Halloween lands on a Saturday in 2026, which means downtown Minneapolis gets a full two-night weekend of it: Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31. The Minnesota Orchestra plays Hitchcock’s Vertigo live to the film both nights. The Armory runs a two-night Halloween party. The Fillmore has a Latin Halloween party one night and a metal show the next. The Timberwolves are home on Friday, a ghost trolley leaves from a haunted mansion, and on Sunday morning the clocks fall back and everyone gets an extra hour of sleep. Here is the whole weekend, verified on the venues’ own calendars, and why a furnished studio at 215 South 9th Street is the easiest place to base it from.
Friday, October 30: Vertigo, the Wolves, and two parties
The classiest Halloween ticket in the city is Vertigo with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall, Friday at 7 p.m., with a second showing Saturday at 7 p.m. — both on the Orchestra’s calendar under its Movies & Music series. Hitchcock’s score performed live under the film, in a hall a few blocks down Nicollet Mall from our door, is about as atmospheric as a Friday night gets. We covered the rest of the Orchestra’s fall season earlier.
Prefer a crowd? The Timberwolves host the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center on Friday, October 30, 7 p.m. — the third home game of the young season. The Armory lists Wobbleween Night 1 on Friday and Night 2 on Saturday, both 18+, presented by TC Presents, with the lineup on the venue’s event pages. And at the Fillmore in the North Loop it is Reventón: Latin Halloween Party on Friday, then Periphery on Saturday — we listed the Fillmore’s whole fall in our Fillmore guide.
On Hennepin Avenue, Hennepin Arts has Minnesota’s own Charlie Parr, featuring Dave King, at the State Theatre on Friday night for a record-release show, and the improv comedy Hold On To Your Butts at the Dudley Riggs Theatre on October 31 and November 1.
Saturday, October 31: Halloween night itself
If you want the holiday rather than a concert, the ghost outing with more than 700 Google reviews at 4.9 stars is the Candlelight Ghost Tour, a vintage trolley ride through the city’s haunted addresses that boards at the Pillsbury Club, a historic mansion on East 22nd Street. The same operator runs a hands-on Paranormal Ghost Hunt inside the mansion, and the Club’s own experiences page lists what is on. Check the tour calendar for Halloween-week departures and book ahead. Our sister property across Loring Park, 300 Clifton, is a mansion with its own hauntings page, if you would rather sleep with the ghosts than merely visit them.
Then there is the second night of Vertigo, the second night of Wobbleween, Periphery at the Fillmore, and every bar downtown in costume. You will not be short of options. What you will be short of is a quiet, clean place to change out of a costume at 1 a.m. that does not involve a hotel lobby full of other people in costumes.
Sunday, November 1: the clocks fall back
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, so Halloween night is the one night of the year with a bonus hour built in. The Vikings are away in Detroit that afternoon, so downtown is unusually calm for a fall Sunday — sleep in, make breakfast in your own kitchen, and if you are staying through Sunday night, SOMBR plays Target Center at 7 p.m. with The Last Dinner Party opening. Our November guide picks it up from there.
Why a furnished studio beats a hotel room for this weekend
Oakland’s on 9th is an 1889 brownstone, restored in 2019, at the exact center of downtown — Orchestra Hall, Target Center, the Armory and Nicollet Mall are all on foot, and the Fillmore is a straight walk northwest into the North Loop. The skyway system is a block away (we are not connected to it; you walk a block to the nearest entrance). Every studio has a full kitchen with a coffee maker and coffee and tea provided, so Sunday’s post-Halloween breakfast happens in your robe. WiFi, all utilities and free 24-hour laundry are included — useful when a costume meets a spilled drink.
Check-in is contactless, with a personal keycode for the building and your studio sent before you arrive, so there is no front desk to walk past at 2 a.m. in a wig. Staff are on site day and night and a phone call away. A few honest notes from our FAQ: this is a historic building and the studios are reached by stairs (no guest elevator); check-out is 10 a.m., with late check-out available for a fee when arranged ahead; parking is at the door in Lot 215; and designated pet-friendly studios are available if your dog is coming in costume too. You can stay a night, a week or a month — no lease, no contract.
Book Halloween weekend now
Two nights, four venues, one ghost trolley and a bonus hour of sleep. Halloween on a Saturday is the kind of weekend downtown fills up for, and we have a small number of studios. Check availability and book your studio, or call us at (612) 314-5124 and we will help you pick the right one. If you are in town for the whole month, our October guide covers everything that comes before the costumes.
Keep reading: Where should grandparents stay when a new baby arrives in Minneapolis? A furnished downtown studio for the weeks around the birth.