Looking for the best things to do in Calgary this weekend?
From Friday, October 9 to Thanksgiving Monday, October 12, you can catch a séance and a drag show at the science centre, stand in front of a 1,000-pound cowboy made of butter, eat dinner with four strangers at a restaurant you won’t know until you sign up and fill a whole bag with farm vegetables for twenty bucks.
Last updated: October 8, 2026
It’s a long weekend with snow possible on Saturday, which in Calgary just means bring a toque to the haunted house. Here are 20 things we think are genuinely worth your time this weekend.
Planning sooner or further ahead? See what’s happening today in Calgary, browse the best things to do in Calgary this week or explore the full Calgary events calendar.
HALLOWEEN THINGS TO DO IN CALGARY THIS WEEKEND
Catch a Drag Show and a Séance at the Science Centre
TELUS Spark turns off the lights, turns up the music and hands the building to grown-ups for one paranormal night.
Spark After Dark: Paranormal Activities is a one-night party about why your brain thinks it saw a ghost. The schedule includes séances, a drag show, experiments that mess with your senses and talks on the research behind reported sightings.
Spark warns tickets go fast. If its lot fills, park at the Calgary Zoo’s north lot; a shuttle runs to Spark’s main entrance from 6:30 p.m.
WHEN: Friday, October 9 from 6 p.m. to midnight
WHERE: TELUS Spark Science Centre, 220 St. George’s Dr NE
COST: $36.95 general admission, $15 for members
AGE: 18+
WHY GO: A séance, a drag show and a science centre after dark, all on one ticket.
Sip an Old Fashioned Under a Smoking Skull at a Neighbourhood Pizza Place
A south Calgary pizza joint has hidden 100 spiders in its dining room, including one that’s five feet long and furry.
For all of October, TOPS Pizza South has turned itself into The Crypt & The Crow: skull towers, tombstones, dozens of crows watching you eat, flickering candelabras and 100 hidden spiders. The Charred Remains is an Old Fashioned served with a smoking black skull, and the pizza is called The Mausoleum Slab.
There’s no cover charge, but space is tight, so book a table.
WHEN: Daily through October 31, during restaurant hours
WHERE: TOPS Pizza South, 9919 Fairmount Dr SE
COST: Free to get in. Food and drinks at menu prices.
AGE: 18+
WHY GO: It’s the most committed Halloween transformation in the city right now, and it’s at a pizza place.
Book a 90-Minute Slot at the Horror Bar That’s Back at Limerick’s
Nightmare Bar has returned to Limerick’s for October, and this is its opening weekend.
It’s back at Limerick’s Traditional Public House for another Halloween season. Each ticket gets you a 90-minute session of themed cocktails, music, games, horror set pieces and photo ops.
Timed entry is the whole point, so book a session before you go.
WHEN: Select sessions through October 31. Opened October 8.
WHERE: Limerick’s Traditional Public House
COST: $15 + GST
AGE: 18+
WHY GO: It’s opening weekend, before the late-October sessions sell out.
Survive Seven Haunted Houses on ScreamFest’s Opening Weekend
Calgary’s biggest Halloween event opens Friday, and one of its houses is the only one where the actors can grab you.
ScreamFest takes over GMC Stadium with seven haunted houses, including The Dollhouse, Clown Town, Bates Motel and The Clinic, plus a Slingshot ride, monster trucks and a midway. Zombie Outbreak is the extreme one: actors can touch you there, and it needs a waiver.
Buy online. Capacity is limited and the door isn’t a guarantee. The Erlton/Stampede CTrain station is a short walk.
WHEN: Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10 from 7 p.m. to midnight
WHERE: GMC Stadium, 2200 Stampede Trail SE
COST: $35 to $75, depending on ticket type and date. Use code CALGARYLOCALE to save 10%.
WHY GO: It’s the first weekend of the season, before the lines get ridiculous.
Also worth catching: Field of Screams, six haunted houses across 20 acres at Cobb’s Adventure Park on Friday and Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. ($33 plus GST online), then takes next weekend off.
Watch Classic Burlesque Weave Through the Room at The Attic
The city’s only long-form classic burlesque night, in an intimate Inglewood cocktail lounge.
At The Chandelier Club, four performers move through the audience rather than staying on a stage, with host Bitch Sassidy running the night in golden-age cabaret style. Prohibition-style cocktails, stone-fired pizza and fresh pasta come with it.
Buy tickets under one name if you want to sit together. Seating is first come, first served.
WHEN: [VERIFY: confirm a show falls this weekend]. Show at 8 p.m.
WHERE: The Attic Bar & Stage, 1413 9 Ave SE
COST: [VERIFY]
WHY GO: It’s a date night that feels like 1925.
See Hocus Pocus on the Big Screen at The Grand
Calgary’s most historic theatre is screening the Sanderson Sisters for fifteen bucks.
The Grand is running Halloween movie nights this month, and Friday is Hocus Pocus. Costumes are not required, but this is the crowd that will appreciate them.
