Three historic theatres sit within a few blocks of each other on Hennepin Avenue — the Orpheum, the State and the Pantages — and in October 2026 they are busy almost every night of the month. Sting plays two nights. Clue and The Sound of Music both come through on tour. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Spooktacular lands on the first of the month, which is either a coincidence or exactly the right way to open spooky season.
We are about a mile east of those marquees, in a National Register mansion on the quiet side of Loring Park. Below is the October lineup as published on the official Hennepin Arts events calendar, checked on August 11, 2026 — and what it means for booking a room while there is still one to book.
The October 2026 lineup on Hennepin Avenue
Dates and times can move, so confirm on the venue calendar before you buy. Here is what is on the books right now.
Orpheum Theatre
- MrBallen: Lights Out Live — Thursday, October 1
- The Thorn — October 2–3
- Beck: Ride Lonesome Tour, with Ioanna Gika — Wednesday, October 7
- Clue — October 9–11
- Undertale: The Determination Symphony — Monday, October 12
- Sting 3.0 Tour 2026 — October 13–14
- Ben Schwartz & Friends — Thursday, October 15
- The Sound of Music — October 20–25
State Theatre
- Rocky Horror Picture Show Spooktacular Tour — Thursday, October 1
- Dan and Phil: Hard Launch World Tour — Friday, October 2
- Buddy Guy 90 — Thursday, October 8
- Sasha Velour: TRAVESTY — Friday, October 9
- Little Big Town — Saturday, October 10
- World Ballet Company: Swan Lake — Sunday, October 11
- Robert Plant with Saving Grace, and Rosie Flores — Wednesday, October 14
- An Evening with David Sedaris — Saturday, October 17
- Indigo Girls with Linda Perry — October 21–23
- Outlander In Concert: Echoes Through the Highlands — Thursday, October 22
- Charlie Parr featuring Dave King — Friday, October 30
Pantages Theatre
- Tab Benoit: Soul of the Swamp Tour, with Ghalia Volt — Thursday, October 1
- Edith Márquez: Eterna e Inolvidable — Friday, October 2
- Leonid & Friends — Wednesday, October 7
- Shang Forbes — Saturday, October 10
- Lucas Zelnick — Friday, October 23
- Russ Taff and Steve Taylor — Saturday, October 24
October 1 is a three-theatre night
Look again at that first Thursday. MrBallen is at the Orpheum, the Rocky Horror Spooktacular is at the State, and Tab Benoit is at the Pantages — three sold rooms’ worth of audience arriving on the same block on the same weeknight. Stacked nights like this are the ones that quietly empty downtown Minneapolis of hotel rooms, and they rarely show up on anyone’s radar until the week of. We wrote about a bigger one — the Twin Cities Marathon, a Vikings home game and Doja Cat all falling on Sunday, October 4.
The weekend to circle: October 9–11
Clue runs all three nights at the Orpheum. Sasha Velour is at the State on Friday, Little Big Town on Saturday, and the World Ballet Company’s Swan Lake closes the weekend on Sunday afternoon. If you want one weekend that gives four people with four different tastes something to argue about over breakfast, that is the one.
If you would rather have the city to yourself, take the Sting nights instead. October 13 and 14 are a Tuesday and a Wednesday — midweek rates, shorter lines at the bar, and the same theatre.
Getting from the mansion to the marquee
It is roughly a mile from our front door to the theatre district — about a twenty-minute walk that takes you straight through Loring Park and across to Hennepin Avenue. In October that walk is genuinely one of the nicer parts of the evening. If the weather turns, buses run the corridor all night; the Metro Transit trip planner will give you the current route and times. Rideshare from the theatre back to us is a short, cheap trip, and you are not fighting the ramps.
Parking, if you drive, is on site and free — which on a three-theatre night downtown is worth more than it sounds. See how to find us for the particulars.
Where to stay for a Hennepin Avenue night out
300 Clifton is the Eugene J. Carpenter Mansion, built in 1886 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a bed and breakfast, not a hotel, which mostly means that after a show you come back to carved fireplaces and hand-painted murals rather than a lobby.
For a theatre night we usually point people at the Crystal Mansion or the Grand Edwardian. Whatever room you take, the four-season garden hot tub is open under the stars afterward, and Gertrude’s Cistern — our speakeasy and haunted video lounge, with heated reclining seats — is the right way to end an October night if you are not quite ready for bed.
Book direct and you also get our dining and trolley vouchers. And because half of this month’s calendar is unapologetically spooky, October guests can add the Dead & Breakfast package — a self-guided ghost map of the mansion, EMF equipment, and discounted tickets to the Candlelight Ghost Tour.
Book before the calendar catches up with you
October is the busiest month of the fall on Hennepin Avenue, and the good rooms in a seven-room mansion go in the order people ask for them. Have a look at our current specials and packages, pick your night, and we will keep the porch light on. If you are still deciding, our Halloween guide and the August–September theatre roundup may help.
Keep reading: Where to Stay for a Girls’ Weekend in Minneapolis: A Historic Mansion With a Hot Tub and a Speakeasy