafts booths, free to attend. And Nevada Day weekend, Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1, brings the state's birthday parade down Carson Street on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with the whole city celebrating. The full season's calendar, verified week by week, lives on the Northern Nevada events page.

Welcoming You Like a Neighbor

That is the second week of October here: grape stomps on Virginia Street, horror films at the Brewery Arts Center, artisan stalls under the Palisades tram, and pumpkin patches in two valleys at once. If you are researching the move from California, this is the rhythm you would be buying into, and I would love to help you find where you fit. Take a look at the community guide, request personalized home options by area, or just reach out and we can talk it through over the phone.