A marching band from Chicago that acts like punk rockers is playing a free concert at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium on Thursday at 8:30.

Mindy Kaling, the actress and writer on The Office, is appearing at Barnes & Noble this Wednesday to promote her new memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

And the La Perla Garden on 105th Street is hosting a celebration of the ancient day of the Dead celebration, which you can check out on Wednesday and Thursday.

Those are just three of the 40 or so events on our calendar this week. In other words, you’ve got a lot to keep you busy.

Below, check out our list of dozens of events for the week starting Oct. 24. We will likely add more as the week progresses. And email us at info at westsiderag dot com to let us know about upcoming events.

Please double-check times and prices with the event producer. Many venues offer special pricing for students, seniors and members.

Monday

3:45 p.m.
Hippo Playground Annual Halloween Parade Gather at the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument (89th Street & Riverside Drive) in your costume and follow the bagpipers to the Hippo Playground. Enjoy free cider & donuts afterward. At Riverside Park, Hippo Playground (91st Street). FREE.

4 p.m. (until 7)
The Museum of Natural History’s Annual Halloween Celebration Trick-or-treating, Live performances by David Grover and the Big Bear Band, and Louie and Subanda, arts & crafts and more. At The Museum of Natural History. $10.

4 p.m. (ish) until 8
West 69th Street Halloween Block Party Annual Halloween block party. They stop serving candy at 7. 69th Street from Central Park West to Broadway. FREE.

5:30 p.m. until 7:30
West 90th Street Block Party Block Party on 90th Street. Between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.

6 p.m.
87th Street Block Party Between West End Ave and Riverside Drive. FREE.

6 p.m.
Broadway’s Future A concert of new music by Broadway composers and lyricists, sung by Broadway vocalists. Presented by Arts and Artists at St. Paul, directed by John Znidarsic. At New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. FREE.

7 p.m.
Sonia Taitz: In the King’s Arms Sonia Taitz, a writer for The New York Times and The New York Observer, joins us to read from her new novel In The King’s Arms, the story of the daughter of Holocaust survivors and her love affair with a nobleman from an anti-Semitic English family. At the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. FREE.

8 p.m.
D’Ambrose Boyd & David Pearl Present Singers Space Come to Singers Space at Thalia Café, hosted by D’Ambrose Boyd with David Pearl at the piano. Where New York’s finest professional and aspiring singers go to sing their favorites and hear their peers perform before an intimate audience. The café offers cocktails, wine & beer, soups, salads, wraps and desserts. There’s no cover and no minimum. At Symphony Space. FREE.

Tuesday

12 p.m.
Toe-Tappin’ Tuesdays – Dixieland Jazz with the Gotham Jazzmen The Gotham Jazzmen bring you all your old favorites and more on Tuesdays from 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. FREE.

6:30 p.m.
Community Board 7 Meeting Full board meeting St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. FREE.

7 p.m.
Thalia: Growing Stronger International performer Thalia joins us for Growing Stronger, her revealing memoir about struggles and overcoming obstacles. This event is a book signing only. The author will only be signing her book; no CDs or memorabilia, and no taking of photos. At the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. FREE.

7 p.m.
Fall Sneak Preview 4: Thalia Film Club with host Marshall Fine Last year, The Thalia Film Club featured fifteen pre-release screenings and behind-the-scenes conversations – five per series – Fall, Winter, and Spring. We screened several dramas (Incendies; The Beginners; Win, Win; The Music Never Stopped; Rabbit Hole; NEDS), a thriller (All Good Things), and comedy (Cedar Rapids), a few riveting documentaries (Dumbstruck; Making the Boys; Hey, Boo; Freakonomics; Louder than a Bomb), and two Oscar winners (The Kings Speech and Inside Job). Special Guests included directors Morgan Spurlock and Andrew Jarecki, Sony Pictures Co-Founder Mike Barkar, Focus Features President James Schamus, Creative Officer for TribecaFilm Geoff Gilmore, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, and many actors. At Symphony Space. $24.

8 p.m.
Juilliard Jazz Ensembles Featuring the Juilliard Jazz Small Ensembles, coached by Juilliard faculty. At Paul Hall. FREE.

Wednesday

9 a.m.
Walk NYC Walk NYC is a program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Parks will staff locations throughout the city with trained walking instructors to lead one-hour walks. Meet at 83rd Street & Riverside Drive. FREE.

