The feel of fall in the air! The days may be shorter, but there’s no shortage of things to do on these crisp autumn days and evenings. Pre-season hockey! Symphonic concerts! VIFF! Halloween! Whether you’re into dance, music, movies, laughs or sports, there’s an array of fun October attractions for all ages.
Paul Myrehaug – The Comedy Mixx
Event dates: September 29-October 1 | Various times
Paul began his comedy career in Alberta and now is an internationally toured comedian with appearances on television, radio, festivals and world renowned comedy competitions.
Lego Imagination Tour – West Convention Centre
Event dates: September 30-October 2 | Various times
With more than 2.5 acres of exhibits to entertain you, the LEGO Imagination Tour will features a massive brick pit, expert instruction from Master Builders, and the opportunity to get up close and personal with life-sized LEGO models.
Piano 4Te – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Event date: October 2 | Time: 330pm
Picasso: The Artist and His Muses – Vancouver Art Gallery
Event dates: June 11-October 2
Over 60 classics from Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The pieces, which include works such as “Claude et Paloma” and “Femme au chapeau” will form part of Picasso: The Artist and his Muses.
Bohemian Rhapsody – Orpheum Theatre
Event dates: October 1-3 | Time: 8pm
Winner of the 2014 Solti Conducting Award, Romanian conductor Cristian Macelaru is one of the rising stars of the classical music world; he will conduct the first symphony of one of Romania’s most important artists, as well as, the towering Brahms Violin Concerto, performed by Avery Fisher Career Grant-winner Arnaud Sussmann in his VSO debut. Oct 2 will be at Bell Performing Arts Centre and Oct 3 will be at Centennial Theatre.
Main St. Station Farmer’s Market – 1100 Station Street
Event dates: June 1-October 5 | Time: 2pm-6pm
See, taste, and indulge at this bustling weekday market. With vendors lined up on the east side of Thornton Park on the sidewalk along Station Street, the Main Street Station Farmer’s Market is within ideal reach on foot for bus and Skytrain users.
The Music of David Bowie – Orpheum Theatre
Event date: October 5 | Time: 8pm
The genius of David Bowie’s innovative range of musical styles influenced multiple generations of groundbreaking music. Now, hear his iconic music performed as never before, live on the Orpheum stage with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, featuring guest conductor Brent Havens and a full rock band. You’ll be taken on a symphonic odysessy that pays tribute to the legendary musician and epic storyteller.
Tegan and Sara – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Event date: October 5 | Time: 730pm
Tegan and Sara are a Grammy-nominated Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1995 in Calgary, Alberta, composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin.
The Look of Love – Orpheum Theatre
Event date: October 6 | Time: 2pm
The music of love through the centuries, including beloved operettas by Strauss and Lehar.
EAT! Vancouver – BC Place
Event dates: October 4-7 | Various times
Now in its 14th year, EAT! Vancouver, Canada’s most successful food festival brand, continues to evolve into a high end premium food festival. This year’s festival event will be for charity and in support of the Vancouver Food Bank.
Matt Billon – The Comedy Mixx
Event dates: October 6-8 | Various times
Matt has appeared at Just for Laughs, Much Music’s video on trial and The Debaters and written for This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Harvest Haus – QE Theatre Plaza
Event dates: October 7-8 | Various times
Break out the lederhosen, it’s time for Oktoberfest and Harvest Haus has quickly become one of Vancouver’s top draws.
Return to the Cotton Club – Orpheum Theatre
Event dates: October 7-8 | Time: 8pm
It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing! Amazing fan favourite Byron Stripling, the modern-day Louis Armstrong, takes you to the Cotton Club in a swingin’ program of old-time jazz, blues and big band, with favourites by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and more.
Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery – Stanley Industrial Theatre
Event dates: September 8-October 9 | Various times
Five actors play over 40 comical characters, filling the stage with suspects, allies, and heirs in this zany whodunit based on the Arthur Conan Doyle classic. When the wealthy Henry Baskerville is threatened by the fable of a bloodthirsty hound on the moors, Holmes and Watson are on the case to sniff out the culprit. The game’s afoot in this hilarious thriller that’s anything but elementary!
Glass Animals – QE Theatre
Event date: October 12 | Time: 8pm
English indie rock band from Oxford.
VSO at the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho – Orpheum Theatre
Event date: October 12 | Time: 730pm
Prepare for Halloween’s with a very special screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Bernard Herrmann’s spine-tingling score elevates this cinematic masterpiece to new heights in a thrilling big-screen presentation, accompanied by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Re-live one of the greatest thrillers of all time and re-discover one of the most iconic scores in cinema history.
