October is the month Morro Bay commits to the season.
The witches claim the bay on the 24th. A vampire holds Erickson Hall for three weekends. The man inside Pan’s Labyrinth’s Faun walks into the Bay Theatre in person, Halloween lands on a Saturday, and the first monarchs drift into the eucalyptus right on schedule. A town that spends its whole year around salt water and fog does not have to reach far for atmosphere, and this is the month it uses every bit of it.
If you live here, you already have the 24th circled. If you are planning a visit, aim for the back half of the month and bring a costume. Here is what to plan around.
Why October Works in Morro Bay
Start with the shape of the month: Halloween on a Saturday pulls the whole second half of October toward it. The costumed paddle, the stage vampire, the monster on the single screen, the tribute band throwing an 80s Halloween party. The back half of this month stacks up the way July stacked around the Fourth.
The weather carries its share without needing the spotlight it got last month. The coast is still in its warm late-season stretch, mornings gray and afternoons open, with evenings arriving early enough that a 5:30 movie at the Bay Theatre feels exactly right. And the quietest event of the month needs no ticket at all: the monarchs begin settling into the eucalyptus at Morro Bay State Park and across the back bay at Sweet Springs, the start of an overwintering season that runs into February.
The Witches Take the Water: October 24
The signature Halloween tradition in Morro Bay is not a party. It is a flotilla.
The Witches and Warlocks Paddle launches from Coleman Beach on Saturday, October 24, at 3:00 PM. What started in 2013 as a birthday paddle for about twenty friends now floats several hundred witches, warlocks, and assorted sorcerers past the Rock on kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards, with thousands watching from the Embarcadero. There is no registration, no fee, and no organizer’s tent: bring your own board or rent one on the waterfront, put on the costume, and launch with everyone else. The best spectator seats are the waterfront restaurant patios and the rail between the Rock and the Yacht Club.
Two practical notes. Outfitters sell out of rentals in advance, so book early if you are paddling. And this is a community-organized event, not a sanctioned one: wear a life vest, expect cold water, and follow the Harbor Department’s water-safety rules.
Halloween Saturday: October 31
The 31st itself stacks up all day.
The White Caps Halloween Concert brings the town’s community band to the downtown farmers market at 2:30 PM, costumes strongly encouraged on both sides of the music stands, and the band plays on after the booths pack up. At the Bay Theatre, the Weekend Special is Nicolas Roeg’s The Witches at 1:00 PM, Roald Dahl’s kid-friendly spook show timed to leave the whole evening free for trick-or-treating, $10. After dark, the Molly Ringwald Project throws its 80s Halloween Party at The Siren, the same tribute band that opened the Fourth of July weekend at Tidelands, now in a room built for costumes and big hair. Up the coast, Schooners runs its own Halloween party in Cayucos from 1:00 PM. And By the Sea Productions puts Dracula on stage at 7:00 PM that night, which brings us to the next item.
Dracula, Played for Laughs: October 16 through November 1
Morro Bay’s community theater company goes for the throat this fall, and the schedule is now set. Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors runs three weekends at Erickson Hall, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 PM and Sundays at 3:00 PM, October 16 through November 1, nine performances in all, with the Saturday, October 31 show putting Dracula on stage on Halloween night itself. Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen’s fast, laugh-out-loud farce turns Bram Stoker’s Gothic into a quick-change comedy the company pitches as Monty Python humor with the rock and roll swagger of Rocky Horror. Nicolette Tempesta directs, with Frank Maciel as the Count and a cast of eight. Tickets are $30, seating is general admission and limited, so buy early and arrive early.
A Del Toro Monster in Person: Doug Jones at the Bay Theatre, October 19
The booking of the month, and arguably the year. Pan’s Labyrinth turns twenty, and the Central Coast Film Society marks it at the Bay Theatre on Monday, October 19, with creature actor Doug Jones in the building: the man inside both the Faun and the Pale Man, and the performer genre fans know as the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water, Abe Sapien in the Hellboy films, and Billy Butcherson in Hocus Pocus. The film screens at 5:30 PM, and Jones stays after for an onstage conversation hosted by film and horror creator Monse Gutierrez, whose interview credits include Guillermo del Toro himself.
Three ticket tiers, every one benefiting the film society. VIP at $45 gets 4:15 PM entry, the meet-and-greet with Jones, an event-exclusive autographed art print, one beer or wine, and two raffle tickets. Early Admission at $25 enters at 5:00 PM with one beer or wine and a raffle ticket. Movie Only at $15 enters at 5:15 PM for the screening and the Q&A. One note before you bring the family: the film is rated R for graphic violence and language, and attendees under 18 need a parent or legal guardian over 18 with them. One note before you bring the family: the film is rated R for graphic violence and language, and attendees under 18 need a parent or legal guardian over 18 with them. This is a once-in-a-town-history kind of Monday, so do not sit on the tickets.
