Top 10 Local Events in October 2025
Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama unfolds one sweltering Mississippi night on the Pollitt family estate, where three generations reunite to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. As speculation about Big Daddy’s health simmers just beneath the festivities, rivalries for his favor and the family fortune heat up. Determined to come out on top, Maggie struggles to get her troubled husband Brick to fall in line as they dance around the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage.
As the sun sets and the veneer of Southern gentility slips away, family betrayals and unburied truths leave no one unscathed. Raw, turbulent, and riveting from start to finish, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a bona fide American classic that you simply can’t afford to miss.
2. Dracula. October 3 – 12. Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
The return of Colorado’s cult favorite, Dracula promises all the spine-chilling drama and dark screams of this classic gothic love story set in 19th century Transylvania, based on the novel by Bram Stoker. With choreography by Michael Pink and Philip Feeney’s original score, Dracula's return to the Mile High City illuminates the spooky season for audiences craving a thrilling adventure.
Join us at the Newman Center for our opening act of the 2025-26 season with Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society! Latin GRAMMY®-winner and Guggenheim Fellow Darcy James Argue is recognized as “one of the top big band composers of our time” (Stereophile), praised for his “ability to combine his love of jazz’s past with more contemporary sonics” (Pitchfork). As the bandleader of the acclaimed Secret Society, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, Argue blends jazz with contemporary classical and experimental influences, creating intricate compositions that push genre boundaries.
4. Blackstar Symphony: The Music of David Bowie. October 9. Boettcher Concert Hall. Denver Theatre.
Touring across the world is one of the most ambitious collaborations yet in memory of the cultural icon that is David Bowie: Blackstar Symphony! Masterminded by Bowie collaborator Donny McCaslin (starring saxophonist on Bowie's final opus "Blackstar"), this massive show features a full orchestra performing his classic deathbed album, specially arranged by a host of David's own collaborators with special guest vocalist, Hedwig and The Angry Inch writer and performer, John Cameron Mitchell.
A boundless innovator and songwriter of extraordinary invention, David Bowie did it all, bending the rules of one genre and then creating a whole new one. Through his experimentations in glam, kraut rock, soul and dance music, along with pioneering fashion, he influenced not only every musician under the sun, but popular culture as a whole. Although he is gone, his music and legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of millions of fans throughout the world.
5. Paul McCartney. October 11. Coors Field. Denver, CO.
The wait is over. Living legend, Sir Paul McCartney is hitting the road and extending his 'Got Back' tour which kicked off in 2022. Bringing decades of classic hits and unforgettable moments stateside for 19-dates, from Hey Jude to Live and Let Die, this is your chance to witness a true legend perform the soundtrack of our lives - live.
In December 2020, McCartney released another album - but this one is slightly different from the ones in his gigantic catalog. Only a certain few get to call themselves McCartney albums and this surprise third entry became McCartney III - a series which began in 1970 when he released his solo debut McCartney, followed by McCartney II in 1980.
6. Mahler Symphony No. 9 with Andrew Litton. October 17 – 19. Boettcher Concert Hall.
Mahler’s “farewell to the world” caps the career of one of history’s most emotive and daring composers in a work brimming with blistering intensity, paralyzing terror, and tender nostalgia in equal measure before its trademark finale gradually gives way to calm repose. Never one to shy away from a grand musical endeavor, Andrew Litton has longed to take on Mahler’s Ninth since his days as Music Director here in Colorado. During the genesis of the work, an ever-superstitious Mahler was keenly aware of the deaths of Beethoven, Schubert, and Anton Bruckner, all taken shortly after the completion of their respective ninth symphonies. He even went so far as to compose a “Tenth Symphony,” Das Lied von der Erde, after his eighth in an effort to creatively avoid the same fate. In the end, Mahler too would succumb before he could hear a performance of this incredible meditation on mortality. Whether or not you believe in the “Curse of the Ninth,” these performances will leave you with a deep sense of profundity and peace.
7. Architecture of a Haunted House Tour. October 21. Molly Brown House Museum.
Why are haunted houses so often Victorian? What is it about their gables, towers, and trim that invite the eerie and uncanny? Join our resident old house expert for an architectural tour into the macabre, as we explore the features and folklore that have made certain historic homes the perfect setting for ghost stories, horror films, and gothic tales.
Giraffes strut. Birds swoop. Gazelles leap. The entire Serengeti comes to life as never before. And as the music soars, Pride Rock slowly emerges from the mist. This is Disney’s THE LION KING, making its triumphant return to the Buell Theatre!
More than 100 million people around the world have experienced the awe-inspiring visual artistry, the unforgettable music, and the uniquely theatrical storytelling of this Broadway spectacular – one of the most breathtaking and beloved productions ever to grace the stage.
9. BOO-lesque: Annual Halloween Burlesque & Variety. October 24-26 & 29-31. The Clocktower Cabaret
It's time to haunt The Clocktower Cabaret! Our Halloween BOO-lesque is back and hotter than hellfire. Expect the unexpected as our Clockettes transform into your wildest nightmares (and dreams).
Experience the ultimate blend of terror and temptation as our Clockettes deliver a show that will leave you screaming for more! Costumes encouraged.
10. Broadway Halloween Parade. October 25. Broadway (from 5th to Alameda)
The 9th annual Broadway Halloween Parade hosted by the Broadway Merchants Association and City Council Lucky District 7 will take place on Saturday, October 25 at 6 PM. This community-friendly event will be held annually along Denver's famed Broadway corridor.
Stretching from 5th to Alameda along Broadway, the Broadway Halloween Parade features various spooky floats, bands and marchers.
(Bonus!) Halloween Spooktacular! October 26. Boettcher Concert Hall with the Colorado Symphony.
It’s a spooktacular event for all the boys and ghouls! This family-friendly concert features spooky Classical favorites alongside music from films, television, and more. Costumes are encouraged making this a ghastly good time for every little monster and their mummy!