Richmond Night Market – near Bridgeport Station of Canada Line
Event dates: May 15-October 12 | Various times
Friday and Saturday (7pm-midnight), Sunday and stat holidays (7pm-11pm) The largest night market in North America since 2000.
Vancouver International Film Festival 2016 – Various downtown movie theatres
Event dates: September 29-October 14 | Various times
The 35th annual Vancouver International Film Festival will once again welcome some of the world’s finest films to one of the most beautiful cities on the planet.
A Good Way Out – Pacific Theatre on Hemlock and 12th
Event dates: September 23-October 15 | Various times
Joey is a hardworking mechanic who operates as the front man for a biker gang. He joined for protecction, but a few bad decisions have him looking for an escape that may not exist. The world premiere of a fierce, compelling look into the precarious world of crime and compromise.
Mechanical Music – The Annex at 823 Seymour Street
Event dates: October 13-15 | Time: 8pm
Pre-show talk at 715pm. Mechanical Music creates a sonic universe in which mechanical and electro-mechanical movements and sounds are vital components of the artworks.
Mulan the Musical – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Event date: October 15 | Time: 2pm and 8pm
Cultures collide and legend is brought to life in Mulan the Musical. China’s first and only all-female percussion ensemble Red Poppy will be gracing the stage to perform this iconic, ancient Chinese tale. Showcased for one day only.
Angels in America – Studio 58 (near Langara Station)
Event dates: September 29-October 16 | Various times
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play in 1993, Angels in America has become a seminal work of the North American canon. Set during the AIDS epidemic in Reagan-era New York City, the play follows two very different, but equally troubled young couples, one gay and the other seemingly heterosexual, whose paths cross by chance. Utilizing everything from precise realism to surrealistic hallucination, and wicked humour to wrenching drama, the play not only examines matters of life, death and faith, it is a political call to arms for the age of AIDS.
International Puppet Walking Tours – Granville Island
Event dates: October 1-16 | Various times
Take walking tours of 13 Granville Island shops that will create window displays featuring puppet creations from across the globe.
Halloween Parade and Expo – Various locations
Event dates: October 13-16 | Various times
The Halloween Expo is happening Thursday, October 13 to Sunday, October 16, with the parade wrapping up the event on the last day. Parade stars at 11am.
Vancouver International Puppet Festival – Granville Island
Event dates: October 14-16 | Various times
The three day event will features a variety of kid-friendly and adult shows, as well as, workshops, panel discussions, and a puppet gala night.
Karen Gomyo plays Berg – Orpheum Theatre
Event dates: October 15-17 | Time: 8pm
One of the top violinists in the world today, and a favourite of Vancouver audiences, Karen Gomyo makes her welcome return to the VSO, playing Berg’s lyrical and enchanting Violin Concerto. Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Symphony No. 2, filled with beautiful melodies will be performed under the capable baton of rising star conductor Karina Canellakis, in her Vancouver debut.
Sean Kent – The Comedy Mixx
Event dates: October 15-17 | Various times
Critically acclaimed standup comic and winner of the prestigious San Francisco and Seattle International Comedy competitions.
Israeli Chamber Project – Vancouver Playhouse
Event date: October 18 | Time: 8pm
The Friends are thrilled to present a first visit by the Israeli Chamber Project, with an exciting and varied programme. This dynamic ensemble of piano, clarinet and strings has garnered rave reviews while on tour on both sides of the Atlantic.
Alice Cooper – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Event date: October 19 | Time: 8pm
American singer, songwriter and actor whose careers spans over five decades. With his distinctive raspy voice and a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, deadly snakes, baby dolls and dueling swords. Cooper is considered by music journalists and peers alike to be ‘The Godfather of Shock Rock.’
Danish String Quartet – Vancouver Playhouse
Event date: October 19 | Time: 730pm
Following an electrifying sold-out performance on our Next Generation Series at the Vancouver Playhouse in 2014, the Danish String Quartet went on to conquer the North American scene. They’ve earned rave reviews and return engagements. This is one of them.
West End Farmer’s Market – Comox Street (between Bute and Thurlow)
Event dates: May 28-October 22 | 9am-2pm
The West End’s charming, community-minded farmer’s market is open Saturdays. Grab a coffee, peek at the adjacent community garden and stock up on a vast array of locally grown foods.
