10 huge events in Philly this fall -- and 2 must-do parades

As yellow jacket season ends and jacket season starts, Philadelphians get street-festive, food-festive, ethnic-festive, and parade-happy.New this fall are an indoor Oktoberfest that aims to be the region's largest, a car-free streets event that aims to recreate the vibe of last September's papal traffic ban, and a Citizens Bank Park local-foods festival that expands beyond the cheesesteak. Your belt may need expanding in kind.

Terror Behind the Walls (Sept. 16-Nov. 5). Halloween attraction boooosts attendance at Eastern State Penitentiary for the next month and a half. The last two nights are a lights-out "remix," in which visitors' personal glow sticks are the only lights in the joint. (215-236-3300, easternstate.org)

Philly Free Streets (Sept. 24). We wish it were bigger. We wish it brought back the buff Secret Service guys – and the nuns. But we're all for trying to re-create the magic that happened when Center City went car free during the pope's visit. The inaugural Philly Free Streets closes South Street from river to river, linking up with the Schuylkill River Trail, and extending to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and parts of Fairmount Park. (phillyfreestreets.com)

Puerto Rican Day Parade (Sept. 25). Parkway procession celebrates Puerto Rican and Latino culture – with beauty queens, salsa music, adorably costumed youth groups. Pa. pols might do well to note this year's theme: The Power of Our Voice. (215-627-3100, elconcilio.net)

Brazilian Day Philadelphia (Sept. 25). What? You didn't get to Rio for the Summer Olympics? The vivacious national spirit of those closing ceremonies comes to Penn's Landing for the day. Eat, drink, samba like a supermodel. (215-601-9117, braziliandayphiladelphia.com)

Philadelphia International Dragon Boat Festival (Oct. 1). Also like the Olympics, this monster competition draws amateurs from far and wide and has its own pop-up athlete's village. It happens right here on our very own Schuylkill and without the Lochte nonsense. (610-642-2333, philadragonboatfestival.com)

Oktoberfest at the Armory (Oct. 7-9). The latest opportunity to hoist a stein and eat sausage, this new three-day Brauhaus Schmitz oompahlooza at the 23rd Street Armory is promoting itself as the Delaware Valley's largest. (Admission to any one of five scheduled four-hour sessions, $45.) It's a brand extension of Brauhaus Schmitz's one-day outdoor version on South Street this weekend. Invest in a sturdy pair of lederhosen that can go the distance. (267-909-8814, brauhausschmitzoktoberfest.com)

OutFest (Oct. 9). Not to brag, but Philly's street fest in celebration of National Coming Out Day happens to be the nation's largest. The Gayborhood welcomes 45,000-ish revelers to eat, drink, hula hoop, high-heel race, and otherwise let their pride shine, now in its 26th year. (215-875-9288, phillygaypride.org)

Philly's Cheesesteak & Food Fest (Oct. 15). This year's ballpark eat-in expands to include hoagies, pretzels, and roast pork. A $45 ticket buys you 10 samples, a voucher for two Phillies tickets next season, and the chance to recall those storied Octobers in days of yore when Citizens Bank Park hosted post-season baseball. (cheesesteakfest.com)

Harry Potter Festival (Oct. 21-22). J.K. Rowling's on a roll this fall with a new book and soon a new movie, so expect heightened enthusiasm for Chestnut Hill's annual two-day makeover as Hogsmeade - and for the Philadelphia Brotherly Love Cup Quidditch Tournament at Chestnut Hill College that Saturday. (215-247-6696, chc.edu)

Chrysanthemum Festival (Oct. 22-Nov. 20). Autumn's big petal-power event shows off 17,000 manicured mop-tops, including the show-stopping Thousand Bloom Mum, our hemisphere's largest. Trippy "Nightscape" sound-and-light show continues through Oct. 29 as an evening add-on. (610-388-1000, longwoodgardens.org)

Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show (Nov. 10-13). Glam opportunity to browse at the Convention Center for high-end makers' wares - jewelry, fabric, ceramics, more - to buy or just covet. The annual Women's Committee fund-raiser (single-day admission, $18) helps bankroll museum exhibitions, family fun, artwork upkeep. (215-684-7930, pmacraftshow.org)

Thanksgiving Day Parade (Nov. 24). Primo high school marching bands preen, local dance schools represent, floats and balloons glide by, Santa arrives on the Parkway. And then we all go home to eat. (6abc.com)