WHEN: Friday, October 9 at 7 p.m. WHERE: The Grand, 608 1 St SW COST: $20
WHY GO: A 1993 cult favourite in a 1912 theatre. That math works.
Drink Gin Where Fort Calgary Locked Up Its Prisoners
A twilight walking tour through the crimes and convicts of Fort Calgary’s jail, cocktail included.
Thousands of prisoners passed through the Fort Calgary prisons between 1875 and 1914. Gin, Jail & Justice starts with a specialty cocktail in the replica 1888 barracks, then heads out on a 90-minute walk to the spots where Calgary’s early crimes played out.
Friday is the last date of the run. Tickets include hors d’oeuvres and one drink ticket.
WHEN: Friday, October 9 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland, 750 9 Ave SE
COST: $55 plus fees
AGE: 18+
WHY GO: It’s the final night for a history tour that comes with a gin cocktail and a jail.
THANKSGIVING MONDAY + LONG WEEKEND
Fill a Whole Bag With Farm Vegetables for $20
The Thanksgiving grocery run, solved for the price of a bottle of wine.
The Saskatoon Farm‘s Fill-A-Bag Sale is still on. Grab a bag and stuff it with whatever’s coming in from their fields, including potatoes, three kinds of carrots, beets and kale, leeks, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi and cilantro. They’re also selling garlic and BC fruit.
Heads up: the farm starts closing on Mondays as of October 12, so go Friday to Sunday, not Thanksgiving Monday. Bring cash to save a dollar.
WHEN: Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11
WHERE: The Saskatoon Farm, 80181 338 Ave E, Foothills County, about 20 minutes south of Calgary
COST: $21 per bag, or $20 cash
WHY GO: Your whole side-dish table, picked this week, for twenty bucks.
Walk Off the Turkey, Then Dance at Eau Claire Plaza on Thanksgiving Monday
A free 5 km walk for the Calgary Food Bank that ends in an outdoor dance party.
theWALK starts Monday morning at Eau Claire Plaza with a friendly 5 km loop on the downtown pathways, open to all ages and paces. When you get back, thePOWER hour kicks off: an outdoor dance party with a live DJ.
WHEN: Monday, October 12 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Eau Claire Plaza, 101 Barclay Parade SW
COST: Free
WHY GO: It’s the most Thanksgiving thing on this list, and the only one with a DJ.
Have Thanksgiving Monday Brunch on Prince’s Island
River Café is open for holiday Monday brunch, which is about as Calgary as a long weekend gets.
River Café, No. 42 on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants for 2026, is serving brunch on Thanksgiving Monday. Its Thanksgiving-dinner-at-home kits have already sold out, so book your table now.
WHEN: Monday, October 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: River Café, 25 Prince’s Island Park
COST: Varies by menu
WHY GO: A walk across the island, then brunch by the river. Long weekend, solved.
Also worth catching: the City is running free Thanksgiving Monday public skates at Ernie Starr Arena and Shouldice Arena (1 to 2:15 p.m. and 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.) and Stu Peppard Arena (1 to 2:15 p.m.). Bring your own skates and helmet.
See a Band Called Almost Monday on an Actual Monday Off
San Diego indie-pop with California surf-rock openers, on the one Monday this fall you don’t have to work.
Almost Monday are the trio behind “can’t slow down,” and they’re bringing retro surf-rock band Sun Room with them.
WHEN: Monday, October 12 at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Commonwealth Bar & Stage, 731 10 Ave SW
COST: $46.23
WHY GO: The name. The timing. You’ll still be fine for Tuesday.
EAT, DRINK, SHOP + SEE
Sing With a Friend Until Your Voices Draw a Perfect Circle
Two microphones, one old CRT TV and no singing talent required.
At EMMEDIA, Toronto artist Kat Hartog’s Oooooo (sing together and you will make a perfect circle) turns two voices into a shape on screen. Each mic controls one axis of the TV. Sing the same note and you get a circle; harmonize and it spins into looping curves.
Bring whoever you’d do karaoke with. It’s free and takes ten minutes.
WHEN: Through October 31
WHERE: EMMEDIA, 2005 10 Ave SW
COST: Free
WHY GO: It’s the only art show in Calgary this weekend where you’re the one making the art, out loud.
Also worth catching: Friday is the last day to see Obsession at Contemporary Calgary, a collection of more than 250 rare skateboards from the 1980s to the early 2000s, curated by pro skater Kevin Lowry. It’s in the Grotto from noon to 5 p.m.
Have Dinner With Four Strangers at a Restaurant You Haven’t Been Told Yet
A dinner series that books the table, groups total strangers together and only tells you where once you’re signed up.
Dinner with Creatives puts four to six people who’ve never met at a table at a locally owned Calgary restaurant. It’s part of a project hosting dinners in 100 cities to combat loneliness, and the organizers lean into the awkwardness on purpose. Every dinner is at a different spot.
Go solo or bring the friend who’ll talk to anyone.
