October Events in Terre Haute and the Wabash Valley
One of the best parts of October in Terre Haute is the calendar filled with fall fun! But don’t expect to find Halloween events here, because Halloween gets its own special calendar! (Coming soon!)
October Events in Terre Haute and the Wabash Valley
The Vigo County History Center is looking for a real-life Stiffy Green to join their cast of historic characters at this year’s, “A Night at the Museum” on October 26. Do you have a four-legged friend who looks similar to the legendary Stiffy Green? Enter their Stiffy Green Look-A-Like Contest!
Thursday, October 10. Sweet reads book club with the Vigo County Public Library at Amosami Cheesecake Company. Thirty-two-year-old Charlie Fisher’s life is going nowhere fast in John Scalzi’s Starter Villain. His half-siblings are keen to sell his old family home, where he lives with his two cats; he’s barely making a living as a substitute teacher; he’s been denied the bank loan to purchase a local tavern. When his estranged billionaire uncle Jake Baldwin dies, Jake’s assistant approaches him with a proposition and enough money to realize his dreams. There’s a catch, though: Uncle Jake was a super villain, and his enemies are after Charlie. Enjoy a sweet treat, good company, and a great book every month at the Sweet Reads Book Club.
Friday, October 11. Night with the Force at the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 6-11: Is your child ready to protect the Galactic Republic? At Night with the Force, they can prepare for the Jedi Order, build and decorate their own lightsaber, and learn how to wield it with Taekwondo instructor Tom McKinney.
October 11-20. Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. This festival is located in Parke County, Indiana, and was founded in 1957. This 10-day festival always starts on the 2nd Friday in October. The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival – showcases the county’s 31 historic covered bridges and features authentic arts and crafts, fantastic food, and beautiful fall foliage. There are 9 festival communities scattered throughout Parke County. Each community has a specialty they are known for, make sure to visit them all! The festival is headquartered on the courthouse lawn in Rockville, Indiana, where you will find amazing food, artistans, vendors, and more open daily from 9 am to 6pm.
Saturday, October 12. Birding at Dewey Point with the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 9 & Up: Sign up for eBird and join other birding enthusiasts at Dewey Point to take part in one of the biggest birding events of the year! On October Big Day, millions of birders from around the world report their sightings to help compile a global list of birds and their locations during the peak of migration season. Not familiar with birding? At October Big Day, you can learn how to use binoculars, the Merlin app, and the eBird app. Bring your own binoculars or borrow a pair while supplies last. The Trailhead also features two permanently mounted telescopes you can use.
Saturday, October 12. Come see Silly Safaris at Hawthorn Park. Live animal show and animal meet and greet!
Saturday, October 12. Hawthorn Park Hayride. $3 per ticket. Event is open to all ages and includes a brief ride through Hawthorn Park!
Saturday, October 12. Baby and Toddler Movers and Shakers Party at the Vigo County Public Library.
Saturday, October 12. Art Hacks with the Vigo County Public Library.
Saturday, October 12. The Steve Miller Band at The Mill of Terre Haute.
Saturday, October 12. Pickleball Tournament fundraiser for ISU Physical Therapy students.
Saturday, October 12. City-wide cleanup in Terre Haute.
Monday, October 14. Lego Lab with the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 6–11: Challenge your child’s construction skills, teamwork abilities, and creativity at Lego® Lab! Your child can attempt the monthly challenge or build their own designs. At the end of the evening, spend a few minutes touring everyone’s designs and learn how others solved problems in their own builds. Your child’s design will be part of a month-long display in Youth Services.
Thursday, October 17. Libratory at the WEST Branch of the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 6–11: Do you have a budding artist or a mad scientist whose creativity is waiting to be unleashed? Stop by the Libratory and get ready to experiment! Libratory takes ideas from some of your children’s favorite stories and turns them into concepts that they can experience hands-on. Your child might program a robot, help create and implement a plan to harvest rainwater for West Branch Library’s garden, or create an artistic masterpiece!
Featured Event!
Saturday, October 19. Our family is excited for National Girls & Women in Sports Day with our partners at Rose-Hulman Volleyball!
Some of our daughters will sign up for the scrimmage at the end of the match! You can, too! Register and tell them you heard about it on Haute Happenings!
