Event Calendar

Puro Conjunto: Border(less) Sound is an interactive exhibition focused on conjunto music. The exhibition includes artifacts and musical-instrument activities, offering a closer look at this musical subject through hands-on elements. This October public visiting-day occurrence falls within the exhibition’s June 11, 2026, through May 30, 2027 run. Adult admission is $10, with additional reduced and free admission options as listed by the venue. Visit the official event website for current admission and visiting information.

UT San Antonio presents Actors From the London Stage: Much Ado About Nothing, a performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. This listing represents the documented October 2 performance, with an additional performance also documented for October 3. Admission is paid, with prices listed from $16 to $26. Visit the official event website for current schedule and ticket information.

The 11th Annual Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival brings together monarch tagging, nature activities, educational partners, music, food, and giveaways at Brackenridge Park. The family-focused festival centers on monarch butterflies and pollinators, with activities and information provided by participating partners. Admission is free and the event is open to all ages. Check the official event page for current schedule and event information.

Global Handwashing Day is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention. It was invented at the annual World Water Week 2008, which was held in Stockholm from August 17 to 23 and initiated the Public Private Partnership for Handwashing (PPPHW). Global Handwashing Day took place for the first time on October 15, 2008, the date appointed by UN General Assembly in accordance with year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation. The theme for Global Handwashing Day's inaugural year was Focus on School Children. The members pledged to get the maximum number of school children handwashing with soap in more than 70 countries. The tradition goes on today to help children around the world prevent infection and the spread of disease by learning to wash their hands.

National Boss Day is celebrated on October 16 in the United States. The day is meant to celebrate bosses who have been fair and kind throughout the year. The origin of Boss's Day can be traced back to 1958 when Patricia Bays Haroski registered "National Boss' Day" with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958. Patricia was working as a secretary for State Farm Insurance Company in Deerfield, Illinois. While working, she became aware of the challenges her boss (who also happened to be her father) had to face. In order to show her admiration and respect for her boss, she invented Boss Day. She chose her dad's birthday on the 16th of October as the date. If it falls on a weekend, it is celebrated on the work day closest to the 16th.

Sweetest Day is a day similar to Valentine's when people share romance or appreciation for one another. It occurs in October on the third Saturday of the month. The holiday is said to have begun in the city of Cleveland, Ohio in 1922. Candy store employee Herbert Birch Kingston put together a group of citizens to provide small gifts to homeless people, orphans, and others who had fallen on hard times. This tradition now seems to largely involve giving small presents, such as cards, candy and flowers, to family, friends, and sweethearts.

Muertos Fest at Hemisfair is a three-day Día de los Muertos festival featuring altars, live entertainment, processions, workshops, food, and a market. Visitors can explore a range of cultural presentations and activities during the festival’s run. Admission is free and the festival is open to the public. Visit the official event website for current schedule and event information.

The first moon after the Harvest Moon is the Hunters Moon, so named as the preferred month to hunt summer-fattened deer and fox unable to hide in now bare fields. Like the Harvest Moon, the Hunters Moon is also particularly bright and long in the sky, giving hunters the opportunity to stalk prey at night. Probably because of the threat of winter looming close, the Hunters Moon is generally accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day in both Western Europe and among many Native American tribes. Note that some years the Harvest Moon falls in October instead of September. The Hunters Moon of October is sometimes referred to as the Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon, as the Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons. Other names for this full moon include the Travel Moon and the Dying Grass Moon. A full moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the sun and moon differ by 180 degrees; the moon is then in opposition with the sun. At this time, as seen by viewers on earth, the hemisphere of the moon that is facing the earth (the near side) is fully illuminated by the sun and appears round. Only during a full moon is the opposite hemisphere of the moon, which is not visible from earth (the far side), completely unilluminated. As a lunar month is about 29.531, the period between full moons can be either 29 or 30 days.

Mother-In-Law Day is always the fourth Sunday in October. Its observance was started in 2002 to celebrate those special (and not so special) In-Laws! The source of many jokes, a mother-in-law doesn't usually get the praise and appreciation she deserves. According to a poll by iVillage, 72 percent of people rated their relationship with their mothers-in-law as fair to excellent, with only 28 saying it was "bad" or "terrible." Whether you are in the like or dislike your mother-in-law, it is a chance to honor the woman who is your spouse's mother.

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is celebrated in several parts of the Western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia and New Zealand.