Daily Info's recommended events for the week ahead, Thursday 2nd October - Wednesday 8th October
In your inbox every Thursday. Subscribe here.
Halloween! Oktoberfest! Falling apples and changing leaves! The days might be shorter but there's plenty in the calendar to brighten up your October.
Head to our blog to find all you need for a perfect Oxford Halloween
Welcome to spooky season, bats and ghouls (the real gender binary)! It’s the run up to All Hallows' Eve, and in preparation Daily Info have crafted a bumper blog of tricks and treats for both little and larger monsters.
For the non-vampires out there, daylight activities include a bountiful crop of local pumpkin patches to find your perfect Jack-o-lantern, spooky outdoor trails, and crafting workshops with West Ox Arts and the Museum of Oxford. Then after dark, we’ve got thrilling film seasons curated by Shocktober and The Ultimate Picture Palace, unique dining experience and parties with Tap Social and the Oxford Retreat perfect for creatures of the night to make sweet music; find it all on our latest post .
Gather around the fire at Oxford City Farm's Autumn Festival
Need a bit of Oompah in your Autumn? We’re in the thick of Oktoberfest season now, and we’ve got two great options this weekend. In East Oxford the ever-verdant Star opens its beergarten for Steins of German lager on Friday and Saturday, and a brass band on the Saturday. Meanwhile on Saturday in the west of town, Tap Social bring you a full on Bavarian experience . Yes, lederhosen and dirndls are encouraged (and Abingdon Town Band will be dressing up too). Yes, the beers have won awards, and yes, there’ll be German munchies. Eins, zwei, drei, Prost!
Revel in the season with your family, at Oxford City Farm, as they invite you to their Autumn Festival . Bring your glut of apples and a bottle or two, and join in the apple pressing. Meet animals large and small, with Insect ID and Greet the Goats activities. Plus there are arts and crafts and a fire pit, and food stalls from Pizza Midwife, Damascus Rose Kitchen and Oxford Community Action Kitchen. Please bring mugs, plates and cutlery for your family to eat with. And there’s no car-parking on site but bike parking is available, or the 46 bus stops almost outside.
500 years ago, Thomas Wolsey founded Cardinal College. Since its beginning, the choir has been central and prestigious - the College’s first organist and Master of Choristers was John Taverner, the great Renaissance composer. If Cardinal College doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because Henry VIII changed its name, to Christ Church. So to celebrate the classical musicians and composers associated with it over the years, they’ve organised Christ Church 500 Music Festival - a series of events through October and November, among them concerts, recitals, interviews and even a feast. By the time you read this, the festival will have launched (with Haydn’s Creation) and we are particularly looking forward to the conversation with Belize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen CBE about her life in music.
Oktoberfest : The Star, Fri 3rd - Sat 4th Oct, 2pm - midnight. Free entry
Oktoberfest : Tap Social Movement (North Hinksey), Sat 4th Oct, doors 2pm, band on 6-8pm. Free entry.
Oxford City Farm Autumn Festival : Oxford City Farm, Sat 4th Oct, 12-4pm. Free entry, but you do need to book.
Christ Church 500 Music Festival : Christ Church College, until 25th Nov, prices and times vary.
Visions of the future in Suzanne Treister's Prophetic Dreaming
We’re looking to the future at Modern Art Oxford, where Suzanne Treister’s Prophetic Dreaming opens to the public. Spanning four decades from painting to digital media, Treister’s artwork chronicles - and often predicts - the fraught incorporation of technology into our everyday reality, and envisions new futures through amalgamating modernity and ritual.
For a celebration of local creativity, stop by the Kendrew Barn Ballery for the Oxford Art Society’s Open Exhibition . Curated by the OAS’s selection panel, the collection brings together the very best of Oxford’s established and emerging artistic talent across multiple media, with pieces available for purchase to any would-be collectors out there.
And the Ashmolean’s free exhibition space showcases the work of US based Hong Kong artist Pat Suet-Bik Hui , whose pieces combine a trinity of disciplines (poetry, calligraphy and painting), to create subtle, yet striking compositions. Her ‘three perfections’ method is placed alongside works by her mentor and contemporaries as well as examples from centuries past, highlighting how she expands upon the artistic tradition she has placed herself within.