Saturday, October 19. Read to Rover at the Vigo County Public Library. Share a book with a furry friend from Love on a Leash. These good-natured therapy dogs are eager to listen to your child practice reading aloud in a stress-free setting, complete with cuddles, belly rubs, and ear scratches!
Saturday, October 19. Mike Super-Magic and Illusion at Rose-Hulman Hatfield Hall.
Saturday, October 19. Storybook hike with the Ouabache Land Conservancy and the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 5 & Up: Grab your water bottle, put on your favorite hiking shoes, and join the Ouabache Land Conservancy for a trail hike followed by a nature-themed story at the Jackson-Schnyder Nature Preserve. Each route will be between 1 to 1.5 miles long, so make sure that you and your family wear appropriate clothing, bring plenty of water and trail snacks, and will be comfortable making the journey. Please be aware that parking will be roadside.
Saturday, October 19. Experience VR with Haute Create at the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 12 & Up: Create intricate clockwork mechanisms, save a fantasy world, become a spy, or travel to distant planets with either the HTC Vive™ or the Meta Quest 2 VR headset.
Monday, October 21. Homeschool Hang Out: Painting with Epsom Salt. Ages 6–11: Meet with other homeschool families and complete educational STEAM projects and crafts at Home School Hangout! This month, discover salt painting and the process of crystallization by mixing Epsom salts with watercolors.
Thursday, October 24. Art Zone at the West Branch of the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 12–19: Let your creative side go wild at Art Zone! In every session, you will discover new methods of creating art and take home a unique masterpiece. Experiment with gel plate printing, abstract collage self-portraits, paper marbling, alcohol ink art, and more!
Thursday, October 24. Rose-Hulman Fall Art Exhibit Reception. Rose-Hulman Art Exhibits is pleased to bring you six very dynamic artists this fall!
Friday, October 25. Curious Kids: Constellation Telescope at the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 7–12: For thousands of years, people have been looking up at the night sky and naming clusters of stars based on figures in myth, legend, and folklore. At Curious Kids: Constellation Telescope, your child can build and decorate their own handheld telescope and use constellation cards to learn to identify the common constellations of the Northern hemisphere.
Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26. Holy One Harvest Festival. Holy One Harvest Festival is a fall extravaganza hosted by Faith Wesleyan Church. It aims to bring families and the Terre Haute community together to celebrate the joys of autumn. With an array of free food, game booths, candy, prizes, and hayrides, Holy One Harvest Festival provides an unforgettable experience for attendees of all ages
Saturday, October 26. ISU homecoming parade 100th anniversary! The parade will begin at 9 a.m. on 9th Street and Cherry Street and proceed west on Wabash Avenue and north on 5th Street. The Homecoming football game against Southern Illinois University Carbondale will begin at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Saturday, October 26. A Night at the Museum with the Vigo County History Center. Catering by Federal Coffee + Fine Foods, live music, entertainment, and more!
Monday, October 28. Shut up and Read Book Club at the WEST Branch of the Vigo County Public Library. Do you want to read but can’t seem to carve out time in your busy schedule? Then add the Shut Up & Read Book Club to your calendar! Every month, you can spend a few minutes discussing your current book with other avid readers and then sip on coffee or hot tea while you dedicate an hour to curling up with your book and working your way through your to-be-read pile.
Tuesday, October 29. Fired Up: Unleash your creativity in ceramics with the Vigo County Public Library at Deming Park Torner Center. Ages 60 & Up: Have you ever admired a hand-thrown cup or bowl but thought that the process of creating ceramics would be challenging to learn? Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with artist Hayley Bean! In this seven-week workshop, you will learn how to use a traditional potter’s wheel, trade stories with other attendees, and make a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
Thursday, October 31. Harvest Party at TH4 Square Gospel Church. Games, fire truck, cake walk, food. All free!
Weekly Events
Tuesdays. Art Start at the Swope.
Tuesdays. FREE Softball Clinics hosted by SMWC Pomeroys.
Tuesdays. Toddler Tuesdays with $2 pp admission at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum.
