Every day in Tulsa can be spooky, if you only believe.
Here’s our guide to having The Most Autumnal Experience Ever this season: haunted houses, beer releases, fall festivals, jaw-dropping foliage drives, concerts and more. Enjoy!
Halloween Events
Dark Market
Boman Twin Event Center
October 4
Let your inner goth loose at the second annual edition of this fall Dark Market. 29th and Sheridan might not be the most out-there of horror destinations, but you never know: this event promises artisan vendors, an alternative fashion show, NSFW art after dark, and “libations.” The $5 entry fee goes to SpectrumPink Autism Acceptance. —Alicia Chesser
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo Bash
Tulsa Botanic Garden
October 11
Tulsa Botanic Garden’s haunted trail will happen one day only! With crafts, live music, and fairytale characters, this one promises to be fun for little ones and big ones alike. All ages, $35. —Z. B. Reeves
BooHaHa Parade
Brookside
October 18
This one’s a classic, with little kids (and others) in costumes lined up all along the formerly Restless Ribbon to see a parade of spooky floats, catch candy flying through the air, and get their faces painted. Get there early to get a good spot along the street; hordes of people—10,000 or so—come out for BooHaHa each year. All ages, free. —Alicia Chesser
HallowZOOeen
Tulsa Zoo
October 17-19 and 24-26
The Tulsa Zoo Train spans generations. I grew up riding it and my kids now do too, and frankly the only way to improve the experience is wearing a costume. HallowZOOeen is the only time of year that’s socially appropriate to do that, yet. —Matt Carney
HallowMarine
Oklahoma Aquarium
October 17-18 (daytime), October 24, 25, 31 (evening)
What’s scarier than being surrounded by sharks? Ten bull and nurse sharks inhabit a 380,000-gallon saltwater tank at Oklahoma Aquarium, and I’m sure they would love to see you and your family dressed up as characters from Toy Story, or whatever. —Matt Carney
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Philboo
Philbrook Museum of Art
October 24, 25, 26
It’s fine art, but spooky! Philbrook’s Halloween event will feature tons of art-themed activities, like spooky still lifes, puppet-making, and pumpkin decorating. $5/members, $5-$23/non-members (depending on age). —Z. B. Reeves
“Wicked” Singalong
Philbrook
October 31
Philbrook’s Films on the Lawn series finishes out with “Wicked,” the film adaptation of one of the greatest musicals of all time. This version will be sing-along friendly, so bring your friends and be ready to belt out the high notes. $10 for Philbrook members, $15 for non-members; reserved spots are available for an extra fee. —Z. B. Reeves
Haunted Houses, Trails & Tours
Looking for a truly chilling Halloween experience? Don’t miss The Hex House, one of Tulsa’s most intense haunted attractions, based on a real 1944 case. Police even found a casket in the backyard, with the resident’s dog, BonBon, buried in it as part of a strange ritual that helped give the case its nickname. The original house became a Halloween legend before being torn down in 1975. You can walk through the horror yourself at this immersive haunt, open every weekend from October 3 to November 1, with tickets ranging from $27–$45. —Katie Wiehe
Insanity Farms at Pumpkin Town
Get ready for a night of adrenaline-pumping terror at Insanity Farms, open every Friday and Saturday night in October from 7pm to midnight. Venture into the Field of Fear, a haunted corn maze where every shadow could be something lurking. Arm yourself and take on the undead in Zombie Paintball, where you’ll fight to survive against live-action zombies in a high-energy shootout. Perfect for thrill-seekers of all ages, this outdoor haunt combines heart-racing scares with interactive fun. General admission is $30 and includes access to all attractions. —Katie Wiehe
Twisted Roots Haunted Trail (Muskogee)
The Castle of Muskogee: Halloween Festival