WHEN: Sunday, October 11 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: A Calgary restaurant, revealed to registrants
COST: $22.53. Your meal is extra.
WHY GO: You’ll have the most interesting dinner conversation of the month, because you don’t know anyone yet.
Drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte Served in an Actual Pumpkin, Then Take It Home
Your latte comes in a real pumpkin, and the pumpkin is yours to keep.
At Nomad Cafe, the pumpkin spice latte is served in a real pumpkin, and you take the pumpkin home with you. Want to make it a little more fun? Paint your pumpkin right there at Nomad, then take your masterpiece home.
It’s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only, and quantities are limited. Call ahead. Once the pumpkins are gone, they’re gone.
WHEN: Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11
WHERE: Nomad Cafe, 12 Royal Vista Way NW #1134
COST: Pumpkin painting is optional and costs extra.
WHY GO: A latte, a pumpkin and an art project in one stop. Fall plans, sorted.
Wear All White to an R&B Brunch
Jerk chicken, mimosa flights and a DJ playing Brandy, Usher and Aaliyah, on the Sunday of a long weekend.
The R&B Brunch: All White Affair takes over Ginger Lounge in Kensington with a Caribbean-style brunch and a live DJ spinning ’90s and 2000s R&B. Expect sing-alongs to TLC, Destiny’s Child, Ginuwine and Mary J. Blige.
Your ticket includes one signature entrée with fresh fruit, one drink and reserved seating. Entrée options include chicken and waffles, ackee and saltfish with fried dumplings and a jerk chicken breakfast bowl. Cocktails, mimosa flights, sides and desserts are extra.
Dress code: white, head to toe. Seating is limited and tickets are non-refundable, so buy ahead.
WHEN: Sunday, October 11 from noon to 5 p.m. Doors at 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Ginger Lounge, 322 10 St NW
COST: $63
AGE: 18+
WHY GO: A brunch with a dress code and a DJ is a party with pancakes.
Try the Japanese Salt Bread Everyone’s Been Posting
Pillowy milk bread, golden on the outside, with a pinch of salt on top.
Sora Bake & Tea House, tucked inside Tokyo Street Market’s Macleod location, opened in late August. Daily Hive reported it’s the first spot in Calgary to serve Japanese salt bread (shio pan), baked fresh daily with fillings from sweet to savoury. Pair it with organic matcha, hojicha or genmaicha.
WHEN: Daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Tokyo Street Market Macleod, 5828 Macleod Trail SW
COST: Varies by menu
WHY GO: Salt bread is having a moment, and this is where Calgary can get it.
Buy Zwilling at Up to 85 Percent Off Right Before You Host Thanksgiving
The timing of this warehouse sale is either a coincidence or a gift.
The ZWILLING Warehouse Sale has ZWILLING, Henckels, Staub and Ballarini cookware, plus Tweezerman and ZWILLING Beauty, at up to 85 percent off. It wraps Sunday. Go early Friday if you want the Dutch ovens.
WHEN: Through Sunday, October 11 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
WHERE: BMO Centre, Hall F (Palomino Entrance), 20 Roundup Way SE
COST: Free entry
WHY GO: You’ll walk out with the pot you’ve been eyeing for three years.
Shop the Experiments Artists Usually Keep in the Studio
A market made entirely of studio seconds, test pieces, prototypes and beautifully imperfect one-offs.
Maker Stash Market is where local makers sell the work that doesn’t usually make it to a regular market table: limited editions, experiments and pieces with a small flaw and a big personality.
WHEN: Saturday, October 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Ranchlands Community Association, 7713 Ranchview Dr NW
COST: Free, with free parking
WHY GO: One-of-a-kind pieces, often for less, with less waste.
Shop 80 Vendors After Dark at a Thanksgiving Night Market
A Saturday-night market in a Bowness community hall, with food and entertainment.
The Wandering Souls Thanksgiving Night Market brings together more than 80 local vendors, plus food, wellness services and entertainment.
WHEN: Saturday, October 10 from 3 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Bowness Community Association, 7904 43 Ave NW
COST: Free
WHY GO: It’s a market you can go to after dinner instead of before brunch.
WORTH THE DRIVE
Close Out Banff Pride at Big Gay Burlesque
Banff Pride’s 10-day festival wraps this weekend, and Saturday night’s show is the one to drive for.
Big Gay Burlesque puts Alberta burlesque performers on stage at Mason Hall for a night of queer expression, comedy and glamour. Make a weekend of it: the Highway 1 drive in fresh snow is either gorgeous or a reason to book a room.
WHEN: Saturday, October 10. Doors at 8:30 p.m., show at 9 p.m.
WHERE: Mason Hall, 103 Caribou St, Banff
COST: $21.86
AGE: 18+
WHY GO: Burlesque in the mountains on a long weekend, for less than a tank of gas.
Also worth catching: the free Banff Pride Queer Market runs in the same hall earlier that day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
FIND MORE THINGS TO DO IN CALGARY
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