9 a.m. (until 3)
Day of the Dead Celebration Learn its customs & history at a traditional altar with Comite Guadulapaña Acensio. Individuals welcome to join school classes. For group reservations call 212-666-9774. La Perla Garden, W. 105 St. e. of Columbus Ave. FREE.

2 p.m.
Guitar Afternoon Enjoy free live music performed by jazz guitarist Bill Wurtzel and guest musicians each Wednesday from 2 to 3 pm. Folk Art Museum. FREE.

7 p.m.
SciCafe: Alive and Glowing Enjoy cocktails, cutting-edge science, and conversation at this popular after-hours series, which takes place on the first Wednesday of every month. Join John Sparks, associate curator in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology, as he shares his latest research about fishes that use light signals for mating, feeding, and defense. He will also discuss the different ways bioluminescence has evolved in organisms ranging from single-celled bacteria to sharks. Dr. Sparks is curator of the Museum’s special exhibition Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence, which opens March 31, 2012. At The Museum of Natural History. FREE.

7 p.m.
Mindy Kaling Mindy Kaling, Emmy nominated actress, comedian, writer and producer and star of The Office, reads from Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, a tour of her multi-dimensional life with unscientific but hilarious observations. At the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. FREE.

7 p.m.
Selected Shorts: Murakami Madness! In a mini marathon celebration of his long-awaited magnum opus 1Q84, actors Jane Curtin, Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show), Campbell Scott (Secret Lives of Dentists), Miriam Silverman (Septimus and Clarissa), Parker Posey (Best in Show) and others perform a selection from the new book as well as a variety of his hypnotic, funny, mysterious, far-out tales. The evening includes special guests super-fan Isaac Mizrahi and Murakami’s friend John Wray (Lowboy), who interviewed him for The Paris Review. With Murakami-inspired musical accompaniment. At Symphony Space. $27.

Thursday

9 a.m. (until 3)
Day of the Dead Celebration Learn its customs & history at a traditional altar with Comite Guadulapaña Acensio. Individuals welcome to join school classes. For group reservations call 212-666-9774. La Perla Garden, W. 105 St. e. of Columbus Ave. FREE.

6 p.m.
Make Your Own iPod Case with the Mathmystic “My name is Machine. I am a clothing and jewelry designer. I also make textile/fiber-based installations inspired from traditional handcrafts. We will make a soft case for your glasses or iPod out of fabric. There will be an option to make a simple design silkscreened onto your fabric; it can then be handsewn or sewn on the machine.” At the Folk Art Museum. $10.

6:30 p.m.
Greece in Silent Cinema Ancient Greece held a magical allure for early 20th-century filmmakers. “Greece in Silent Cinema” screens two silent films from the collection of the Library of Congress: A Slave’s Love (1907) and the newly restored Damon and Pythias (1914). Rob Stone, Moving Image Curator at the Library of Congress, will introduce the films, and Andrew Simpson, Professor of Music at The Catholic University of America will accompany them with new piano scores. At New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. FREE.

7 p.m.
Mark Whitaker Award-winning journalist Mark Whitaker comes to Barnes and Noble with My Long Trip Home, a poignant, insightful memoir that is a unique telling of the story of a contemporary biracial American family. At the 82nd Street Barnes and Noble. FREE.

8 p.m.
An Evening with Dar Williams Compared to Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, Dar Williams weaves fluid magic with her supple three-octave voice. Join this celebrated performer for a night of her signature lush soundscapes, elegant grooves, and seductive vocals. At Symphony Space. $45 ($15 for under 30).

8:30 p.m.
Mucca Pazza This astounding 30-plus member circus punk marching band bulks up anarchic brass arrangements with gloriously mischievous polyphony. Mucca Pazza is a 30-member marching band from Chicago that thinks it’s a rock ‘n roll band. Mucca Pazza includes the usual brass and percussion, with what it calls its “freak” section—guitars, mandolins, violins and accordions amplified with speakers in the musicians’ helmets. The group is a collection of shameless band nerds wielding instruments of incongruous traditions, sometimes in competition, often in cooperation.  They have been called everything from “circus punk,” to “geek love,” but no one calls them dull. At the David Rubenstein Atrium. FREE.

9:30 p.m.
John Brodeur New York musician John Brodeur has made a reputation as a talented recording artist, composer of first-class alternative pop songs, and a restless multi-instrumentalist. On April 5, John released Tiger Pop Ten, a 2-CD set featuring a newly recorded version of his debut album coupled with a 10th-anniversary reissue of the original disc. At Symphony Space. FREE.

