The Best Things to Do in October (Part II)

Spooky season is almost upon us, but before the goblins and ghouls take over, Shanghai’s got other thrills up its sleeves...

The city’s cooling down, which means it’s finally nice enough to spend time outside, like at the 8th Common Gathering market or the 21st JZ Festival Shanghai. Plus, two beloved restaurants in Shanghai are throwing epic birthday bashes!

Discover indie artists and makers at this outdoor market

🎨 🛍️ 

🗓️ Thursday-Sunday, October 16-19

⏰ Thu, 4:30-9 PM | Fri-Sun, 12:30-9 PM

📍 Shanghai Culture Square: (Gate #1) 597 Middle Fuxing Road, Huangpu or (Gate #8) 215 South Shanxi Road

🎟️ From 39 - 95 RMB

✳️ Visit '凡几CommonRare' for more info

Just take our money already! 💸 Every ensuing Common Gathering festival keeps getting bigger and better.

Giving strong Y2K vibes this time around, the event by Common Rare is where you'll catch us shopping for artisanal items across a wide range of categories, including apparel, artwork, home decor, toys, pet products and more, while also fuelling up on snacks and sips.

The entrance ticket grants you access to over 350 brands, an immersive art exhibition by cartoonist Dick Ng, a workshop by DJ collective byyb, a pet adoption area run by Cozy Paws, not one but two food and drink areas, and live performances — see timetable below.

Submerse yourself in a rich blend of sound and scenery at this riverside jazz fest 

🎼 🎷 

🗓️ Sat - Sun, October 18 - 26

📍 Qiantan Pudong

🎟️ Outdoor performances, free | Indoor shows, ticketed

✳️ Visit ‘JZPOST’ for detailed schedule and indoor prices

Snag a spot on the grass and enjoy the steady pulse of jazz on one side and the shimmering Huangpu River on the other.

Shanghai’s smoothest week of the year is back with the JZ Jazz Festival. For nine days, more than 300 musicians from 20 countries — including 19 Grammy nominees — will take to the stage for over 120 performances.

Now in its 21st edition, JZ Jazz Festival remains one of Asia’s premier celebrations of the genre — equal parts concert, community, and cultural happening. Whether you come for the legends, the newcomers, or simply the late-summer vibes, this is where Shanghai swings hardest.

🗓️ Sunday, October 19

⏰ Food served from 5 - 9 PM

| Party until 12 midnight

📍 Xibo, 3/F, 83 Changshu Road, Jing’an

☎️ +86 21 54038330

🎟️ 228 RMB

Xinjiang eatery Xibo’s 15th birthday promises to be a party of epic proportions. 

Come ravenous, as there will be free-flow food, from fluffy beef pilaf rice to Xinjiang kaobaozi and juicy skewers to a whole roasted lamb. 

But the best part of any celebration is the company, so Xibo is roping in friends from the F&B community to serve specials:

Chefs Carlos Sotomayor (High Yaki), Michael Wendling (Cuivre), Simon Sunwoo (Kosoo), and Sean Bai (Cilan) will be manning the stoves while bartenders David Munoz (Crimson Pangolin) and Chase Williams (The Rooster) will be shaking up off-menu cocktails at Xibo for one night only.

Attend a collaborative cook-off by Chef Carlos Sotomayor and friends

🍣 🔥

🗓️ Friday + Saturday, October 24 + 25

⏰ 5:30 PM onwards

📍 High Yaki The Sea, 113 Henghshan Road,Building 5, Unit 8, Xuhui

🎟️ 369 RMB per pax (includes 4 anniversary specials & 2 cocktails)

☎️ 18918127449

Looking a lot like a movie poster for the latest instalment of Ocean’s, High Yaki The Sea’s 3rd anniversary announcement proves that too many cooks don’t necessarily spoil the soup.

When else would you get to sample offerings from Shanghai’s most talented tastemakers in a single weekend?

For 369 RMB, each diner gets to choose four dishes from a whole slew of specials: think angel hair pasta with pesto and sea urchin by Francesco Bonvini (Cellar to Table), lamb and abalone skewers by Dan Li (Yaya’s), mud snails with furu butter sauce atop toast points by Chris Zhu (Nono’s), and heaps more.

Explore Chengdu craft beers and get a good ear cleaning

🍻👂

🗓️ Friday + Saturday, October 24 + 25

⏰ 5 - 10 PM free-flow

📍 Junto (former Mikeller), 273 Jiaozhou Road, Jing'an

🎟️ Advance, 188 RMB | At the door, 228 RMB

Remember the ‘frat house party’ of the year that took over a whole mansion in Shanghai and had revellers rioting when it was time to go? Good Beer Festival is BACK with a different spicy concept, thanks to main organiser and fun curator Sean Brady (Sad Gorilla Club).

The event, which champions the craft beer scene of Chengdu, Sichuan, is staying on theme with activities tied to the city’s unique culture.

📸: 轻舟游中国

Cai’er (采耳) or “ear cleaning” is considered part of Chengdu’s slow-life and normally goes hand-in-hand with chats in teahouses, only this time, we'll have craft beers in hand.

Speaking of beers: these are the brands you’ll be able to discover on the two days: Wild West 美西, Setback Brewing 退界, Timing Initiation 时末, Dao Brewing 道酿 and Unexplored Brewing 未索之境).

*As of now, F&B establishments and SMEs have not received any warnings about “role-playing” this year, but best to reach out to the respective organisations ahead of time in case of changes.

Got a pet in costume? Don’t waste the cuteness — enter them in a pageant (or two).

Pet owners should keep Saturday, November 1st open, as Rascals on the Road and Wagtopia have a whole schedule of pet-centric Halloween fun planned for Pawlloween, starting with a DIY dog treats workshop at 11 AM and ending with a dress-up contest at 4:30 PM — stay on for the after paw-ty!

The next day / Sunday, November 2nd sees Doggoween at The Rooster. Wagtopia will once again be present, with complimentary dog treats, while paw-rents can look forward to special themed cocktails. 

✳️ Visit ‘RascalsOnTheRoad’ and ‘TheRooster’ for more info

The only thing more fun than trivia night is dress-up trivia night, especially when the whole crew shows up in group costumes.

In fact, collaborative costumes might just be the thing that helps your team take home the grand prize at the Greatest of All Trivia: Halloween Edition on Wednesday, October 22nd at Cages (+10 bonus points!). 

Meanwhile, Halloween Horror Trivia Night on Saturday, October 25th at The Hai also sees some pretty spook-tacular prizes. Early ghouls get free skull-shaped drinking glasses!

✳️ Visit ‘CAGES’ and ‘TheHaiBarAndGrill’ for more info

What's a vampire’s favourite ice cream flavour? Veinilla.

Thankfully, the food and drink offerings at Tacolicious and Historic Shanghai’s respective Halloween events see nothing of the sort: have the churros and chocolate mousse instead. Both events fall on Friday, October 31st — Halloween Day itself.

✳️ Visit ‘Tacolicious’ and ‘HistoricShanghai’ for more info

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All images and posters were provided by or sourced from the respective businesses. This article is not to be replicated without prior consent.