This Week in Dayton: PetFest,
the Lebanon Oktoberfest &
Farmers Market Season.

Fresh for October 2026 across the greater Dayton area and suburbs: Kettering's PetFest fills Delco Park Saturday morning, the free Lebanon Oktoberfest takes over downtown Lebanon Friday night and Saturday, and October farmers markets keep the season going in Fairborn and Beavercreek through the middle of the month. On the dining front, there are no confirmed grand openings this week, so I have the honest status of every restaurant project I have been tracking instead: Kawa Revolving Sushi at Austin Landing, Scramblers at The Greene, Black Rock Bar and Grill, Whoa Dogs, and Hummus and Garlic.

Last week's guide covered the big festival Saturday with the Sauerkraut Festival, the Xenia Oktoberfest, and the Vandalia Fall Festival. This is everything new since, plus the market dates and corn maze you will want saved before the season winds down.

Here is everything fresh I have not covered before.

The October 9-10 Weekend You Might Have Missed

Kettering PetFest: Saturday, October 10 at Delco Park

Kettering's PetFest returns Saturday, October 10 at 9 a.m. to Delco Park, 1700 Delco Park Drive. It is the annual fundraiser for the Miami Valley Pet Therapy Association, an all-volunteer nonprofit that provides certified pet-therapy services across the region. The morning opens with the PetFest 5K Run and Fun Walk, followed by food trucks, vendors, basket raffles, live music, a Pet Garage Sale, a Mid-Riders 4-H Farm petting area, and pet demonstrations through the day. If you have a well-behaved dog, this is one of the friendliest mornings on the Kettering calendar, and the entry fees go straight to a good cause.

Lebanon Oktoberfest: Free, Friday Night and Saturday

Just south of the suburbs, downtown Lebanon hosts its Oktoberfest on Mulberry Street Friday, October 9 from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday, October 10 from 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Admission is free. Expect live German-style music, a biergarten pouring German and local craft beers, food and gift vendors, a kids' zone, and educational displays. The event is a fundraiser for the Miller Ecological Park Foundation, supporting the Warren County Environmental Fund's community conservation grants, so the party has a purpose beyond the polka. It is an easy drive from Springboro, Bellbrook, and Centerville.

Low Budget Palooza Homecoming: Friday Night in Webster Station

For the music crowd, Low Budget Palooza Homecoming 2k26 lands Friday, October 9 at 10 p.m. at Webster Station, 452 E. Third Street in Dayton. The long-running local music party returns with a homecoming edition, and it is the best way to hear what Dayton's scene is playing right now. Pair it with the Dayton Music Fest lineup in the Oregon District the same weekend, covered in my complete fall guide.

The Dayton German Club's Oktoberfest: A Date to Watch

One more Oktoberfest worth circling: the Dayton Liederkranz-Turner, the city's oldest German-American club, hosts its Oktoberfest each October at 1400 E. Fifth Street in the St. Anne's Hill district. It is advertised as Dayton's most authentic Oktoberfest, with German food, beer, music, and dirndl and lederhosen festivities, and it is typically free to attend. The club has not confirmed its 2026 date yet, so check daytongermanclub.org for the announcement.

October Farmers Markets Keep the Season Going

Fairborn Farmers Market: Wednesday, October 14

The Fairborn Farmers Market keeps its midweek run going Wednesday, October 14 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Fifth-Third Commons on Main Street and Grand Avenue downtown. It is a quick lunch-hour stop for produce, baked goods, and local crafts, and it is one of the few midweek markets left in the area this time of year.

Two Beavercreek-Area Markets on Saturday, October 17

Saturday the 17th gives you two market options on the east side. The Beavercreek Farmers Market runs 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Hobson Freedom Park, 2910 Trebein Road, bringing the season's last wave of local produce, honey, and handmade goods to the Beavercreek-Fairborn border. Meanwhile, the Greene County Farmers Market of Beavercreek keeps its long-running Saturday hours 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at 4051 Indian Ripple Road. Between the two, you can stock the pantry for the week and still make the Boo Bash Trail or the Chocolate Festival in Xenia later that day.

The Lost Creek Corn Maze: Through October 26 Near Tipp City

In the Tipp City direction, the Miami County Park District keeps its big corn maze at Lost Creek Reserve open daily through October 26 from 8 a.m. to sunset. It is a classic fall afternoon: the maze, the reserve's trails, and the last of the season's color. For families in Tipp City, Troy, and the northern suburbs, it is the anchor of the fall calendar.

October is the season when every suburb has its own fall calendar, from farmers markets to festival weekends.

The Restaurant Tracker: No New Openings Confirmed, Here Is Where Everything Stands

Kawa Revolving Sushi Confirms Austin Landing

The biggest dining news on the tracker is that Kawa Revolving Sushi has confirmed its second Dayton-area location at Austin Landing, 10267 Penny Lane in Miami Township, in the former Taste of Belgium space. The Cincinnati-based chain opened at the Beavercreek Towne Center in 2025, and this will be its fourth location overall. No opening date has been announced yet, and I will post the moment one lands.

Scramblers, Black Rock, Whoa Dogs and Hummus & Garlic: Still Building Out

Every project I have been following since the summer is still moving, with no confirmed dates yet. Scramblers keeps building out its first Dayton-area location in the former Taste of Belgium space at The Greene, Black Rock Bar and Grill is still on the way to the front of the Mall at Fairfield Commons, Whoa Dogs has its Oregon District lease finalized with the City of Dayton, and Hummus and Garlic is preparing the former So Pizza space near the Dayton Mall. The honest answer is that none of them has announced an opening date, and I will share each one the moment it is confirmed. My mid-October guide has the full rundown on each location.

Looking Ahead to Halloween

The calendar between now and the 31st fills up fast. The Fairborn Halloween Festival runs October 16-18, Beavercreek's Boo Bash Trail is Saturday morning, October 17 at Dominick Lofino Park, the Dayton Chocolate Festival moves to the Greene County Expo Center in Xenia on the 17th, and the 40th Oregon District Hauntfest plus the Vandalia Halloween Hangout anchor the weekend of the 24th. I have the complete rundown, including the trick-or-treat schedule for every suburb, in my mid-October events guide.

Why I Track All of This

This is the stretch of the year where the suburbs show off. A pet-therapy fundraiser in a Kettering park, a free Oktoberfest on a Lebanon side street, a Wednesday farmers market on Fairborn's commons, a corn maze near Tipp City, and a sushi chain betting on Austin Landing: taken together, that is a region families are choosing on purpose.

For buyers, this is the context that makes a community feel like home before the offer is ever written. For sellers, it means your street sits inside a region with the kind of energy that keeps demand steady even in the fall. And for anyone considering the move from another state, this is the Dayton I know: welcoming, active, and full of reasons to put down roots.

Whether you are buying, selling, or just curious about what your home might be worth, I am here with straight answers and a strategy that fits your situation.