Events for the week ahead: Local community harvest festivals, Tacoma’s Greek Festival, Oktoberfest, music and more

The rich culture of Greece will be on display this weekend at the 57th Annual Tacoma Greek Festival. The celebration of food, dance, music and the Greek Orthodox Church will take over St. Nicholas Church, 1523 S. Yakima Ave., Tacoma, and its parking lot. Offering will include everything from gyros, calamari, rice pilaf and Greek salad to koulourakia and baklava in the dining room or the tent. Dance performances will be held every few hours and church tours will be conducted throughout the weekend. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free with food and beverage at various prices. Go to stnicholastacoma.org/tacoma-greek-festival for more details.

With a nod to the city’s roots in agriculture, Saturday’s Fife Harvest Festival at Dacca Park will kick off with a pancake breakfast, a community parade and a day of family activities, including hay rides, a petting zoo, pony rides, an apple squeeze, arts and crafts and games. There also will be tours of the Fife History Museum and food vendors. Breakfast will be from 8:30-11:30 a.m. with activities from 10:30-6 p.m. Free shuttles will run from City Hall and limited parking available at the event. Check out tinyurl.com/Harvest-Festival-Fife for more information.

Gig Harbor and the Peninsula’s autumn Scarecrow Festival will be this weekend at Sehmel Homestead Park, 10123 78th Ave. NW, Gig Harbor. The community Scarecrow Competition will have entries made by local businesses, community groups and families. The free event will have live entertainment, farm activities, hay and pony rides, a petting zoo, pumpkin launcher and more from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Learn more at tinyurl.com/Peninsual-Scarecrow-Fest

The annual Candlelight Tour at the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum at Point Defiance Park, Tacoma, will give a glimpse of life in the 1850s after dark. Historical interpreters will bring to life the men, women and children of Hudson’s Bay Co. Campfires and candlelight will illuminate the evening walking tour. Visitors will encounter gentlemen and their wives, American settler families, experienced trappers, Scottish and French-Canadian laborers, young people at a dance, blacksmiths working at a forge and more. Hours are 6-9 p.m. Friday. Advance tickets are required — $15 adults, $10 youth and free for children 3 and younger. Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/Nisqually-Candlelight

The first Touch a Truck at Port of Tacoma on Saturday will provide a chance to see and touch the equipment used at the port, including the 42-foot-tall straddle carrier. Check out the Centennial Containers full of information and displays on the workings of the port. The free event will be open to the public from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the port’s administration building, 1 Sitcum Way. Learn more at tinyurl.com/Port-Trucks

You can don your lederhosen and indulge in beer, brats and schnitzel at the annual Oktoberfest Northwest at the Washington State Fair Events Center, 110 Ninth Ave. SW, Puyallup. Billed as the state’s largest Munich-style celebration, the festival will have two themed Festhalles: the Munich Festhalle and the Bavarian Festhalle. There will be entertainment, authentic German grub and bier, the Hammerschlagen Tournament of Champions, wiener dog races, a root beer garden and activities for the family until 6 p.m. After that the festival will be for those 21 and older. Hours are noon-midnight Friday, 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Admission Friday from noon-3 p.m. is free. Regular admission otherwise is $12 and $6 on Sunday. Parking is free. Go to thefair.com for more information.

Kicking off the fall season, Northwest Sinfonietta Presents “French Connections” will introduce maestro David Lockington as the principal artistic partner. Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. performance will feature Mozart Symphony No. 31 in D major, “Paris” (1778) and Maurice Ravel’s Le Trombeau du Couperin. It will be at the Rialto Theater, 310 S. Ninth St., Tacoma. Tickets are $10-$40 and are available by phone at 253-591-5894 and online at broadwaycenter.org

Pick or buy your apples and head out to the annual Steilacoom Apple Squeeze. The free community event will feature cider pressing, a street fair with handmade crafts, live music, apple-themed food and kids’ activities. Visitors can check out the Steilacoom Historical Museum and go home with their own cider. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at Lafayette and Wilkes streets in downtown Steilacoom. (There’s a charge for cider pressing.) Call 253-584-4133 or go online at steilacoomhistorical.org to learn more.