October is officially here, which means saying goodbye to Hispanic Heritage Month and hello to Czech Heritage Month. Luckily, there’s a way to honor both this week, along with a classic film at the Alamo Drafthouse, a classic play at Rice and DIY sign making at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Keep reading for ten of our favorite events that won't cost you more than $10 — and nine of them are free! Check out the Houston Press calendar for even more things to do.

38th Annual Festival Chicano
Miller Outdoor Theatre
7 p.m. Thursday, free
It’s your second to last weekend to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (it ends on October 15), so take the time to come out to Miller for the oldest cultural celebration of Chicano music. On Thursday, Jimmy Gonzalez y Grupo Mazz, Jaime y Los Chamacos and Sandy G y Los Gavilanes will take the stage to showcase the unique blend of styles you can expect all weekend long. If you can’t make it Thursday, the festival continues at 7 p.m. Friday night with Little Joe y La Familia, Shelly Lares and Street People, and at 7 p.m. Saturday night with AB Quintanilla III & Elektro Kumbia, La Fiebre and Isabel Marie.

The General vs. The President book signing
Brazos Bookstore
7 p.m. Thursday, free
After an unexpected victory in the 1948 election (“Dewey defeats Truman,” anyone?), Harry Truman’s reward was a communist China, accused Soviet spy Alger Hiss, the early days of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch hunt, the Berlin Blockade, the Soviet Union’s first successful detonation of an A-bomb, and North Korea invading South Korea. And then there was General Douglas MacArthur, at the time the U.N. commander in Korea. In his new book, UT Austin history professor H.W. Brands revisits the circumstances around Truman’s controversial firing of MacArthur in 1951 for insubordination – specifically, for MacArthur’s tendency to insult Truman, his refusal to brief the White House and his threats to nuke China while Truman sought peace. The Los Angeles Times says, “Their epic collision of wills, egos and policies helped set America’s course in the Cold War as well the backdrop for current tensions in northeast Asia” and Brands’s “engaging book helps explain why.”

Ty Herndon with The Band Hennessy
Discovery Green
7 p.m. Thursday, free
After breakthrough success in the 1990s with the release of hit singles like “What Mattered Most,” country singer Ty Herndon struggled both professionally and privately. But with the release of House on Fire last year, his eighth album and his first since publicly coming out in 2014, Wide Open Country says that Herndon “reclaims the magic that was sprinkled throughout his first three records.” The Grammy-nominated musician and The Band Hennessy, a Houston cover band turned original rock music-makers fronted by co-vocalists Heather Miller and Ashley Hennessy, will take to the Green this Thursday for “Show Your Pride Night.”

Rumors
Rice University – Hamman Hall
8 p.m. Thursday, $5 to $10
Neil Simon’s 1988 farce begins with a suicide attempt from a New York deputy mayor, Charlie, on the night of Charlie and his wife Myra’s 10th wedding anniversary party. As the clueless but well-to-do guests – lawyers, an accountant, psychiatrist, cooking-show host and a man running for the U.S. Senate – begin to arrive two by two to find Myra missing and Charlie alive but incoherent and sporting a flesh wound, they launch into full cover-up mode. But guessing at what happened based only on spurious claims, outright gossip and rumors leads only to a classic comedy of miscommunication, as they attempt to hide their versions of the truth not only from the outside world and police, but each other. Rumors continues through October 14.

Rear Window
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema – Mason
7:30 p.m. Friday, free
Alfred Hitchcock’s voyeuristic classic about a wheelchair-bound photographer who believes one of his neighbors has murdered his wife has been spoofed in everything from The Flintstones to The Simpsons, but you can see where it all started when the Alamo Drafthouse screens the film for free, courtesy of the Houston Symphony. With classic performances from Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly and Raymond Burr (whose villain, Lars Thorwald, is said to be based on Hitchcock rival David O. Selznick), this is one you won’t want to miss. You can pick up a free ticket at the box office or buy a $5 food and beverage voucher online to reserve a seat. If you can’t make it to Friday’s showing, you can still try Sunday at 3:30 p.m.