Encinitas events this week (Oct. 26)

Dia de los Muertos

The family-friendly “Day of the Dead” festival includes performances by San Diego’s top Mariachi Bands and Ballet Folklorico dancers on Oct. 27 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Encinitas Community Center, 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive. The event will also include art-making workshops for children: skull face painting, sugar skulls, paper flowers; artist demos, student art exhibit, Callejeros De Encinitas Car Club, food trucks, opportunity drawings for Laptops, vendors, and Surfing Madonna Community Ofrenda. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2CyW847.

Safe Trick-or-Treating in Encinitas

The Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association will present its 17th Annual Safe Trick-or-Treat on Oct. 31 from 5 to 8 p.m. Thousands of costumed trick-or-treaters and other revelers will stroll up and down “Pumpkin Lane,” aka South Coast Hwy 101, from Encinitas Blvd to K Street.

Fantastic carved pumpkins will be on display at multiple viewing locations, and dozens of merchants will have goodies for kids. Many downtown Encinitas businesses stay open late to welcome trick-or-treaters. Kids also enjoy Halloween-themed activities and games in The Lumberyard Courtyard, courtesy of the 101 Artists Colony, plus dancing to the live music of Bucket Ruckus. For more information, visit www.encinitas101.com.

Play: ‘Deathtrap,’ a thriller in two acts

Sidney Bruhl, was once a successful playwright. An opportunity arises when he receives a script that could be a Broadway hit. Operating under the disguise that Sidney will be collaborating with his student to produce the show, Bruhl shares his true intentions with his wife Myra. The audience will held captive by the cunning humour and the twisted narrative. This San Dieguito Academy play will be shown Oct. 26 and 27 at the school’s Liggett Theater, 800 Santa Fe Drive. For tickets and more information, visit https://bit.ly/2Pkmk98.

Foreign Film: Zelary

A nurse and her surgeon-lover are part of a resistance movement in 1940s Czechoslovakia. When they are discovered, her lover flees and she must find a place to hide. A patient agrees to hide her as his wife. This Czech film with English subtitles will be shown by LIFE San Elijo on the San Elijo campus of MiraCosta College, 3333 Manchester Avenue, in room 204. For more information, email lifesanelijo@gmail.com.

Pacific View Volunteer Work Party

Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance is busy rehabbing the buildings and remodeling the landscape. But they need your help. Join them at the next work party on Oct. 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Pacific View, 390 West F Street. Bring work gloves and closed toe shoes. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2yVBTtW.

Cactus and Succulent Show and Sale

The Palomar Cactus and Succulent Society bring cacti and succulents from all over the world for show and sale. Pottery and additional plant vendors will also be on hand selling a wide variety of items on Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2EyibKG.

Family Fall Festival

Come to the San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, and celebrate the season with fall-themed activities like pony rides, Halloween crafts and a petting zoo on Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The O-Truck will offer a selection of delicious farm-to-table entrees. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2NXXA1Y.

Calamityville Horror: A Variety Show

The gals from the Americana Folk band Calamity are gathering for a spooky concert with skits, comedy and special guests on Oct. 27 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Heritage Ranch, 450 Quail Gardens Drive. Children are not recommended but costumes are, so dress up and please bring your own chair. Snacks and refreshments are available. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2ytEw6N.

Concert: Christine Brown and Starr Parodi, piano

A solo piano concert by two award-winning pianists and composers of new age/classical solo piano, performing inspirational compositions and sharing the stories behind the music on Oct. 27 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive. Christine Brown will debut her new holiday CD, plus special performances. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2EDILlO.

Not-So-Scary Estuary

Enjoy a howling good time in nature on Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center, 2710 Manchester Avenue. The event will include performances about sea level rise, a zero-waste arts/crafts activity and animal meet and greets. Kids in costume can join the parade with prizes awarded, go trick-or-treating with wildlife discoveries and more fun outdoors. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2PMdNJ9.

Harvest Party

The annual celebration includes carnival games, pony rides, 50/50 raffle, cake walk, trunk-or-treat, touch-a-truck, petting zoo, chili cook-off, food, beverages and more on Oct. 28 from 3 to 6 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 890 Balour Drive. All proceeds support programs that support the Encinitas community: food pantry, lunch program, and showers of blessings. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2AnDMSa.

Opera concert

Kasondra Kazanjian, soprano, will perform famous arias from operas ranging from Die Zauberflöte to Le Nozze di Figaro to La Rondine on Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive. Kazanjian will mix in famous jazz tunes along with Armenian folk songs with guitar, with Olena Galytska on piano and George Svoboda on guitar. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2RajX6l.

La Paloma Theatre

Now showing: Free Solo and Rocky Horror Picture Show. 471 Coast Highway 101. For tickets and more information, visit https://bit.ly/2NWbjpV.

Blood drive

The Olivenhain Water District will host a mobile blood drive on Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1966 Olivenhain Road. Donors are encouraged to schedule an appointment for their convenience but walk-ins are also welcome. To schedule an appointment, please call 1-800-4MY-SDBB (1-800-469-7322) or visit www.SanDiegoBloodBank.org.

Book sale

Encinitas Friends of the Library Bookstore will hold a book sale Nov. 3. Most books will be from 25 cents to $1, with CDs for 25 cents and DVDs typically $1. Books range from current fiction, children’s selections, biography, self-help and spirituality to health, history, travel and science. The sale is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the general public and opens at 9 a.m. for members at the library, 540 Cornish Drive. Community members can join the Friends group at the door. Visit www.encinitaslibfriends.org for more information.

First Sunday Music Series

Jimmy and Enrique’s music can be described as having an international flair as they incorporate flamenco, middle-eastern, salsa, calypso, Brazilian, and other world rhythms into their compositions and arrangements. They will perform at the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, on Nov. 4 from 2 to 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.encinitaslibfriends.org.

Concert dedicated to ‘Peace, Hope and Remembrance’

The vocal ensemble Cappella Gloriana, conducted by Virginia Sublett, will present a concert dedicated to Peace, Hope and Remembrance on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. at St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 890 Balour Drive, Encinitas. The performance includes music by Byrd, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Dett, and Dawson. Free, but donations will be appreciated.

#BigFertility documentary

Jennifer Lahl, president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture (www.cbc-network.org), will appear at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Encinitas on Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. for a showing of her new documentary #BigFertility. Lahl is also the producer of the award-winning documentaries Eggsploitation (2013), Anonymous Father’s Day (2011), and Breeders: A Subclass of Women? (2014).

Lahl will also stay for Q & A after the film. Like “Big Tobacco” and “Big Pharma,” Big Fertility is what happens “when an industry intentionally disregards—and indeed attempts to distract from—the harm it inflicts on its customers in the pursuit of profit,” according to a press release.

St. Mark Lutheran Church is located at 552 S El Camino Real, Encinitas, 92024. Childcare provided.

Exposure: Women’s Skateboarding Event

On Nov. 3-4, the world’s top female skaters will return to Encinitas for the 7th annual Exposure event. With 150 skaters and a $50,000 prize purse, Exposure has become the world’s largest women’s skateboarding event.

Exposure Skate, a nonprofit empowering girls through skateboarding, is bringing this annual event back to the Encinitas Community Park. This free event runs from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, follow @exposureskate on Instagram or www.exposureskate.org