The Asian Night Market Festival began in 2018 with roughly 15,000 attendees. Its organizers, the Asian District Cultural Association, now say it draws close to 80,000 over two nights.
That growth curve says something about the rest of the month. The night market has grown substantially, and the Oktoberfest that became OK!toberfest OKC grew from one family's restaurant. Planning around the events still ahead gives you a better October than a list sorted by date.
The month on one page
Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
Fri, Oct. 9, 6 to 10 p.m. | Ghoul's Night on the Plaza | Plaza District |
Thu to Sun, Oct. 15-18 | OK!toberfest OKC | Fair Park |
Sat, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. | Red Earth FallFest | Scissortail Park |
Sun, Oct. 25, 1 to 4 p.m. | Bricktown trick-or-treat | Bricktown |
The Ghoul's Night date comes from the Plaza Business Alliance's 2026 calendar, which was drafted last winter. Another local listing puts a Halloween block party on October 23, so check plazadistrict.org before you plan around it.
A restaurant's beer garden becomes a fairgrounds festival
News 9's OK!toberfest guide reports that OK!toberfest OKC runs October 15 through 18 at Fair Park. The festival follows the same pattern, only slower. Its predecessor, the Choctaw Oktoberfest, was hosted by the Turek family out of the Old Germany restaurant starting in 1991. It grew past 40,000 visitors a year before moving to the fairgrounds in partnership with OKC Fair Park. The festival now has several zones, including a Paulaner Fest Tent beer garden, a German car show, a family area called the Marktplatz and the Long Dog Derby. Sunday is Family Day, with inflatables and crafts.
Two logistics reward reading before you go. Beer, official merchandise and food are cashless, though the ticket booths take cash and cards. Bags are limited to small clear bags up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches, one-gallon clear freezer bags, small clutches under 4.5 by 6.5 inches, or clear fanny packs and crossbody bags. That list excludes diaper bags. The food vendors named for the festival include Horst, Siegi's, 1907, Tad's, Go Forth Concessions, Roadies, Bagpipe Bites, Cutie Pies and Freund Family Foods, with a full menu in the printed program sold in the Merchandise Tent.
The Plaza District's calendar is written by the people who own the storefronts
The Plaza Business Alliance is a nonprofit of local businesses whose motto is "Experience Local Together." Its calendar lists events in the district. Ghoul's Night is a Halloween block party, and the monthly LIVE! on the Plaza party moves back to second Sundays from November through January, starting November 8 from noon to 4 p.m. Shop Small Saturday follows on November 28.
The restaurants around the Plaza are worth a look, too. News 9's report on new restaurants says chef Jeff Chanchaleune opened Bar Sen, a Laotian noodle bar, steps from his first restaurant, Ma Der Lao Kitchen. After a quiet opening, The New York Times named Bar Sen one of its Top 50 Places to Eat in America. The menu includes khao piek sen, his mother's Lao chicken noodle soup. Concrete Cowboy, a Plaza coffee shop, sells espresso, mocktails and cinnamon rolls. Ruth's Creole Kitchen on Northwest 23rd Street, chef Ruben Carey's first restaurant, serves gumbo, étouffée and red beans and rice made from scratch each morning. As of last winter it offered dinner only, with live music once a week and lunch planned, so confirm hours before going.
Red Earth FallFest shares a Saturday with the fairgrounds
Saturday, October 17 is the day to plan around. Red Earth FallFest takes over Scissortail Park at 10 a.m., with the Youth Powwow grand entry at noon, a Native art market and food trucks. It is free, and organizers ask visitors to bring lawn chairs, blankets and a picnic. Red Earth's 40th annual festival filled the OKC Convention Center on August 1 and 2 with more than 130 Indigenous artists. FallFest is its free companion, held outdoors in the fall.
OK!toberfest is running at Fair Park the same day. A Saturday can hold both, with the powwow and art market in the morning and the beer garden after. Scissortail Park suits the morning half, since it opens at 6 a.m., has a dog park on its southwest corner and has an Oklahoma City Streetcar stop at the northeast corner. A volunteer-led Walking Club also meets there Thursdays from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Ranger Station, if the weekend is too full and a quieter visit appeals.
Where to eat when the tents come down
Between events, the newest names on the food side sit in the same districts. The first is in Deep Deuce.
- Dougla Kitchen in Deep Deuce is chef Andrew Black's first restaurant devoted entirely to the Jamaican side of his heritage, with smoked octopus coconut ceviche and tamarind-glazed goat ribs.
- The Goat in Bricktown is a chef-driven sports bar, and Bricktown is also where the trick-or-treat event lands on Sunday, October 25.
- Skydance Brewing Co. opened the Eagle's Nest next door in Automobile Alley, adding a patio and a full kitchen with Indian tacos and bison meatballs. Skydance is described as the first Native-owned brewery in Oklahoma.
- Mary Eddy's Italian Grill in the West Village District, inside the Fordson Hotel, reopened with scratch-made pastas under chef Damien McCullough.
The pipeline shows the same neighborhood-by-neighborhood build. Coco's, a cocktail spot in Classen Circle, is on the way. Wildcat, from the team behind The Jones Assembly, is due in late 2027 at Main Street and Walker Avenue, in a long-vacant downtown building.
For a broader look at the city's areas, the team keeps a page on Oklahoma City.
If your own October tradition is missing from this list, Carpenter W Parham would like to hear about it through the Contact Us page.
