November 3rd-4th Day of the Dead Festival @ Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay W. The annual Day of the Dead Festival is a time of return – where families come together, city dwellers return to ancestral villages, and the dead visit the living. From 12-6 pm each day, the public are invited to a variety of daily hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances that reflect the history and traditions associated with the Day of the Dead holiday. 

WEDNESDAY 

6 pm Camp Sis Halloween Walk the Block Fundraiser @ Dufferin Grove Park, Dufferin St. Fundraiser for Camp Sis featuring a bonfire, hotdogs, and live music to help them scare up some cash to pay the tax, keeping it free. Until 10 pm. 

7:30 pm Halloween Entertainment Trivia/Party @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Halloween entertainment trivia + costume dance party! 

7:30 pm Halloween Bingo @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. Candy! Prizes! Costumes! Drinking! 
Fun! $3 per card which you can use all night.

9 pm Halloween Night @ Kitsch, 229 Geary Ave. Circus performers + DJs Squid Lid and guests Mineta, Hanged Man, and Hans Ohm. $5.

9 pm True Halloween @ Bovine Sex Club, 510 Queen St. W. The dead and nearly dead dance while DJ Lazarus provides a soundtrack of spooktacular music! Alternative, EBM, retro, and requests + free retro candy, prizes for costumes, and spooky decor. $5 before 11 pm, $10 after.

9 pm Slayer Party: Halloween Night @ Hard Luck Bar, 772 Dundas St. W. Presented by The Good Kids, Jagermeister, and Blacktooth Entertainment. Featuring gogo dancers and DJs Diemonds and Shotgun Cure + CD release show for Axxion (traditional heavy metal). Tons of giveaways for best costume and sluttiest nurse. $10.

9 pm Wicked Karaoke @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Wednesday frights hosted by Groin Belch, Maims McDonough, Naughtya Hellerique, and Jeff “Scary” Hayward. $4 Jameson and $5.50 pints (of blood) before midnight, and $4 spooky shooter specials containing synthetic blue, green or pink. Wear a costume!

10 pm The Annual Hoxton Horror Halloween @ The Hoxton, 69 Bathurst St. This year’s Hoxton Horror Halloween is proud to partner with Movember Canada, with a portion of the profits going to the charity. With DJs Matt Zanardo, Hoff, and Movember Canada’s own Grand Master Stache. Costumes mandatory! Fun mandatory! No mustache shaving mandatory! $15 advance tickets available online.

10 pm Lovely Scary Sexy Halloween Party @ Churchill, 1212 Dundas St. W. The lovely Quenton Fortune and the scary Shayne Cox will be on the bar getting drunk. The sexy Kylie “Minogue” Hough will be playing “Monster Mash-ups” all night long!

10:30 pm Been Spookin @ The Yukon, 1592 Queen St. W. DJs Mama Ca$h and Chokerchain play spooky beatz. #bestcostumegetsapicturewithmrkitty

THURSDAY

6 pm “Lion Mouse” Opening Reception @ Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen St. W. An exhibition of new paintings by Veronika Szkudlarek. “The paintings in Lion Mouse were made in Szkudlarek’s studios in Brooklyn and Jerusalem. The works included in this exhibition highlight three years of her large abstract oil paintings. Expressed through her praise of colour, the paintings are about the process of experimentation. Szkudlarek’s work explores themes of newness and familiarity, conveying some of the ineffable emotions of the foreigner as well as the fears and the exhilaration of the emigrant and traveler.” Until 9 pm. Exhibition runs until November 11th.

7 pm “Modish” Opening Reception @ Milk Glass Co. Gallery, 1247 Dundas St. W. “ ‘Modish’ features art and hand-made accessories created by Char Da Silva and Asia Vickovic. Both artists have created a series of abstract paintings, each of which has corresponding wearable art pieces. For every painting on display, accessories inspired by the pieces will also be available.” Until 11 pm. Exhibition runs until December 4th.

