October is going to be mild, sunny, and just spooky enough.
There’ll be design, movies, plenty of nostalgia, pumpkin-flavored coffee, exhibitions, and we’ll have fun scaring each other among the fallen leaves in Montreal’s parks.
October 1–2: DADA MONTREAL
There’s a new design exhibition, showcase, and fair in Montreal, and it’s called DADA—after the 1920s automatist art movement.
In a former factory in Saint-Henri, featuring installations by Montreal artisans, architects, and designers, there will be listening sessions, happy hours, and guided tours on Thursday, October 1, and Friday, October 2.
October 2–4: OKTOBERFEST AT THE JEAN-TALON MARKET
For Montreal’s OKTOBERFEST, local microbreweries and Montreal markets are throwing a German-style celebration.
Admission is free, and beer will be $3.50 for a glass and $7 for a bock (cash only).
The sun is setting earlier and earlier, and to go for a stroll in a garden—but amid the deepening darkness of the approaching fall—we’re heading to FESTILUMI.
Festilumi – Halloween
23 October 2026 18:15 + more dates
Marché Central
October 3: MAKING TIME AT THE SAT
MAKING TIME is an electronic music festival that’s turning 26 this year. It all started when Dave P began organizing mind-blowing electronic music concerts in Philadelphia.
The festival, which takes many forms, brings back “transcendental” and “futuristic” sounds by blendingold-school Americanelectro with famous DJs, new artists, and avibe thatoffers a “sound experience”—not just a party or a concert.
October 3: GHOSTBUSTERS AT THE MUSEUM’S CINEMA
To kick off Halloween month, we’re heading to a double feature of the first two films in the ultra-nostalgic GHOSTBUSTERS series. The screening is organized with Morning Gory, and there will be plenty of atmosphere, donuts, and surprises.
October 3–22: PHÉNOMÉNA FESTIVAL
This is the 15th year of the Phénoména Festival, an event that celebrates Montreal’s artistic and eccentric side with cabarets, performances, lots of music, and a parade (complete with a marching band).
October 4: THANK YOU, BORSCH!
Because it’s fall, because it’s a little chilly, and because there’s nothing better than a bowl of borscht to warm you up.
It’s a beet soup with onions and potatoes, served with dill and—if you’re feeling indulgent—sour cream.
Borscht appears in nearly every Eastern European culture with variations—with meat, without meat, with beans, without beans, with pelmeni in it or not, etc.—and everyone says that thereal borscht comesfrom their own region.
This time, Ukrainian borscht takes center stage, and there will be borscht for everyone! Za Lyubov!
A scientific and immersive journey into the heart of criminology.
An immersive exhibition in Montreal that examines more than 17 serial killers through archival records, reenactments, psychological profiles, and crime scenes. An interactive tour lasting 90 to 120 minutes, open to ages 16 and up, with a VR module reserved for VIP ticket holders.
Mind of A Serial Killer: The Experience
23 October 2026 10:15 + more dates
312 Sainte-Catherine St W
COLORS!
Montrealers are lucky, because the city is literally overrun with nature (have you seen the green alleys lately?) and becausein the fall, you can see Mount Royal turning from green to red from almost anywhere.
But to experience the colors—the real colors—we recommend getting out of Montreal and heading into the forests of the Greater Montreal area for a weekend stroll…
The region is vast, and the colors of the leaves (from yellow to red, from gold to almost black brown) change depending on the weather, the rain, the wind, and the ground cooling at night. To see the most beautiful colors of Montreal’s fall at just the right time, BONJOUR QUEBEC has an interactive online map where you can find the colors at their peak of beauty throughout the region.
October 24: CANDLELIGHT—HALLOWEEN CLASSICS
A little romantic, a little scary, but with plenty of atmosphere—that’s exactly what we want for Halloween. And the season, even though it’s back-to-school time, is classic and cozy. For the all-time Halloween music classics, we’re heading to one of the season’s two candlelight concerts dedicated to the festival of spirits and occult forces.
- CANDLELIGHT HALLOWEEN: HAUNTED COMPOSITIONS onOctober 30, 2026
- CANDLELIGHT HALLOWEEN: HALLOWEEN CLASSICSon October 24, 2026
Candlelight: Halloween Classics
24 October 2026 19:00
Église Saint Jean-Baptiste
October 14: 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MONTREAL METRO
October 14 marks the 60th anniversary of the metro, and the STM has planned nearly two months of festivities to celebrate the metro’s 60th anniversary.
Illustrator La Charbonne has created a special collection to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Montreal metro—with stations that are part Bauhaus, part retrofuturistic, the collection is part of a truly fabulous design tradition.
Visitors are also encouraged to share a “metro moment” through October 9, 2026; these will be compiled into a collective artwork to celebrate the 60th anniversary.
To add a MÉTRO-MOMENT to the STM’s work, click here
In September, there will be a surprise concert by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a DJ set in a subway car by Picnik Électronik, concerts, and an appearance by the Montreal Alouettes.
In October, there will be an event at the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Library, two marching bands, an exhibition at the Musée des Mémoires Montréalaises (MEM), and a special micro-magazine for the anniversary.
October 30: CANDLELIGHT—HAUNTED COMPOSITIONS
A little romantic, a little scary, but with plenty of atmosphere—that’s exactly what we want for Halloween. And the season, even though it’s back-to-school time, is classic and cozy. For the all-time Halloween music classics, we’re going to one of the season’s two candlelight concerts dedicated to the festival of spirits and occult forces.
- CANDLELIGHT HALLOWEEN: HAUNTED COMPOSITIONS on October 30, 2026
- CANDLELIGHT HALLOWEEN: HALLOWEEN CLASSICS on October 24, 2026
Candlelight Halloween: Haunted compositions
30 October 2026 18:30
Église Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs
October 12: THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving, the Canadian version of Thanksgiving, is quite different from the American celebration based on a supposed feast shared between settlers and Indigenous peoples.
In Quebec (and Canada), the festival has religious, Indigenous, and pagan origins. It’s a time to give thanks for the abundance of the late-summer harvests.
Since every festival of abundance needs its feast—and since Quebec is an agricultural and livestock-raising region—we’re in a great position here in Montreal to cook up a Thanksgiving dinner using local ingredients and traditional family recipes.
This year, we’re the ones hosting the Thanksgiving dinner.
- long, colorful candles purchased atANNEX Vintage
- a homemade roast turkey
- mismatched glassesfound at the new home decor shop at the Marché Floh
- paper ribbons and garlands made with tissue paperfrom Boucle et Papier
October 29–31: ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW HALLOWEEN BALL
From October 29 to October 31, there will be six performances ofthe city’sonlyRocky Horror Picture Showat two iconic Montreal theaters.
It’s called theRocky Horror Picture ShowHalloween Ball. Therewillbea screening of the film, massive audience participation (including dancing the “Time Warp”), a master of ceremonies to guide the evening, and alivetroupeonstage.
There will also be a costume contest (to see who can best pull off Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s corset and blue eyeshadow…).
Whether it’s for Halloween night or to get ready for it, for adate orafunget-togetherwithfriends—literally any reason is a good reason to go!
October 31: HALLOWEEN
No, we won’t be dressing up like the girl from OBSESSION for Halloween—we’re going to get a little more creative and thrift something Kate Bush might wear on stage.
Our Favorite Thrift and Vintage Shops in Montreal
Even better, we’ll be stopping by a real Gothic-style boutique;