Friday

8 a.m.
Walk NYC Walk NYC is a program that encourages New Yorkers of all ages to get fit while enjoying the outdoors. Parks will staff locations throughout the city with trained walking instructors to lead one-hour walks. Meet at 83rd Street & Riverside Drive. FREE.

8 a.m. (until 1 p.m.)
Green Market Choose from fresh produce & dairy, artisanal breads, baked goods, meats & poultry, honey, eggs. Clothing/textile recycling bin on-site. 97th Street and Columbus.

5:30 p.m.
Free Music Fridays Jalopy Theatre Presents: Alaska’s Fiddlin’ Poet Ken Waldman. At the Folk Art Museum. FREE.

7 p.m.
Ethics in Film – Atonement When 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) discovers a lustful letter and witnesses a sexual encounter between her older sister (Keira Knightley) and a servant’s son (James McAvoy), her confusion prompts her to finger the young man for a violent crime. Her half-truth changes their lives forever in this Oscar-nominated drama based on the critically acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan. Brenda Blethyn and Vanessa Redgrave co-star. At the Society for Ethical Culture. Suggested donation: $5.

7 p.m.
Olivia Harrison: George Harrison: Living in the Material World Appearance by Olivia Harrison. At the 82nd Street Barnes and Noble. FREE.

8 p.m.
Jonesy Jonesy began telling jokes on the stages of comedy clubs in his hometown of Boston in the summer of 2002. Since then, he has spit up a storm at colleges and clubs over the Northeast, Los Angeles, New Orleans and San Francisco. He has participated in numerous Comedy Festivals including the Boston Comedy Fest, Rhode Island Comedy Fest, Los Angeles Comedy Fest, and the New York City Underground Comedy Fest. At Symphony Space. FREE.

Saturday

11 a.m.
Super Sprowtz Super Sprowtz uses kid-friendly entertainment, puppets, music, story and a curriculum to Vegucate™ children about healthy eating and wellness. Through their ten super-powered vegetable characters including Colby Carrot, Sammy Spinach, Brian Broccoli and Suzy Sweetpea, Super Sprowtz delivers fun food facts in a humorous, interactive and memorable ways. Kids eat it up! At the David Rubenstein Atrium. FREE.

2 p.m.
National Dance Institute: The Celebration Team! Founded by ballet star Jacques d’Amboise, National Dance Institute (NDI), has transformed the lives of more than 2 million children through award-winning arts and learning programs, and through their spectacular and colorful public performances for more than 35 years. The Celebration Team dancers are kids ages 9 to 15, drawn from schools throughout the NYC metro area. At Symphony Space. $25.

2:30 p.m.
A Songwriting Community Comes Uptown An informal network of songwriters came together around the City’s open mic scene to share bands, gigs, ideas, songs, record distribution, living arrangements, and more. A cross-section of innovative performers from this world of music will bring their songs to the Library for the Performing Arts. Included are performances by Debe Dalton, Debutante Hour, Emily Einhorn, Steve Espinola, Major Matt Mason, and Herb Scher. At New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. FREE.

8 p.m.
Matthias Pintscher Conducts the Juilliard Orchestra Sought after as a conductor and composer, Mr. Pintscher made his Carnegie Hall debut last season leading the ACJW Ensemble. At Alice Tully Hall. FREE tickets available 10/21.

Sunday

8 a.m. (until 5)
79th Street Greenmarket Located on beautiful, tree-lined Columbus Avenue, this year-round market stretches from 77th St. to 80th St. each Sunday. Just behind the American Museum of Natural History, shoppers will find grass fed beef, goat cheese, fresh flowers, eggs, honey, baked goods, apple cider, and a large variety of fruit and vegetables. Columbus Avenue between 78th & 81st Streets.

1 p.m.
Thalia Kids’ Book Club: The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary with Norton Juster Join the author behind the beloved classic as he revisits Milo’s adventures in the utterly original novel, first published in 1961, loaded with irony, brilliant satire and just plain fun. At Symphony Space. $15 (sold out, but some tickets released day of event).

2:30 p.m.
From Beethoven to Berlin to Billy Joel Performance by pianist and cabaret artist William Lewis. At the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. FREE.

Ongoing Events

Lincoln Center: American Ballet Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society, NYC Ballet, War Horse

NYPL for the Performing Arts: Residue: Installation by Eiko & Koma, Marlboro Music at 60

American Museum of Natural History: Ongoing Exhibits

Photo of Mindy Kaling by NoHoDamon via flickr.