Autumn in Vancouver isn’t just a change of light — it’s a shift in rhythm. The city slows, shadows grow longer, and public spaces become stages for art, history, surprises. This October, our goal is to map that rhythm: to highlight the nights and afternoons worth stepping outside for, and to give you both the “what” and the “why” behind each event.

As always, we build from our values: community visibility, narrative depth, and connective experience. If you’ve met us through our Atelier Tulpe case study or read our “Brand Better” series, you’ll recognize the same intention here: this is content you can use and trust.

1. Superflux Oktoberfest — October 4

Superflux Brewery 📍 505 Clark Dr
We start the month east of the viaduct, amid tanks and fermenters. Oktoberfest at Superflux is part beer festival, part gathering — a chance for craft community to meet, share, laugh. It’s approachable, local, and rooted in place.

2. Outsider Arts Festival — October 10–12

Roundhouse Community Centre 📍 181 Roundhouse Mews
This is one of our favorite Vancouver traditions. Over 400 works by outsider artists, performances, and conversations. It centers voices often left out of curated “mainstream” shows. If storytelling is your medium, this is your pilgrimage.

3. Pastels & Paper Monsters — October 12

Vancouver Art Gallery 📍 750 Hornby St
Designed for all ages, this workshop leans into imagination: cut paper, bold lines, playful monsters. The VAG has long aimed to expand access to art experiences. This is one of those bridges.

4. Opening Ceremony for Latin American Heritage Month — October 14

Granville Island 📍 1661 Duranleau St
Music, dance, artisan markets — this kickoff is an invitation to tune into cultures that animate our city year-round. It’s festive, grounded, and part of a larger heritage movement that we at Foreword believe needs more daylight.

5. Spirits of the Past — October 18

Roedde House Museum 📍 1415 Barclay St
Haunted house meets history. You walk the creaking halls of a Victorian home, listen for whispers, hear stories of those who lived and died in that shape of time. It’s eerie, grounded in place, and always feels alive long after you leave.

6. Farm Market + Ghostly West End Tour — October 25

Nelson Park Farmers Market + Ghostly Walks West End
📍 1200 Bute St (Market) & 1154 Gilford St (Tour)
This pairing is intentional: gather in sunlight over local produce, then follow that trail into darkness and folklore. It’s ritual and commerce and story, in one day. That’s the kind of layering we love.

7. JINX Speakeasy + Black Lagoon Pop-Up — October 27–31

Fairmont Hotel 📍 900 W Georgia St & Butcher & Bullock 📍 911 W Pender St
Two cocktail experiences under one Halloween umbrella. JINX leans vintage mystique. Black Lagoon channels goth+metal vibes. We respect brands and pop-ups who treat experience design as real work — this is one of those.

8. Ha-Ha-Halloween — October 31

The Improv Centre 📍 1502 Duranleau St
Close out the month with laughter. Improv, audience energy, costumes in play — it’s light, it’s human, it’s a reset before November sets in.

9. TIDAL Indigenous Pop-Up — Ongoing through October

Bentall Centre 📍 1055 Dunsmuir St
This pop-up isn’t a one-night event. It’s a statement: Indigenous women-led brands, makers, voices, all given space in the downtown core. Fashion, body products, sauces — goods + story + presence. It should be more visible, always.

How to Use This Guide (Beyond Reading)

• Plan by neighborhood. Many events cluster (Downtown, West End, East Van). You can turn one day into a walking narrative.

• Bring a friend who doesn’t know Vancouver well. Seeing the city through someone else’s eyes heightens discovery.

• Capture stories, not just attendance. Take photos, notes, short clips — even a quiet moment from a haunted tour. Use them later for your own brand storytelling.

• Tag us. If you go to one of these, tag @foreword.marketing. We’ll re-share what resonates — building the signal together.

This is more than a calendar — a map of October’s pulse. Use it, wander it, respond to it.