Step into a world of thrills, chills, and fun at The Castle of Muskogee, open every Friday and Saturday from October 3 to November 1, 5:30pm to 11pm. For a magical night the whole family can enjoy, explore the Haunted Hayride, get lost in the Ultimate Maze, stroll the glowing Enchanted Boardwalk, or tiptoe through the eerie Torture Chamber & Catacombs. Craving heart-pounding horror? Brave souls can enter intense attractions like Domus Horrificus, Casa Morte, Jester’s Revenge, and the blood-soaked Trail of Blood. Each attraction ranges from $10–$15, with combo packs to help you customize your night of frights from light scares to full terror. Entry into the Castle grounds is completely free, so you can eat, explore, and soak up the spooky vibes all night long. —Katie Wiehe
In business for over 20 years, this company offers cemetery nights (with popcorn and a movie!), a haunted pub crawl, an abandoned prison tour, a bus ride through Tulsa’s spookiest destinations, and more. —Alicia Chesser
TFA Tours: Haunts and Homicides: The Arts District After Dark
October 29
The Arts District is, obviously, haunted as hell by the spectre and legacy of Tate Brady. Word is he literally haunts Cain’s Ballroom to this day; the Tulsa Theater, which used to bear his name, has to make do with the ghost of Enrico Caruso. If you liked the story of the Bucket of Blood Brothel, you’ll love this tour. —Alicia Chesser
Pumpkin Patches
Who doesn’t love a pumpkin patch?? Crisp fall air, seasonally specific treats, animals to pet, I mean c’mon. Some of our local patches are attached to working farm operations like Carmichael’s, so you can even scoop up some fresh produce when your kids are done riding the llamas. —Matt Carney
Tulsa Botanic Garden
Through Oct. 30
Pumpkin Town Farms
61st and Garnett
Carmichael’s
17137 S. Mingo Rd., Bixby
Pleasant Valley Farms
22350 W. 71st St., Sand Springs
Livesay Orchards
39232 E. 231st St. S., Porter
Oklahoma Heritage Farm
38512 US 75 Hwy., Ramona
Shepherd’s Cross
16792 E. 450 Rd., Claremore
Fall Eats & Drinks
Let go of the pumpkin spice and embrace … literally any other flavor of fall. We’re craving three things this season: soup, beer, and pie. Maybe not all together, but then again, maybe so? —Alicia Chesser
Seasonal Beer Releases
Cabin Boys: Oktoberfest Festbier-Style Lager
Marshall Brewing: Oktoberfest Lager
NEFF Brewing: Mars Zen German-Style Amber Lager
American Solera: Solerafest Marzen Lager
New Story Brewing: Hefeweizen and Festbier
Dead Armadillo Brewing: Oktoberfest Marzen Lager
Best Spots For Pie
Sweetie Pie’s Amish Bakery & Cafe
Beer Extravaganzas
Cabin Boys Oktoberfest 2025: Okie-Bavarian Celebration
Cabin Boys Brewery
September 20
Look: Just because it’s Oktoberfest doesn’t mean it has to happen in October. In fact, the proper Munich Oktoberfest starts on September 20. The stein-holding contests at Cabin Boys are always a spectacle, and the dachshund races promise a hell of a thrill. Either way, it’s a great chance to take in the season and drink some great local beer. 12pm-11pm, all ages, free, and dog-friendly. —Z. B. Reeves
McNellie’s Harvest Beer Festival
ONEOK Field
September 20
Lager Land Festival
Philbrook Museum of Art
November 8
Lager. Land. Both are good! This annual afternoon event, in partnership with Heirloom Rustic Ales, benefits the museum and the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma. Top Oklahoma breweries bring one-of–a–kind lagers to the fest, which you can drink while wandering around in the gardens, listening to music and shopping local vendors. Lovely! 12pm-5pm, 21+, $85 adult, $65 member. —Alicia Chesser
Fall Festivals
Tulsa State Fair
September 25-October 5
I have a shirt from Low Road Merch Co. (RIP) that says “You can go to hell, I’m going to the Tulsa State Fair” on the front, and “CORN DOG TURKEY LEG DONUT BURGER” on the back. That’s the sort of chaotic energy we like in a state fair: this year’s edition features musical acts like Ginuwine, Switchfoot, and Lupe Fiasco alongside the goat races, fried pickles, and Wacky Worm Roller Coaster. —Alicia Chesser