John Cleese and Eric Idle – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Event dates: October 20-22 | Time: 8pm
Comedian Eric Idle performs on October 21 and 22.
Noam Gagnon/Vision Impure – Scotiabank Dance Centre
Event dates: October 20-22 | Time: 8pm
Noam Gagnon’s provocative new work reflects on the quest for love and acceptance, and how our identities shift and change. What is it to be pliable, de-formed and re-formed, without losing our integrity.
Phil Hanley – The Comedy Mixx
Event dates: October 20-22 | Various times
Appearances on ‘The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’, John Oliver’s New York Stand Up Show for Comedy Central and on the The Pete Homes Show on TBS.
Walt Whitman’s Secret – Presentation House at 333 Chesterfield Ave
Event dates: October 12-23 | Time: 2pm and 8pm
Based on the novel by George Fetherling, Walt Whitman’s Secret by Sean O’Leary mines the life of the most influential poet in the American canon for insights about creativity, sexuality, relations between the sexes and the often irreconcilable tensions between idealized love and how love actually manifests.
The Heart’s Jewel: Stefan Jackiw plays Mendelssohn – Orpheum Theatre
Event dates: October 22-24 | Time: 2pm and 8pm
“Talent that’s off the scale,” says the Washington Post and so many other news outlets that are raving about one of classical music’s new superstars – be one of the lucky ones to hear the Vancouver debut of Stefan Jackiw, playing the great Romantic Violin Concerto in E Minor, “the heart’s jewel,” by Felix Mendelssohn.
Pet Shop Boys – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Event date: October 24 | Time: 9pm
Legendary British electro-pop duo.
Yaletown Farmer’s Market – 1200 Mainland Street
Event dates: May 5-October 27
A very urban market indeed. The pedestrian-friendly streets of Yaletown welcome vendors and farmers Thursday afternoons and evenings for a terrific food and shopping experience, right at the Yaletown-Roundhouse Canada Line station.
Taste of Yaletown 2016 – Yaletown
Event dates: October 13-27 | Various times
12th year of the tastes, treats, sips and sights of Yaletown. Every year, Taste of Yaletown showcases the very best of Vancouver’s chefs as they create special menus, tasting plates and pairings for a distinctive festival.
Kasandra Flameco Ensemble – Scotiabank Dance Centre
Event date: October 27 | Time: 12pm
Flamenco virtuoso Kasandra ‘La China’ leads Solo Flamenco, as showcase of flamenco in its purest traditional form – the cuadro. Comprising adancer, singer, guitarist and percussionist, the cuadro provides the perfect setting for the spontaneous interactions between dancers and musicians, and the dazzling rhythmic conversations that flamenco is famed for. The combustible onstage chemistry, technical skill and shared musicality of these artists create a feast for the eyes, the ears and the soul.
The Flick – Granville Island Stage
Event dates: September 29-October 29 | Various times
Set in a run-down movie theatre, this Pulitzer Prize-winning comic drama follows three underpaid ushers who’ll do anything to keep the beloved and endangered local landmark running. As they share their hidden hopes for the future, an intimacy forms among these outsiders who at first glance have only one thing in common. Sharp-witted and insightful, The Flick is a sideways look into the lives of young people navigating their place in the world.
Straight Jacket Winter – Studio 16 – 1555 W. 7th
Event dates: October 18-29 | Various times
In a city of immigrants, themes of isolation, barriers and social integration are inherent in the experiences of many newcomers to Vancouver. Théâtre la Seizième, Vancouver’s only professional French-speaking company, exploers these themes in Straight Jacket Winter. Set during Vancouver’s gloomiest season, the play focuses on the isolation of a young couple moving to Vancouver from Montreal.
The Italian Symphony – Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Event dates: October 28-29 | Time: 8pm
Italian conductor Carlo Montanaro brings his impressive and distinct style to a program of beautiful classical music by Mozart and Mendelssohn, perfect repertoire for the Chan Centre’s sparkling acoustic. And Andrew von Oeyen’s elegant artistry and brilliant technique will shine in Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Casey Corbin – The Comedy Mixx
Event dates: October 27-29 | Various times
Appearances on ‘The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’, John Oliver’s New York Stand Up Show for Comedy Central and on The Pete Homes Show on TBS.
