October After Dark: The Los Angeles Guide
For true Angelenos, summer really begins in autumn. October is when temperatures soar during the day, the sun seems to linger over the city, and then nightfall arrives a little earlier, bringing cooler temperatures, a welcome reprieve from the heat, and the chance to finally enjoy the many fall events and things to do around Los Angeles. We’re starting the month with some of the best Halloween happenings in and around the city, followed by a selection of cultural, film, art, music, and food events worth making room for on your October calendar.
Courtesy of Carved at Descanso Gardens.
HALLOWEEN & OCTOBER SPOOKINESS
Date & Time: Select nights, October 1–31, 5:30–10pm
Location: King Gillette Ranch, Calabasas
Thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns illuminate a mile-long trail at King Gillette Ranch for this annual Halloween spectacle. The 2026 edition adds Jack’s Carnival, projection mapping, new lantern installations, food trucks, and the adults-only Spookeasy, making this one as much about the atmosphere as the Halloween thrills.
Date & Time: October 2–31, select nights, 6–10pm
Location: Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge
Descanso Gardens gets a glowing autumn transformation with thousands of hand-carved pumpkins, illuminated displays, and elaborate installations winding through the gardens after dark. It is a more atmospheric take on Halloween, with plenty to see even for those who prefer their October nights without the jump scares.
Date & Time: Select nights throughout October, generally from 7pm
Location: Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City
Universal Studios Hollywood turns the theme park into a sprawling horror playground for Halloween Horror Nights, with elaborate haunted houses, scare zones, live entertainment, themed food and the famously unnerving Terror Tram on the studio backlot. This year’s attractions include a Sinners house among the lineup.
Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Date & Time: October 6–15; screening times vary
Location: TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, Ovation Hollywood
The 26th annual Screamfest brings ten nights of horror cinema to Hollywood, with independent features, short films, world premieres, filmmaker appearances and Q&As. For serious horror fans, it is a chance to see new genre work alongside the filmmakers who made it.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24, 11am–evening
Location: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Blvd.
The Academy Museum celebrates Halloween through the movies with a full day devoted to vampires, coinciding with the museum’s current Horror Show exhibition, which explores the history and enduring influence of horror cinema. The program includes special-effects makeup demonstrations, monster appearances, museum tours, dance performances, and screenings including Hotel Transylvania, Blade, and Horror of Dracula.
Date & Time: Select nights, October 1–31; evening timed entries
Location: Griffith Park, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive
Griffith Park becomes the fictional town of Midnight Falls for this long-running Halloween attraction, combining a haunted hayride with walk-through mazes, live scare actors and elaborate sets. The 2026 edition adds new storylines and attractions to the familiar Griffith Park setting.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 31, gates 5:30pm; film at 7:15pm
Location: Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Cinespia closes out its Halloween season with John Carpenter’s The Thing beneath the stars at Hollywood Forever. The evening also includes a costume contest, dance party, themed photo booth, candy crawl and other Halloween surprises.
West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval
Date & Time: Saturday, October 31, 6–11pm
Location: Santa Monica Boulevard, between N. Doheny Drive and N. La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood
The city’s most exuberant Halloween tradition returns for another night of elaborate costumes, live music, food trucks and people-watching along a mile of Santa Monica Boulevard. Free to attend, the Carnaval transforms the Rainbow District into one enormous Halloween street party.
MORE SPECIAL EVENTS & THINGS TO DO
Date & Time: September 30–October 4; times vary by neighborhood
Location: Various locations throughout Los Angeles
Los Angeles Design Weekend returns for five days of open studios, exhibitions, installations, workshops, product launches, parties and pop-ups. The 2026 edition moves through different parts of the city each day, including Chinatown, the Arts District, Frogtown, Highland Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Atwater Village.
53rd Los Angeles Korean Festival
Date & Time: October 1–4; Thursday, 10am–6pm; additional festival hours vary
Location: Seoul International Park, 3250 San Marino St.
Koreatown’s annual Korean Festival returns for four days of food, live music, traditional performances, cultural exhibits, shopping and family activities. It is one of the city’s largest celebrations of Korean culture and community, and admission is free.
San Gabriel Dumpling & Beer Fest
Date & Time: Friday, October 2, 6–10pm
Location: Historic Mission District, San Gabriel
San Gabriel’s annual celebration of dumplings and craft beer brings together local restaurants, breweries, food vendors, live entertainment and community organizations. The free festival takes over the Historic Mission District for an evening centered on food, culture and plenty of dumplings.
Date & Time: Friday, October 2, 5–10pm
Location: Frogtown, beginning at Salazar, 2490 Fletcher Drive
Spend the first Friday of October exploring Frogtown’s riverfront creative community, where galleries, restaurants, shops and studios open their doors for an evening of food, art, music, crafts and neighborhood activities. The event is free and designed for wandering from one participating spot to the next.
Date & Time: October 2–4; Friday, 5–10pm; Saturday, noon–10pm; Sunday, noon–9pm
Location: Saint Sophia Cathedral, 1324 S. Normandie Ave.
Saint Sophia Cathedral hosts its annual celebration of Greek food, wine and culture, with traditional dancing, music and plenty of Mediterranean specialties. The three-day festival offers a particularly good excuse to spend an October afternoon eating, drinking and exploring one of L.A.’s longtime cultural traditions.
She & Him: Pump Up the Volumes Tour
Date & Time: October 2–3, 8pm
Location: Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward bring She & Him back to Los Angeles for two nights at the historic Orpheum Theatre. The duo’s breezy pop and folk sound makes this a particularly fitting pairing of music and one of Downtown’s great old movie palaces.