Live Music, All Month, All Over Town
The Siren’s October slate is one of its deepest of the year. The Record Company, the Grammy-nominated blues-rock trio, plays Saturday, October 3, with Kam Franklin opening. The Deslondes bring their New Orleans country-soul on Sunday, October 4. Thrash pioneers D.R.I. land Thursday, October 8, with Scattered Guts, Hostel Takedown, and Carry the 9. Rastan plays Friday, October 9, with True Zion and Looking East. Mickey Avalon’s 20th anniversary tour stops in on Saturday, October 10. Willy Tea Taylor brings the Alex Lucero Band on Thursday, October 15. Easy Star All-Stars perform Dub Side of the Moon live on Sunday, October 18. Country artist David Nail plays Monday, October 19. Nahko and Medicine for the People bring the Hoka 10 year anniversary tour on Tuesday, October 20, with Louyah opening. EMO Kids, the live-band emo tribute, takes Friday, October 23. Jay Webb and Caitlynn Curtis share the stage Tuesday, October 27, Mississippi-bred songwriter Paul Thorn plays Wednesday, October 28, and Electric Lavender Train lands Friday, October 30, ahead of the Halloween party on the 31st.
The free Siren shows are worth marking too. Baywood Famous plays a free 2:00 PM afternoon set on Saturday, October 10, and the Blue Street Jazz Band with Carl Sonny Leyland takes the same slot on Saturday, October 24, the Morro Bay stop of Jazz Jubilee Central Coast and the afternoon the witches launch. The Noach Tangeras Band plays a free 2:00 PM set on Saturday, October 17 (with the Sheryl Crow and Pretenders tribute Sheryl and The Pretenders ticketed that night), Radio Ranch plays free on Friday, October 16, Mini Nova on Wednesday, October 21, and Moon Darling with Murder Hornets and The Ragged Jubilee on Thursday, October 22.
Taco Temple keeps its free Sunday afternoons going on the patio at 2680 Main, with Nate Bohard on October 18 and Frankie Paredes on October 25. Sunday lunch with live music and scratch-kitchen Cal-Mex remains one of the easiest afternoons in town.
And the town’s own community band opens the month: the White Caps Fall Concert fills the Veterans Memorial Building on Saturday, October 3, at 11:00 AM, free, two hours of brass and wind favorites from neighbors who rehearse all year for exactly this.
The Bay Theatre’s Big October
The single screen on Morro Bay Boulevard is running its fullest month in recent memory.
The features: Digger plays through October 14, Ang Lee’s Sense & Sensibility takes the screen October 16 through October 28 with 3:45 and 7:00 PM showings (Sundays 12:45 and 4:00), and The Social Reckoning opens October 30. All $10.
The Monday Specials run four deep, every one a benefit. Raiders of the Lost Ark screens Monday, October 5, for the French Hospital Volunteers Guild. The Maritime Museum presents Speara and Of Marshes & Morros on Monday, October 12, a double bill of ocean films with one set in our own estuary, $15, advance tickets sold in person at the museum on the Embarcadero. Pan’s Labyrinth with Doug Jones takes Monday, October 19, covered above. Monty Python and the Holy Grail closes the series Monday, October 26. And the Witches matinee lands Halloween Saturday, also covered above.
Around the Calendar
The month opens at the library: the Manhattan Short Film Festival screens Thursday, October 1, from 1:30 to 4:00 PM, free.
The Rotary Club of Morro Bay throws its Shake, Rattle & Roll Surf ‘N Turf Dinner on Friday, October 23: a 1950s-themed dinner, auction, and Elvis tribute dance party at the Community Center, $75, proceeds to the club’s community work. Two days later, the Maritime Museum’s free Family Fun Day takes over the north Embarcadero on Sunday, October 25, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with more than thirty exhibitors running hands-on activities for kids around the outdoor boat collection, plus free hot dogs for the kids while they last.
The Waterfront Market returns to the Embarcadero the weekend of October 3 and 4. The Thursday and Saturday farmers markets run all month. The Love of Nature exhibit at Art Center Morro Bay is in its final weeks, daily noon to 4:00 through November 2. And La Katrina hosts a Sugar Skull Calavera Paint Nite on Thursday, October 15, $45, right in season.
Nearby, the short drives earn their gas this month: the Cayucos Fall Antique Street Faire fills Ocean Avenue on Sunday, October 18, from 7:00 AM (the early start is real, and the serious hunters honor it), Erik Dawson plays a free early-evening set at Schooners on Friday, October 9, and the 47th Annual Los Osos/Baywood Park Oktoberfest takes over 2nd Street on Sunday, October 25, the biggest single day of the year on the back-bay side of the estuary.
Leave Time for Morro Bay Itself
The season does half the planning for you. The warm-coast weeks mean the boardwalk at the State Park, the jetty at slack tide, and the Embarcadero at golden hour are all at their best with no ticket required. Check the eucalyptus at Sweet Springs late in the month and you may catch the first monarch clusters of the winter. Watch the harbor mouth any calm morning and the fleet is doing what it has always done.
October in Morro Bay rewards the unscheduled hour as much as the scheduled one. Take both. Everything with a date on it lives on the HelloMorroBay events calendar.
About the Author
About the HelloMorroBay Editorial Team
HelloMorroBay is a locally driven guide to Morro Bay, California (plus Cayucos and Los Osos / Baywood Park under Nearby Happenings). Our editorial team is passionate about sharing the people, events, businesses, and experiences that make this working harbor town one of the most distinctive places on California’s Central Coast. We focus on thoughtful storytelling, local insight, and helping both visitors and residents discover the best of Morro Bay at every pace, from live music nights and harbor sunsets to slow mornings on the Embarcadero.