Suzanne Treister - Prophetic Dreaming : Modern Art Oxford, Sat 4th Oct - Wed 12th Apr, 11am - 6pm (9pm Thursdays, 4pm Saturdays). Free entry.
Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition : Kendrew Barn Gallery, St. John’s College, Thurs 2nd - Sat 4th Oct, 11am - 6pm. Free entry.
Pat Suet-Bik Hui: Three Perfections : Ashmolean Museum, Gallery 11, until 28th Jun 2026, 10am - 5pm. Free entry.
Grace Petrie's No Time To Panic weaves together protest songs and stand-up
There are lots of different ways to be a hero on stage this week. We start with a classic tall, handsome former Secret Service agent turned Bodyguard . He’s only hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron, romance wasn’t part of the deal, but it turns out he’s been Saving All His Love for this Queen of the Night. This stage show adaptation has all the singing, dancing and glitz!
Is that a joystick in your pocket or are you just pleased to see Sluts with Consoles , a show about video games and the girls who love them? Covering GamerGate and misogyny, the humour is dark, but nonetheless anarchic and high energy. Join Player One and Player Two and their stash of plasmids and energy drinks to delve into the gaming community, on many levels.
Saving the world is pretty heroic. Grace Petrie has been singing protest songs for 15 years, and she’s fed up! If folk songs can’t save the world, how about folk songs and standup combined?! No Time To Panic sees her weave together her critically acclaimed words and songs for the first time: a depressed audience is no good, so she’s going to change our personal climates if she has to do it one person at a time. Grace isn’t going to fight shy of hefty topics so age guidance is 16+ and you should go prepared to get motivated!
We’re zipping back to WWII next, for the famous cracker of the Enigma code, Alan Turing. We all know that much, but most of us know little about the man behind the code, or what else he achieved. Get to know Turing as an inquisitive thinker and loving human being in Hugh Whitemore’s original play Breaking the Code , with a new epilogue by Neil Bartlett that touches on Turing’s recent Royal pardon, the development of Turing’s Law, and his lasting legacy for Britain.
Last but not least, The Ancient Oak of Baldor , a special multi-sensory theatre show designed by Frozen Light for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities, and their companions. Join the people of Baldor, at the cusp of winter, celebrating The Great Cracking of the Ancient Oak. Elspeth was hoping Lars would return; when he doesn’t she is taken on an unexpected and magical journey. This folk tale of love, loss and the interconnectedness of all things is suggested for age 13+, to share the nourishing experience of stories.
The Bodyguard - The Musical : New Theatre, Mon 6th - Fri 10th Oct, 7:30pm, Sat 11th Oct, 2:30, 7:30pm. Tickets: £15 - £62.50.
Sluts With Consoles : The Old Fire Station, Sun 5th Oct, 4pm. Tickets: £13-15.
Grace Petrie: This is No Time to Panic! : North Wall Arts Centre, Sat 11th Oct, 8-9:30pm. Tickets: £16-20.
Breaking the Code : Oxford Playhouse, Tue 7th - Wed 9th Oct 7:30pm, Thu 9th & Sat 11th Oct 2:30pm, 7:30pm, Fri 10th Oct 8pm. Tickets: £14-34.
The Ancient Oak of Baldor : North Wall Arts Centre, Tue 7th - Wed 8th Oct, 11am & 1:30pm. Tickets: £10.
YWMP’s Monday hangouts are back! The local music group for young women, trans and non-binary people has started up their regular sessions in their new home, The Nest (read more about YWMP and their recent move on our blog ).
Even if you’ve never picked up an instrument before, all abilities are welcome to try their hand at playing, production, or even meeting some future band mates. Equipment and snacks are provided and travel expenses are covered so hangouts are as accessible as possible - email info@ywmp.org.uk or DM @ywmpoxford on Instagram to get involved.
Image credits: Beth Teutschmann (Unsplash), Oxford City Farm, Modern Art Oxford, Fraser West, Haley Drolet