10 pm Blahzay Florplay @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Thursday will now be known as Blahzay. Why? Because anything goes at Blahzay Florplay! With DJs Pangea Delphi and Nana.

10 pm The Quiet Storm @ The Red Light, 1185 Dundas St. W. DJ Andy Capp plays four hours of melodically soulful music that provides an intimate, laid-back mood tailor-made for late-night listening and a welcome end to the stresses of the workday.

10 pm Halloween Afterparty @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. A night of costumes, bands, beer, and dancing ’cause Halloween isn’t over until we say it’s over! Featuring the talents of Luau or Die, Psycho Mad Sally, Say Valley Maker, and more. $6 cover ($5 if you wear a costume), with all proceeds going to the Shakespeare-in-Hospitals program.

10 pm Wack Slack’s 90’s Dance Party @ The Beaver, 1192 Queen St. W. November Rain Edition! DJs Kris Kadas and Robin Sharp play the best 90’s jams + a working SNES hooked up to a projector for you to play. (Wack Slacks is faux grunge slang for ripped jeans, but you knew that already.) The 90’s are alive in our hearts. Always.

10 pm OTMzine Relaunch (yes, again) Party @ Camp 4, 1173 Dundas St. W. OTMzine is relaunching their website and invite you to help them celebrate! Have some drinks, listen to good tunes, and hang out.

10 pm Doubles @ Unit, 1198 Queen St. W. DJ Fase plays all vinyl and only brings records that he has two copies of. Funk, soul, jazz, and hip-hop will get run and torn up all night!

10:30 pm Weakend’s Prelude @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Dance partee with DJ Coolin Cregg. $4 Jameson before midnight!

FRIDAY

10 pm Pop Lobster: Lobster Trifecta Edition @ Magpie, 831 Dundas St. W. For the next several months, you will have not 1, not 2, but 3 Pop Lobster DJs at your service. To the point: It’s gotten brisk and windy and all autumnal and shit. Shed your adorable autumn sweater and get sweaty to poppy hits all up in the Pie! This lobster knows no pop boundaries. DJs Little Kicks, Short Stack, and Digits may or may not play some of this: Pet Shop Boys, Destiny’s Child, Of Montreal, Robyn, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, The Cure, Sal N Pepa, Abba, Britney Spears, indie, mainstream, electro, new wave, Motown, disco.

10 pm Beatlemania! @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. Join Bangs & Blush for a HARD DAY’S NIGHT where you TWIST AND SHOUT to 60’s soul, rock n’ roll, and all your favourite Beatles tunes! $5.

10 pm Swiss Dice / Kosher Dill Spears @ Holy Oak, 1241 Bloor St. W. Weird dance party! DJ Swiss Dice plays future funk, synth stabs, deep bass, hard hits. DJ Kosher Dill Spears plays Jesse Levine, sample soul, hip-hop lounge lizard jams.

10 pm Girl & Boy 90s Dance Party @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. A pulsating dance party rocking the retro sounds of the 1990s! All your favourite dance, pop, hip-hop, R&B, and so on and so on and so on. $5.

10 pm Yacht Rock @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. A night of dancing to the smoothest music you’ve ever heard in your life. $5 to step aboard.

10 pm SoulSkank @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. Funk, soul, reggae, ska, and dancehall in its most raw form! A vinyl-only dance party with DJs Double K and Gramera on the decks and Dennis P on the saxophone. Free before 11 pm, $5 after.

10 pm Big Primpin’ @ Wrongbar, 1279 Queen St. W. Hip-hop and hot times for homos, their friends, and admirers. With DJs Craig Dominic, Nino Brown, and Blackcat. For guestlist, email bigprimpin@gmail.com. $5.

10 pm Nite Moves @ Unit, 1198 Queen St. W. DJs Dr. J and Koray Özel play a selection of funk, disco, hip-hop, house, and more.

