The month opens with three Oktoberfests on the same Saturday, and with apple season following closely behind. Here's what's on the calendar through next weekend…

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The Vermont Specialty Food Association is holding a networking night at Foam Brewers tonight (Thursday, Oct. 1) from 4 to 6 p.m. Registration covers light appetizers and two drink tickets. It's free for members of the group and $20 for everyone else.

Also tonight, Mad River Distillers hosts "Good Games with Good Friends" at its Burlington tasting room from 5 to 9 p.m. Bring your own board or card game, or play one of theirs. And “Roll for Cocktail” is back…for $10, you roll a 10-sided die, and the bar staff makes you a drink based on the number that comes up.

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If you’re up for a drive over the border into Canada tomorrow, October 2, Espace Old Mill in Stanbridge East is handing its kitchen reins over to Burlington's Frankie's for a collaborative dinner, built entirely from the farm and the surrounding region. The evening opens with a walk through the market garden and an apéro, then moves into five courses. It may be across the border, but it’s only about 45 minutes from Burlington.

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This Saturday, Oct. 3, brings a bunch of Oktoberfest celebrations, so choose your direction. Kintoberfest at Kraemer & Kin in North Hero will be pouring alongside four other neighboring producers (Two Heroes, Snow Farm, Lucy & Howe and Ausable Brewing), with food covered by The Hive and Kraemer & Kin's own wood-fired pizza.

Good Measure Brewing in Northfield opens its Oktoberfest to the public at 11:30 a.m. There are two sets of live music, including an oompah band, along with the stein-holding contest (two to four rounds depending on how many people sign up). And farther south, the second annual Okemo Valley Oktoberfest runs from noon to 8 p.m. at Off the Rails in Ludlow. Admission is free, and the kitchen is doing a classic Oktoberfest menu to go with the craft beer, specialty cocktails and live music.

If you can't make any of those, Howl Bier has been running its Oktoberfest for a few weeks and keeps it going through Oct. 10. They brought in about three times more German, Austrian and Czech beer than their draft system can hold, all from small producers. So they're tapping a few at a time and replacing each keg as it kicks, which means this week's list won't be the same as next week's.

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Two neighbors on Flynn Avenue are both holding noteworthy events Oct. 3. Citizen Cider's Cider Fest runs from 2 to 8 p.m., with two sets of live music between 2 and 7. There are also tastings, tours, burgers, local vendors and a kids' zone with a bouncy house. It's free and open to all ages.

And a few doors over at Switchback, the Green Mountains' Strongest contest will fill the beer garden from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Competitors take on five strongman events, including a lever deadlift, a tire flip and a wheelbarrow-into-yoke Zercher carry…not sure exactly what that is, but it’s probably as hard as it sounds. It's free to watch, rain or shine, with BBQ and beer for sale. This is the competition's fifth year at the brewery, and regulars bring their own lawn chairs.

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Also this Saturday, October 3, the annual cheese and beer Adventure Dinner returns to Wilson Herb Farm in Greensboro at 6 p.m. It's four cheese-forward courses using Jasper Hill Creamery and herbs grown steps from the table, paired with five Hill Farmstead beers, including a few that rarely get poured. Dinner is in the botanical greenhouse, rain or shine, and this one is known to sell out.

Closer to home on Saturday the 3rd, the Shelburne Museum opens founder Electra Havemeyer Webb's residence for Brick House & Bubbly. Hour-long tours start on the half-hour and end with sparkling wine, light bites and time in the gardens. Tickets are $40 for members and $50 otherwise. The house is historic and unheated, with four stairs up to the main floor and no elevator, so dress for the weather.

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There are also a few opportunities for food and drink education this weekend. Red Poppy Cakery in Waterbury hosts a French macaron workshop on Saturday the 3rd from 1 to 4:30 p.m., taught by Elizabeth Berman of Small Oven Pastries in Shelburne. You pipe, bake, fill and assemble, then leave with about two dozen macarons, the recipe and a troubleshooting guide. Participants work in pairs and must be 16 or older. There's said to be almond flour everywhere, so skip this one if you have a nut allergy.

And the next afternoon, Sunday the 4th, Master Sommelier David Keck leads Wine 101 at La Reprise on Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. He covers how vineyards are planted and farmed and what happens once the fruit reaches the winery. You taste as you go, which is the useful part, because techniques can get abstract fast without a glass in front of you. Keck came to wine from a career as an opera singer, passed the Master Sommelier exam in 2016, and now farms grapes and makes wine under his Stella14 label in Jeffersonville.

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Also on Sunday the 4th, PoutineFest is at The Coal Collective in Burlington from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and tickets are on sale now. Restaurants serve generous samples of the French-Canadian staple while competing for a 22-pound WWE-style championship belt and a People's Choice award. There are food trucks, beer, live music and kids' activities, and the whole thing doubles as a celebration of Francophone culture full of gravy and curds.

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On Monday, October 5, Specs in Winooski runs a Halloween edition of its cocktail tasting workshop from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Instructor Sam Nelis covers technique, tools and shaking vs. stirring through six cocktails with appropriately spooky names…the Zombie, Corpse Reviver #2, Arsenic & Old Lace, Death in the Afternoon, El Diablo and the Rattlesnake. Your ticket includes light bar snacks, industry folks get 15% off, and RSVPs are required.

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Wilder Wines in downtown Burlington has just launched an aperitivo hour, Tuesdays through Saturdays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The hook is a $5 “Mini Meal”…a small plate of cheese, meat, olives and almonds to go with whatever you're drinking. It runs every week, so it's a solid reason to stop in before dinner downtown.

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Saturday, October 10, is heavy on fall festivals. The Vermont Apple Festival & Craft Show in Springfield turns 41 this year and runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, at the Riverside Middle School. Expect cider pressing, an apple pie contest, cider doughnuts and apple crisp, a beer and wine garden, live music and more than 40 craft vendors. The rest of the lineup ranges from a mechanical bull and axe throwing to an armored combat sports demo, which is not something most apple festivals can claim.

Closer to home on the 10th, Local Maverick and Vermont Teddy Bear host the Flannel & Fall Fest at the Shelburne Road factory from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You'll find cider and doughnuts, food trucks, The Pinery pouring drinks, and local makers set up alongside Vermont Teddy Bear and Vermont Flannel. There's live music, and kids get train rides, a bouncy house and face painting. Registering for tickets enters you in a drawing for a Vermont gift box worth $150 or more.

And downtown on the 10th, the final Party on the Bricks of the fall series takes over the Leahy Block outside Ken's Pizza & Pub on Church Street from 3:30 to 6 p.m., with live music starting at 4. Ken's handles the food and drink…pizza by the slice, wings, poutine, Foam beer, frozen drinks, and a "Tropsicle," which is prosecco with a popsicle in it. Kids and dogs are welcome.

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Four Quarters Brewing in Winooski wraps up the stretch with its Fall Harvest Fest on Sunday, October 11, from 1 to 6 p.m. Entry is free, and the afternoon brings pumpkin painting, candied apples, food specials, local artisans, live music — and of course, great beer — all starting at 4 p.m.

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Between the steins, the cider and a 22-pound poutine belt, October is off to a strong start. Pace yourselves…and leave the tire flipping to the professionals.