Jessica Lang Dance – Vancouver Playhouse
Event dates: October 28-29 | Time: 8pm
New York City’s Jessica Lang Dance has become one of the most respected and acclaimed American dance troupes for works that are both genuinely moving and visually arresting. Jessica Lang Dance make their Canadian debut in Vancouver with a program of mixed repertoire that includes their latest work – Thousand Yard Stare. This piece for nine dancers, set to Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, Opus 132, honours those affected by war.
Halloween Monster Match – Improv Centre at Granville Island
Event date: October 29 | Time: 815pm
Featuring costumed performers in two head to headless SPOOKtacular competitions where all but one ghoul will perish!
Burnaby Haunted Village – Burnaby Village
Event dates: October 27-30 | Various times
Come waning moon or silver wet cloud, wear your costumes to explore the Village in the dark of night.
Derek Gripper – Presentation House on 333 Chesterfield Ave
Event date: October 30 | Time: 8pm
What happens when a classical guitarist from Capetown, South Africa discovers the kora? A delicate and breathtaking new art form that is bringing Malian kora music to new audiences worldwide.
Istvan Vardai – Vancouver Playhouse
Event date: October 30 | Time: 3pm
Award-winning Hungarian cellist Istvan Vardai is a rising star, performing to great acclaim at major international venues.
The Zombie Syndrome: Dead in the Water – Various locations in Granville Island
Event dates: October 4-31
The Virtual Stage’s long-running zombie theatre phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down – this time boasting a full-fledged boat chase across False Creek. Dead in the Water may finally answer that burning hypothetical question: in the event of a zombie invasion, would you be better off on land or in the water? Be ready to move in this roving adventures around Granville Island, using smartphones and clues to chase down a new threat to the City of Vancouver: zombie-vampires.
Stanley Park Miniature Railway, Ghost Train, Day of the Dead – Stanley Park
Event dates October 8-31 | Time: 530pm onwards
Be serenaded by a mariachi band of cockroaches, ride the train through the tunnel of flames with the Aztec Lord and Lady of Death, and picnic with us in a gorgeous graveyard where friendly souls return to dance with a twelve foot skeleton.
Glow in the Garden – Van Dusen Botanical Garden
Event dates: October 24-31 | Time: 5pm
The Garden comes to life with spellbinding lights, ghoulish music, and glowing pumpkin characters created by award-winning carvers, Clive Cooper and Bruce Waugh.
Suitcase Stories – Pacific Theatre on Hemlock and 12th
Event dates: October 28-November 12 | Various times
With only her tiny suitcase in tow, Maki leaves her home in South Korea and takes off for Canada, simply because her brother had a map of Toronto.
Ages of the Moon – Presentation House Theatre 333 Chesterfield Avenue
Event dates: October 27-November 6 | Various times
Bryon and Ames are old friends, reunited by mutual desperation. As the Earth cast its shadow on the distant lunar landscape, fifty years of love, friendship, and rivalry are put to the test with hostilities erupting, subsiding and flaring again.
Hidden: ITSAZOO – UBC Botanical Garden
Event dates: October 22-November 13 | Time: 8pm
ITSAZOO presents a bone-chilling site-specific horror event: Hidden. Blurring the lines between performance and reality, we will guide audiences of 13 people, armed only with flashlights, on the Lost Lovers Murder Tour – a frighteningly accurate re-enactment of the infamous and unsolved murders that occurred exactly 20 years ago, deep within the forest.
Sultans of the Street – Waterfront Theatre Granville Island
Event dates: October 29-November 13 | Various times
Four children from different worlds – two who want new kites and two with the simple wish to attend school – are trapped in a world of begging on the streets of Kolkata, India. Dressed as golds, they bless the generous and threaten to curse those who are not. Together, they must work to escape servitude and set a course for a new life. In association with the Diwali Fest.
Baskerfield Mist – Stanley Industrial Theatre
Event dates: October 20-November 20 | Various times
Maude is on the wrong side of fifty, totally broke and living in a trailer park in Bakersfield, California. Just when things look their worst, she stumbles across a long-lost painting by the renowned Jackson Pollock – or is it? To prove she’s got a masterpiece on her hands, Maude invites a stuffy, world-class art expert to authenticate it. Cultures collide as these polar opposites evaluate the colour of each other’s character and explore their perspectives on what is real, in life and in art.
All Together Now – Musuem of Vancouver
Event dates: June 20-Jan 8 | Various times
Check out the Museum of Vancouver’s latest exhibition of the weird and wonderful stuff collected by the residents of Vancouver, including artistic taxidermy, artificial eyeballs and antique corsets.
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