Festival Americas
Guthrie Green
October 4
Festival Americas has been going for 11 years, with live music, food, and markets all celebrating the culture of the Americas. The celebration includes performances by Calle Soul Band, Fiesta Latina, and Los Tremendos Junior and is free to attend. All ages, 3pm-9pm. —Z. B. Reeves
Oktoberfest
October 15-19
It’s been 46 years since the first Oktoberfest in Tulsa, and the Maß (that’s the plural of Maß, the German word for the one liter beers, pronounced “mahs”) keep getting poured. Enjoy live music, dachshund races, schnitzel, and—believe me—more beer than you can drink. Be sure to purchase a stein in advance to keep the bier flowing. Tickets start at $20. —Z. B. Reeves
Indigenous Peoples Day: Resilience Through Tradition Cultural Day
Arvest Convention Center
October 11
This youth-centered event features events and representatives from area tribes, and promises to bring tribal and non-tribal people together. This event is free and open to the public. —Z. B. Reeves
Tulsa Native American Day
Dream Keepers Park
October 13
This year’s Native American Day theme is “From Trails to Triumph,” celebrating the strength and perseverance of Native peoples. This free and family-friendly event will include remarks from local leaders, music, traditional dance, drumming, and art. 9am-4pm, all ages. —Z. B. Reeves
Dia de los Muertos Arts Festival
Living Arts
November 1
Living Arts’ Dia de los Muertos Arts Festival is a fall staple, bringing the community together to celebrate Latinx heritage and honoring loved ones who have passed away. The Festival will mark the opening of Living Arts’ Altar Exhibition, with many altars celebrating individuals’ loved ones. Free and open to the public. —Z. B. Reeves
Leaf Peeping
We’ve urged you to have more picnics, for your health. Now we’re urging you to get out of town altogether. (Come back, though.) Local parks can be autumnal wonderlands too, but there’s nothing like a long scenic drive to get you fully in the mood. —Alicia Chesser
Oklahoma:
Talimena National Scenic Byway
Kiamichi Trace at Beavers Bend State Park
Arkansas:
Coler Mountain Bike Reserve, Bentonville
Big Music
Mdou Moctar
Guthrie Green
September 19
Marking the start of an epic run of shows this fall at Guthrie Green, this concert brings guitar legend Mdou Moctar to town as he tours in support of his new album, Funeral for Justice. Moctar’s sound is rock-meets-Tuareg tradition, with heavy riffs and propulsive, jangly rhythm driving songs that often reference unrest in his native Niger and around the world. Tulsa’s own guitar hero Seth Lee Jones opens. 8pm, all ages, free. —Alicia Chesser
25 Years of Parachutes: A Tribute to Coldplay
Guthrie Green
September 20
Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Improvement Movement
Guthrie Green
September 26
New Zealander multi-instrumentalist Ruban Nielson brings his particular brand of lofi psychedelic rock to Guthrie Green with Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Opening for UMO is Atlanta-based Improvement Movement, who have a Steely Dan meets Beach Boys pop sensibility. 7pm, all ages, free. —Z. B. Reeves
The Beaches
Cain’s Ballroom
October 8
Jonas Brothers
BOK Center
October 16
The Pickup’s Becky Carman promised you another chance to catch The All-American Rejects if you missed their one-off warehouse show at WOMPA this summer. Well, here it is! Oh, and the JoBros are playing too. 7:30pm, all ages, $52-253. —Alicia Chesser
"LIT: A Concert By Candlelight" Featuring Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore
Guthrie Green
October 17
It doesn’t get much more autumnal than this, music-wise. Ambient icons Barwick (who grew up in Bixby) and Lattimore bring their echoey, loopy, vox-and-harp magic to a candlelit Guthrie Green two Fridays before Halloween. A perfect concert for the “thinning of the veils” season. 7pm, all ages, free. —Alicia Chesser
Mumford & Sons
BOK Center
October 25
