Things to Do in Orillia This October: Your 2026 Event Guide
In early summer, much of Orillia's casual activity was out at Couchiching Beach Park. Sapori d'Italia opened its Roman-pizza truck there over the Victoria Day long weekend, parked beside Ebony Bites and What a Flavour, and OrilliaMatters reported all three doing steady business by early June. On September 27 the Orillia Farmers' Market held its pop-up Leacock Market in the gardens at 50 Museum Drive.
Through October, most of what's on the calendar moves to a few doors on Mississaga Street West. The Orillia Opera House is at 20 Mississaga St. W. Creative Nomad Studios is across the street at 23 Mississaga St. W. The farmers' market's address is 36 Mississaga St. W., whether it is set up outside in municipal lot 4 beside the library and the Opera House or indoors at the Orillia Public Library. Plan your October around that block and most of the month falls into place.
The Orillia Farmers' Market calls its Thanksgiving Market on Saturday, October 10, the final outdoor market of the season. It runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you want one more open-air market morning before winter, this is the date.
The waterfront still has one more good weekend. The Leacock Museum's Paint by the Lake, Fall Edition, has sessions today, October 4, and again on October 11, both at noon at 50 Museum Drive. That puts a lakeside painting session the day after the last outdoor market.
On weeknights, the Opera House is already busy. Its ticket calendar lists Reign: The Queens of Blues, Soul and Rock 'n' Roll on Thursday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 17 is the day the season changes over. Three things happen within a few hours of each other:
Time | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Farmers' market, first indoor Saturday | Orillia Public Library, 36 Mississaga St. W. |
1 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. | Halloween Crafts | Leacock Museum, 50 Museum Dr. |
7 p.m. | Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, Arts Orillia Jazz Festival | Orillia Opera House, Gordon Lightfoot Theatre |
The market moves inside the library that Saturday and stays there every Saturday through the winter, with the same 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. hours. The vendors you saw outside all summer are now under the same roof as the library stacks, one door down from the Opera House.
The Arts Orillia Jazz Festival runs across that whole weekend. It opens Friday, October 16, with a 7 p.m. show and a 9 p.m. after-party in the Opera House Studio Theatre. Saturday night's headliner is Jane Bunnett and Maqueque in the Gordon Lightfoot Theatre. On Sunday, October 18, a jazz service closes the festival at St. Paul's. The two published listings don't match. Arts Orillia lists music at 10:15 a.m. at St. Paul's Church, while an OrilliaMatters release on the lineup gives 10 a.m. at St. Paul's Centre. Confirm with Arts Orillia before you go.
That Saturday shows how the month works. A family could shop the market, drive out to the lake for crafts and come back downtown for a 7 p.m. show, and only the middle stop is off Mississaga Street.
From October 17 the calendar keeps filling. A Taste of Ireland plays the Opera House on Wednesday, October 21, at 7:30 p.m. The Leacock Museum holds Pumpkins and Pinot on Saturday, October 24, from 3 to 4 p.m.
The busiest stretch runs from October 28 to 31. These are the published dates and times in order:
The Ghost Walks run every night from October 28 through 31, so they overlap with both the Stampeders show and the Lightfoot Band concert. The museum offers a 6 p.m. and an 8 p.m. start each night, so a 6 p.m. walk fits on a day you have plans downtown later. Either way, you'll need to pick.
For Monster March, the BIA's current listing gives only the date and the 11 a.m. start. The event page linked from it is still the 2025 edition, so last year's route and meeting point may not apply. Check the Downtown Orillia BIA events page closer to the day.
Orillia & Lake Country tourism describes this year's event as the rebranded Lightfoot Festival, formerly the Lightfoot Days Festival. It doesn't say why the name changed, and the Opera House ticket page still says "Presented by the Lightfoot Days Festival." Whichever name you've seen, it's the same festival.
Here is who's playing Thursday. After Gordon Lightfoot's death in 2023, his band kept performing his songs. Drummer Barry Keane told the festival:
"I was with Gordon for 48 years, touring and recording. It's the songs that people love."
Tickets are $68 for floor seats and $50 for balcony seats. Youth 18 and under pay $18, and taxes are extra on all of them. Tickets are on sale through the Orillia Opera House.
Thursday and Friday both stay on Mississaga Street West, with the Opera House at number 20 and Creative Nomad Studios at number 23. On Saturday the festival moves to Quayle's Brewery at 4567 Line 12 N. in Coldwater, a drive out of the city. A screening of Lightheaded: A Gordon Lightfoot State of Mind is listed for 2 p.m. Tribute performances run all day with The High Steppin' Strutters, Samantha Windover, Martin & Martin and the youth competition winners, and the day includes a cake cutting. The event page says performers rotate across three floors but lists the exact times as TBD, so check before you head out.
On Halloween, then, the morning market and Monster March are downtown, while the festival's last day is in Coldwater.
Downtown also has a new place to eat this fall. Simcoe Tavern was scheduled to open on Tuesday, September 29, at 140 Mississaga St. E., in the space Picnic left when it closed. By the start of October, diners were already posting reviews on its OpenTable page. Simon MacRae and Darcy MacDonell, who own The Common Stove and The Hog and Penny, partnered with Melissa Luth and chef Joel Bennett on the French-inspired bistro. MacRae told OrilliaMatters the restaurant sits between their two existing spots, for nights when you want something more upscale than a burger or fish and chips but don't want a big ribeye.
The opening menu includes beef carpaccio, oysters, croquettes, lobster mac and cheese, beef short rib, duck confit and crème brûlée. Appetizers run $15 to $20 and most mains are $20 to $30. The drinks list includes beer from Quayle's of Oro-Medonte and Woodfolk cider from Coldwater.
The hours suit the month's evening shows. Simcoe Tavern opens at 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and at 11 a.m. on Friday and Saturday for lunch and dinner. Most of the month's Opera House shows start at 7:30 p.m. Reign falls on a Thursday, A Taste of Ireland and The Stampeders on Wednesdays, and The Lightfoot Band on a Thursday, so there's time for a 5 p.m. dinner before any of them.
November keeps the same addresses. Mariposa Arts Theatre opens its season with Macbeth in the Opera House's Lightfoot Auditorium from November 5 to 15. The farmers' market adds Friday Christmas Markets inside the library on November 13, 20 and 27, from 3 to 7 p.m., on top of its regular Saturday mornings.
Heather Beauchesne has been helping families settle into Simcoe County, Orillia included, since 2009. Part of her work is knowing a town's calendar, like which Saturday the market moves inside. If you're new to Orillia, or someone you know is about to be, Hearth & Home Team is happy to share what we know about the city. Book a Consultation whenever it suits you.
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