Where to travel in October: 54 festivals

Festivals and seasonal sights in 75 cities in October: Nuit Blanche (Toronto), National Day Golden Week (Beijing), National Day Golden Week (Chengdu),…

Top 10

Toronto

• Nuit Blanche — One autumn Saturday, free outdoor art installations from dusk to dawn. The subway runs all night.
• Fall colours — Climb the hill behind the Brick Works for the skyline over a red valley. Clear and cool, the best walking weather of the year.

Beijing

• National Day Golden Week — The whole country is on holiday. Forbidden City tickets vanish first and the Wall shuttles fill up; avoid it if you can. The Chaoyang light festival and a craft-beer festival run the same week.
• Fragrant Hills red leaves — From mid-October into early November the whole hillside turns red. ¥10 entry, Xijiao line to Xiangshan. Weekend cable-car queues run an hour, so go midweek.

Chengdu

• National Day Golden Week — The whole country is on holiday. Panda base, Leshan and Emei tickets vanish and trains sell out. Avoid this week.
• Chengdu Rowing Open — Early October, university crews from home and abroad race on the river through town. The 2026 edition ran on 9 October with 37 teams; watch free from the riverside path.
• Jiuzhaigou autumn colours — Two weeks when yellow and red forest reflects in the emerald lakes. Peak-season entry plus bus ¥310; two hours by high-speed train from Chengdu East, then two more by bus.

Dubrovnik

• Good Food Festival — Old Town restaurants put traditional Dubrovnik dishes on at special prices, with cooking workshops and wine tastings. The finale is the Dubrovnik Table, one long table laid down Stradun on 17 October.
• LUMIART Dubrovnik Light Festival — Three nights of projections on Sponza Palace and the walls after dark. The Beer & Bites festival runs the same weekend.

New York

• Autumn: the best season, Central Park colour — Clear and cool, good for walking all day. Leaves peak from late October into the first week of November, and hotels cost the most now.

Sapporo

• Ginkgo and autumn leaves — Jozankei's gorge peaks mid-October, the university's ginkgo avenue late October to early November. The Kappa Liner bus to Jozankei is ¥1,700 one way, reserve by 5 pm the day before.

Interlaken

• Autumn colour and off-season deals — Larches turn gold and the crowds thin. Autumn fares appear, like Harder Kulm from CHF 22 and the Lake Thun boat from CHF 34, but the Schilthorn closes for three weeks from mid-November.

Kyoto

• Saigu Procession — A princess's procession in period dress leaves the shrine inside the bamboo grove for a purification rite at the river.
• Jidai Matsuri — Two thousand marchers in costumes spanning a thousand years of history. The same night, Kurama village holds its torch festival.

Hong Kong

• Best Months (October to December) — Clear, dry, 20–25°C. This is when to walk trails like Dragon's Back. Hotel prices rise to match.
• Hong Kong Cyclothon — The 2026 ride was 11 October with a new 56 km route. Kowloon roads close that morning, so move by MTR.
• Halloween at Ocean Park and Disneyland — Night openings and haunted houses all month. Weekend nights sell separate tickets.
• Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival — Open-air stalls with the harbour behind you, glass in hand. Restaurant deals run through November.

Bangkok

• Vegetarian Festival (Kin Jay) — For nine days in the ninth lunar month, stalls flying yellow flags serve vegetarian food only. Just follow the yellow flags.
• Bangkok Art Biennale — Contemporary art placed inside temples such as Wat Pho and Wat Arun, seen on the normal temple ticket.

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