You know you want some of that old-time stomp-clap nostalgia that’s been going around. Slap on your suspenders and head to the BOK Center for some shoutin’ and yearnin’ and banjo-pluckin’. 7:30pm, all ages, $53-192. —Alicia Chesser
Arrested Development
Guthrie Green
October 25
Hip Hop 918 returns with a ‘90s-throwback banger. Atlanta’s Arrested Development were the first hip-hop group to win a Grammy for Best New Artist back in 1993. They hit big with “People Everyday,” “Mr. Wendal,” and “Tennessee” but the impact of their conscious rap went way further than the charts. Hosted by DJ Doc Free, the show starts with a Breaking Battle with Let's Session and a hip-hop cypher with Moffett Music. 7pm, all ages, free. —Alicia Chesser
The Mars Volta
Cain’s Ballroom
October 26
Post-rock, post-hardcore, rock-fusion, art-rock: whatever box you want to put them in, The Mars Volta are cornerstones of it. After forming from the ashes of At The Drive-In, the band went on a string of heater albums, notably 2005’s Frances the Mute. 7:00pm, all ages, $62. —Z. B. Reeves
Big Thief
Cain’s Ballroom
November 3
Who among us hasn’t been personally healed a time or two by the voice of Adrienne Lenker? Since 2015, this Brooklyn indie-folkie outfit has provided the soundtrack for many an epiphany, with Lenker’s vulnerable lyrics riding on top of sounds Pitchfork has called “searing” and “cacophonous.” Touring with their new album Double Infinity brings them to Cain’s, which offers plenty of supportive space to have a minor yet cathartic breakdown. (Currently sold out, so keep your ears pricked for friends with tickets who might be changing plans.) —Alicia Chesser
Yung Gravy
Cain’s Ballroom
November 4
Jeff Tweedy
Cain’s Ballroom
November 9
He probably won’t play 66 songs on his return to Cain’s, but maybe he will? Indie rock’s elder statesman’s touring this fall in support of a triple record (that’s not a typo) called Twilight Override. He sounds pensive and unhurried on this track, “Feel Free,” which has been a nice look for Wilco in the past, whether Tweedy was fighting loneliness or doing whatever it is the narrator’s doing in “Muzzle of Bees.” I’m betting the over on tracks from Mermaid Avenue and predict his choice of Bob Dylan cover will come from, hell, let’s say Love & Theft. —Matt Carney
Say Anything & Motion City Soundtrack
Cain’s Ballroom
November 23
If you were an angsty teen who yearned in the mid-aughts, you don’t even need to be told about these bands. You’ve probably already bought a ticket. These bands helped define the sound of emo through songs like “Alive With The Glory Of Love” and “The Future Freaks Me Out,” with catchy choruses which tended to also somehow be depressing. By now, they’re elder statesmen. 7pm, all ages, $49.82. —Z. B. Reeves
Performing Arts Bangers
Tulsa Ballet: Creations in Studio K
Tulsa Ballet Studio K
September 19-28
There’s not technically a splash zone at Studio K, but it might feel that way, with as close to these elite-level dancers as you’ll be during this show. If you’re not into traditional tutu ballets, Creations in Studio K is for you. It features three short dances by up-and-coming contemporary dancemakers; one of the pieces on this program is set to music by the likes of Zach Bryan. Various times, all ages, $69.25-$84.25. —Alicia Chesser
World Stage Theatre Company: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
September 19-28
Riffraff Theatre Company: ROPE
Living Arts
September 24-28
It’s a classic be-gay-do-crime college thriller from the crew at Riffraff, which has been shaking up Tulsa theater in the best way since the troupe launched last year. Hitchcock’s film is fun, but it’s got nothing on being at this murder party in person. Expect an up-close experience of suspense and surprises in this immersive production. Ages 14 and up; tickets range from $15 to $35. —Alicia Chesser
Tulsa Symphony Orchestra: 20th Anniversary Celebration
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
October 4
Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax, a towering figure in the classical music world, joins Colombian-American conductor Lina González-Granados for the opening performance of TSO’s 20th anniversary season. Shostakovich! Beethoven! Dvorak’s 9th! Downtown will quake. 7:30pm, all ages, $57.50-$104.25. —Alicia Chesser
The Outsiders Musical
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
October 7-12
Welcome to the Stay Gold hype zone. In case you missed it, Tulsa now has its very own Greasers & Socs musical, based on S.E. Hinton’s classic novel, and it’s coming home on tour a year after premiering on Broadway. No rumbling in the PAC lobby! Various times, all ages, $60-$152. —Alicia Chesser
Hellerween: Short Plays to Scare You Shortsless
101 Archer
October 16-18
Tulsa Opera: Music from the Shadows
Baden Hall at Tulsa Opera HQ
October 25
Pembroke Players: Romeo & Juliet: Forever
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
October 30-November 2
Tulsa Ballet: Giselle
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
October 30-November 2
Forget Dracula: this right here is the spookiest of all ballets. A young village woman is abandoned by her lying lover, loses her mind and dies from grief, then joins a pack of other spurned brides-to-be who haunt the local woods waiting for the dudes to wander through so they can literally dance them to death. Live accompaniment by Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Various times, all ages, $57.50-$154.25. —Alicia Chesser
World Stage Theatre Company: Lord of the Flies
World Stage Studio
October 31 – November 9
Theatre Tulsa: RENT
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
November 14-16
Based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the 1980s, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Various times, all ages, $39-$57.50. —Alicia Chesser
Literary & Other Arts Events
Pärlā Citywide Creative Festival
Various locations
September 18-21
Created by spoken word artist, community powerhouse, and Artists Creative Fund recipient Jerica Wortham, this festival ranges from Greenwood to the Admiral Twin with events like a “State of BIPOC Tulsa” forum, a fashion and dance night, a theatre experience, and more. —Alicia Chesser
Tulsa Fringe Festival
Dennis R. Neill Equality Center
September 19-20
Nearly 100 local performers bring everything from music and theatre, to poetry and cosplay, to the frankly uncategorizable through the Equality Center’s doors for two days of accessible oddity. Threaded through the performances, the Tulsa Fringe Festival includes a maker’s market, a panel discussion with Create Tulsa about AI and the arts, Saturday morning family cartoons with Twisted Arts, an SPCA adoption event, and food from Inheritance Juicery and 918 Maples Tacos & Cantina. —Alicia Chesser
Verses: Community Literacy & Arts Event
Central Library
September 27
It’s a fundraiser! For the Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service at the Tulsa City-County Library! It’s also a really rich celebration of local poetry, storytelling, and visual art, with merch designed by Dan Rocky and performances by Zhenya Yevtushenko, Claire Campo, nosamyrag, Autumn Slaughter and more. 6pm, all ages, tickets start at $30. —Alicia Chesser
Tulsa Artist Fellowship Open House
Various locations
October 3-5
TAF is turning 10, and this year’s Open House offers a wide-ranging experience of the placemaking and social engagement that’s become a hallmark of the Fellowship. Join the artists in handcrafts, a horror film screening, a bike ride, a public sculpture visit (with live music!) and other creative encounters. —Alicia Chesser
The Moth Mainstage
Cain’s Ballroom
November 19
The big boss of national story slams heads this way with a full two-act show that features a musical act—and Pickup contributor John Paul Brammer as one of the storytellers! Tulsa is one of 16 stops on The Moth’s international tour, the theme of which is “daring.” It’s a perfect pre-Thanksgiving ritual cleansing: laughing and crying at other people’s stories before you sit down to listen to your family’s. —Alicia Chesser