10 pm A Tribe Called West @ 1602, 1602 Dundas St. W. DJs Gary and Pete “Christopher” Walkin’ get super stubborn on the turntables (laptops) when Gary only plays Kanye and Pete only plays Tribe. (But probably not ONLY.) Golden era hip-hop and other good rap and misc. gems!

10 pm Back-A-Yard @ The Emmet Ray, 924 College St. A night of sunshine vibes with Pie & Mash DJs. The best reggae, ska, dub, and dancehall tunes!

10 pm Soul Block Party / She’s So Thirsty @ Crawford, 718 College St. Upstairs, DJ Fase rocks that sweet soul, funk, hip-hop, R&B, and reggae that you know and love! Downstairs, DJ Grouch plays reggae and trap all night long + a surprise guest DJ set after 1 am. $5 before 11:30 pm, more after.

11 pm Johnny & Jay’s Red Cup Party @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. DJs Johnny & Jay spin house, hip hop, and party slam jams whilst bringing a living room vibe to the Underground. Remember those nights you’d spend in a familiar place with old pals, new faces, and the red cup that would never be empty. Yeah, just like that. $10.

SATURDAY

10 pm moondance @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. DJs Annie Webber and Keith Hamilton bring you the best dance jams under the moon! Sweat your way to last call dancing to their favourite music of all eras (surely, some of your favs too). $5.

10 pm Motown Party @ 751, 751 Queen St. W. Motown, northern soul, and remixes with DJs Fawn BC and Caff upstairs + an all-vinyl set with DJs Brett Millius and Reverend Throwdown downstairs. $5 before midnight, $10 after.

10 pm Super Funk Soul Party @ 3030, 3030 Dundas St. W. DJs Cozmic Cat and Splattermonkey serve it up fresh and funky playing kick ass soul, funk jams, and sweet party grooves + live performance from special guests The Famly. $5.

10 pm Shake, Rattle & Roll @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. A sexy, sweaty dance party thrown by the Bangs & Blush ladies! 60’s pop, soul and rock n’ roll. $5.

10 pm Pay Day @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. DJs Isosceles and Stew Innes play open format from 10 to midnight followed by old school hip-hop from midnight to close. Free before 11:30 pm, $5 after.

10 pm Reality Bytes @ Augusta House, 152-A Augusta Ave. Travel back in time to the 90’s! DJs 4est, Lindzrox, Jrox, and special guest Juse spin all your favourite dance, hip-hop, electronica and alternative 90’s tunes. Free before 11 pm, $5 after.

10 pm Secret Models @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. One big room, full of bad bitches! DJs Secret Models play hits straight from your high school semi-formal.

10 pm Rip It Up! @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. DJ Davy Love and friends play R&B, garage, soul, doo-wop, and down and dirty rock n’ roll records for your listening, dancing, and drinking-along-with pleasure.

10 pm Hoxton Saturdays @ The Hoxton, 69 Bathurst St. With headliner Kurtbradd – one of the established members of the Ontario tri-cities club scene – and supporting sets by DJs CAL and Matt Zanardo. Serving until 3 am for Daylight Savings Time. $15 tickets available online.

10 pm Back In The Day @ Crawford, 718 College St. DJ Law spins the best of old school hip-hop and R&B with music videos GALORE! $5 before 11:30 pm, more after.

11 pm Never Forgive Action @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Classic hip-hop and R&B super jams all night long from DJ Numeric, Ted Dancin’, and Dalia + special guest Big Jacks. Vintage rap videos on the screens! $10.

11 pm Shake A Tail @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. A night of dancing to 60’s pop, rock, soul, funk, garage, ska, ANYTHING! Always humid. $5.

SUNDAY

9 pm Drake Plingo @ The Drake Lounge, 1150 Queen St. W. Plingo is the mash-up of Bingo and Plinko – two vintage games that have been super-sized with a playful Drake twist. Prizes include retro presents, gift certificates, and some very special Plingo Grand Prizes. $5 for three rounds.

~ Caitlyn Holroyd

(For event submissions, email caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com)