TUESDAY, OCT. 11, 2011 >>>

1. We have the Fourth of July, Mexico has Cinco de Mayo, and Ireland has St. Patrick's Day. When it came time for Germany to claim a holiday, they figured, why not just celebrate beer for a month? Touché, Germany. But since most of us can't make our way to Munich this year, bars and restaurants around the South Sound have been bringing Oktoberfest to us. Tonight, it's the Crown Bar's turn focusing all its beer energy on Tacoma's Burris Brewery. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., enjoy these local beers with currywurst and schnitzel sandwiches, raffle prizes and growlers to go. Prizes awarded for Lederhosen wearers!

2. This fall, Tacoma's favorite Victorian-style glass conservatory offers a botanical montage of madness, paralysis and death. The exhibit Wicked Plants: An Exhibit of the Deliciously Dark Side of the Plant Kingdom features deadly flora that would please a homicidal 19th-century botanist. The W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory exhibit is inspired by Amy Stewart's bestseller Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, a much-needed compendium of plants that rack up body counts. Go see it from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., if you dare.

3. Are you young? Are you professional? Yeah, neither are we, but that doesn't mean we can't tell you about a mixer hosted by the Young Professionals Network of Tacoma-Pierce County from 5:30-8 p.m. at The Hub Events Space. If you have a drive to succeed in business AND a passion for serving the community, this is your chance to meet your people.

4. In celebration of the new Chinese Reconciliation Park and Pavilion on the waterfront in Old Town Tacoma, the famous Classical Tuesdays series kicks off the season with the US China Music Ensemble. The night begins at 5:45 p.m. with a lion dance the Pavilion. Forty-five minutes later the dancers will escort the crowd to the Slavonian Hall where Warren Chang and the US China Music Ensemble will kick off the 7th season performing on traditional Chinese instruments including the pipa, erhu, dizi, and guzheng. 

5. The Washington Center hosts the National Geographic Live! speaker series featuring Kenny Broad discussing "Beyond the Invisible: Secrets of the Blue Holes" at 7:30 p.m.

PLUS: The Tacoma Science Café is tonight. Details in the Freeloaders.

LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound