IN A GLASS BY ITSELF

Tomorrow

FESTIVAL: The Annual Turkish Festival Turkish coffee. That's what drew our attention to this family festival celebrating dance, music, art and, yes, the coffee culture of Turkey. Set for tomorrow at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, the festival will feature a Turkish "coffeehouse"; a bazaar with scarves, shawls and jewelry; performances by the Silk Road Dance Company and the Balkanics and more. Nosh on kebabs and pastries, and if you drink at the coffeehouse, fortunetellers will even read your coffee grinds for a glimpse of your future. Free. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 13th and 14th streets. http://www.turkishfestival.org.

CONCERT: Free Jazz on the Mall The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival's free annual show on the Washington Monument grounds returns with Afro Blue, Taj Mahal, Dee Dee Bridgewater and a slate of others; the Grammys won by this group are many. Free. Noon-5 p.m. Sylvan Theater, 15th Street and Independence Avenue SW. For rain cancellation info, call 202-232-3611 or for a schedule visit http://www.dejazzfest.org.

Thursday

CONCERT: Antibalas Speaking of jazz, sometimes intimacy and the electricity in the room are what really make a jazz show. The 12-piece Brooklyn band Antibalas (the band photo looks like some sort of graduating class) is bringing its energetic, intricate Latin/funk/Afrobeat sound to the Black Cat, which is notably smaller than the Mall and a great venue for getting a close look at the band. $15. 8 p.m. Thursday. 1811 14th St. NW. 202-667-7960 or 202-397-7238.

Maryland

Today

THE SCENE: Taste of Bethesda Downtown Washington no longer hosts a "taste" festival, so Bethesda's annual blowout remains the one to visit each year. Fifty restaurants, including Delhi Dhaba, Jaleo, Lebanese Taverna, Penang and a string of others, will serve up samples to an estimated 40,000 visitors, while 13 bands, including Junkyard Saints, perform on several stages. Also worth checking out: a classic-car show. Free admission; $5 for four taste tickets (each taste costs one to four tickets). 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Woodmont Triangle at Norfolk, Fairmont, St. Elmo, Cordell and Del Ray avenues. 301-215-6660 or visit http://www.bethesda.org.

FESTIVALS: Balktoberfest: How the Balkans Do Fall This nearly all-night musical blowout in Silver Spring -- thrown by World Music Folklife Center and the Balkanics, a Balkan wedding-music outfit -- is a world-music lover's dream. Balktoberfest features 15 performance groups and celebrates the cultures of Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia with food, dancing and music. On the bill: Greek act Parea, Serbian/Croatian troupe Sarenica, Romani musicians the Vardo Sisters and more. $25; students and seniors, $20; under 18, $10; ages 12 and younger, free (cash only at the door; cash bar). 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Hollywood Ballroom, 2126 Industrial Pkwy., Silver Spring. 301-622-5494 or visit http://www.balktoberfest.com.

THE SCENE: An All-Maryland Day at the Races Maryland Million Day at Laurel Park celebrates the Maryland horse-breeding tradition, with more than 150 horses sired by Maryland stallions running 12 races, an agricultural area for kids, shows of miniature horses and more. $3-$7.50; children younger than 12, free. 12:15 (gates open at 10:45 a.m.) Route 198 and Racetrack Road, Laurel. 301-725-0400 or for more details, visit http://www.laurelpark.com.

Northern Virginia

Today

FESTIVALS: Art on the Avenue, Celebrating Del Ray The Alexandria neighborhood's really big block party features such children's activities as pumpkin painting and pirate-hat-making; live music on five stages (including one for kid-centric performers); and a very serious pie-baking contest in which pudding and canned fillings are verboten, and pie slices are later sold for $2 a pop for a local charity. Free. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mount Vernon Avenue between Bellefonte and Hume avenues (trolley available from Braddock Road Metro station). Alexandria. 703-683-3100 or visit http://www.artontheavenue.org.

FESTIVALS: New to the Oktoberfest Scene: Vienna The NoVa town and the Vienna-Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce host the town's first Oktoberfest, with a Gordon Biersch beer garden (with beers priced at $3 to $5); restaurants and caterers serving hot dogs, bratwurst, ice cream, funnel cakes, and barbecue and crab cakes (prices will range from $1 to $7); live music; children's activities include Legos, a slide and moon bounces; a children's entertainment stage that will include Caps mascot Slapshot, dancers and a juggler/unicyclist; and marketplace with about 65 vendors including crafters and artists. Free. Noon-6 p.m. Church and Mill streets, Vienna. 703-281-1333 or http://www.viennava.gov.