Insecure: The 10th Anniversary Tour
Date & Time: Thursday, October 8, 8pm
Location: YouTube Theater, Inglewood
Issa Rae and Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny bring their anniversary celebration to Inglewood, marking a decade since the beloved Los Angeles-set HBO series premiered. The live event combines candid conversation, behind-the-scenes stories and the possibility of special appearances from members of the original cast.
Date & Time: Friday, October 9, 6–10pm
Location: Multiple museums and cultural institutions throughout Pasadena
Pasadena opens its cultural institutions for a free citywide night of exhibitions, performances, music, dance, theater, art-making and special programs. Free shuttles connect participating venues, making it easy to build your own art-filled evening around the city.
Pasadena Latino Heritage Parade & Festival
Date & Time: Saturday, October 10; parade, 4–5pm; festival, 5–9pm
Location: Pasadena City Hall and surrounding streets
Pasadena celebrates Latino heritage with an afternoon parade followed by an evening festival featuring food, live music, dancing, community organizations and cultural programming. The event offers a lively way to spend an October Saturday in Pasadena.
Date & Time: Sunday, October 11, 4–7pm; VIP entry at 3pm
Location: Off The Hook Seafood Festival, Santa Monica Pier
Celebrate National Seafood Month with a waterfront tasting featuring seafood from 20 local chefs and restaurants, plus wine and other beverage tastings, live yacht rock from The Windbreakers, an artisan market, games and oyster-shucking and oyster-slurping competitions. This year’s festival also celebrates the centennial of historic Route 66, which begins or ends at Santa Monica Pier. A portion of proceeds benefits Heal the Bay.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 17, 10am–7pm
Location: Historic Crenshaw Boulevard, between Stocker Street and Obama Boulevard
One of Los Angeles’s great street festivals returns to Crenshaw Boulevard for its 21st year. Taste of Soul brings together multiple stages of live music, food vendors, small businesses, family activities, community organizations and wellness resources for a full day of music, food and neighborhood culture.
Date & Time: October 16–18; Friday, October 16 begins at 6pm
Location: Lodge Room / Highland Park
L.A.’s Stones Throw Records celebrates its 30th anniversary with a three-day outdoor festival in Highland Park. The lineup brings together artists from across the label’s history and current roster, including Dâm-Funk, Egyptian Lover, Los Retros, Mild High Club, J Rocc, John Carroll Kirby, Sudan Archives and special guests Eric André and Kyle Mooney.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24, 3–6pm
Location: K&L Wine Merchants, 4235 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City
Spend an afternoon tasting more than 70 Champagnes at K&L Wine Merchants’ annual Champagne Tent Event, with grower-producers and representatives from some of Champagne’s most celebrated houses pouring alongside cheese and charcuterie from Lady & Larder. Confirmed producers include Krug, Billecart-Salmon, Louis Roederer, Ruinart and Laurent-Perrier, among others. Wine Club members receive early entry at 2:45pm. A portion of proceeds benefits the Glancy Wine Education Foundation.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24, 11am–3pm
Location: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave.
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opens its doors for a free afternoon celebrating the upcoming L.A. Opera season. Visitors can tour the opera house, hear performances by the company’s young artists, get a preview of Carmen, see costumes and the new monumental stage curtain, and take part in hands-on arts activities.
Kiwis in LA Art Show & Wine Tasting
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24; gallery viewing noon–5pm; reception 6–10pm
Location: Studios 3026, 3026 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica
Kiwis in LA brings together 30 Kiwi and Kiwi-connected artists for its biggest event of the year, with an evening of art, New Zealand wine, food and entertainment. The exhibition includes painting, photography, ceramics, neon, jewelry and more, while 10 New Zealand wineries pour throughout the evening. Guests can also enjoy pies and sausage rolls and a performance of traditional waiata, poi and haka by Ngāti Ānahera. Admission is free, with a suggested $20 donation.
MUSE/IQUE: American Sound Takes Flight
Date & Time: Wednesday, October 28, 7:30pm
Location: Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena
MUSE/IQUE explores the evolution of an American musical voice, tracing a line from Aaron Copland through later artists including Leonard Bernstein, Paul Simon and Rhiannon Giddens. The October 28 performance at Ambassador Auditorium is presented as an open-house performance of the organization’s 2026 season.
Date & Time: October 29–31; Opening Night October 29, 6–10pm; October 30–31, 10am–6pm
Location: The Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica
WestEdge returns to Santa Monica for its 11th edition, bringing more than 150 design brands together under one roof. The three-day fair features modern furnishings, kitchens and baths, outdoor living, lighting, art, design talks, culinary programming, book signings, demonstrations and special installations, along with the opening-night party that kicks off the weekend.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Ford
Date & Time: Saturday, October 31; doors 6:30pm, pre-show 7:30pm, screening 8pm
Location: The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Los Angeles
Do the Time Warp under the stars with a Halloween-night screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Ford, featuring a live shadowcast performance by Sins O’ the Flesh, the longtime Los Angeles Rocky Horror troupe. Audience participation is encouraged, with prop kits available for purchase before the screening. The event is presented with Street Food Cinema and One Institute’s Circa: Queer Histories Festival.
Enjoy your October and Happy Halloween!
Jacqueline Tager | DRE# 1476997
jacqueline.tager@sothebyshomes.com | (323) 697-3040
Sotheby’s International Realty – Los Feliz Brokerage
1801 N Hillhurst Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027
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Los Angeles | Lifestyle | Homes | Hollywood History | News | Nightlife | Architecture | Art | Food & Wine
by Jacqueline Tager, Sotheby’s International Realty.
Contact me:
Jacqueline Tager
DRE#: 01476997
jacqueline.tager@sothebyshomes
(323) 697-3040
Sotheby’s International Realty
1801 N Hillhurst Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027
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