Thursdays. FREE homeschool music class with ISU Community School of the Arts. This year, this class will focus heavily on composition (digital and written). If your student participated in the composition class last year, this will be a great continuation of musical practice for them, as we will build off of the concepts they learned last year to further their musical understanding. For new students, we will help build the foundation of rhythm, melody, harmony, and other basic concepts of composition.
Click for Midwest Fall Fun: Corn Mazes, Pumpkin Patches, and Jumping Pillows!
We know the Haute is here for Halloween! Our 2024 Halloween guide is coming soon!
Before you go, sign up for email notifications so that you’re one of the first to hear when our posts are published!
As always, typos happen and event details change. While we do our best to keep this calendar updated and correct, please confirm details before solidifying your plans or making fun promises to your children. We also can’t advise you what is good, better, best for your family and our community. Be safe and make good choices!
The fun has ended for these great events:
Wednesday, October 2. Birding at Dewey Point with the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 9 & Up: See how many birds you spot at Birding at Dewey Point! Learn how to use binoculars, meet others who are interested in birding, and discover Merlin and eBird, apps to identify birdsong and record the local birds on your smartphone. Bring your own binoculars or borrow a pair to try out while supplies last. The Trailhead also features two permanently mounted telescopes you can use.
Wednesday, October 2. Indiana State University Performing Arts Series at Tilson: Broadway Fright Night. Experience and enjoy a truly spooky evening with Broadway Fright Night! Broadway Fright Night will be coming to ISU as part of the Performing Arts Series on October 2nd, 2024, at 7:30 in Tilson Auditorium and a Pre-Show event at 6:30 pm. Broadway Fright Night is a celebration of songs from musicals with supernatural, horror and sci-fi themes. Created and hosted by New York Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis, five of Broadway’s finest vocalists will pay homage to Broadway and Off-Broadway’s most original, intriguing, and terrifying characters in this all-new concert event. The stars will recreate their most memorable musical moments, display their great versatility, share backstage behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and participate in an enlightening and entertaining question and answer session with the audience.
Friday, October 4. Bike Party Terre Haute in 12 Points District.
Friday, October 4. Happy Hour Joy (Bike) Ride.
Friday, October 4. 12 Points First Friday-Fall Festival! 12 Points First Friday! Located at the Maple and Lafayette Intersection, Our Family friendly, pet friendly (with leash) event runs from 5-8pm, for FREE! Open to the public! ! Come and shop from the local 12 Points businesses, artists, stores, restaurants, food vendors, and more.
Friday, October 4. Remnant Church Barn Party. There will be soup beans, vegetable soup, gumbo, corn bread, a bonfire, hayrides, music and more. This event never ceases to be a great time with great people. We encourage you to dress in your country attire, but dress warmly. You may even want to bring chairs and blankets.
Friday, October 4. Fairy Tale Rescues at the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 3-5: Can your budding engineer help the Three Little Pigs build a wolf-proof house or find a troll-free way for the Billy Goats Gruff to cross the river? At Fairy Tale Rescues, storytime comes alive when your child designs creative new solutions to the problems their favorite characters face in classic fables!
Friday, October 5. President’s Own Marine Band is coming to Terre Haute! For the first time in nearly a century, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band will visit Terre Haute, Indiana, to perform a free concert on October 5 at Indiana State University’s Tilson Auditorium. The performance, hosted by Indiana State University’s School of Music, is part of the band’s Coast to Coast tour. It will be their first visit to Terre Haute since performing at the town’s Municipal Stadium and Grand Theatre on November 11, 1926. Free tickets for the Terre Haute concert will be available one month before the performance (limit 4 per request). Seating is general admission, and ticket holders must be seated by 7:15 p.m.; remaining seats will be released to the standby line at that time.
Friday, October 4. Friday Fall Fest with the City of Sullivan.
Friday, October 4. Fall festival at World Gospel Church. Food, games, cookout, bouncy house, and prizes.
Friday, October 4. Dancing with the Terre Haute Stars at ISU Hulman Center.
Saturday, October 5. Sugar Creek Fire Prevention Parade.
Saturday, October 5. Authors’ Day at the Terre Haute Farmers’ Market. Get to know local authors and purchase signed copies of their books at the Farmers Market on Saturday, October 5th from 9-12!
Saturday, October 5. Felines and Foxes Fall Fest at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center. Enjoy your favorite season at our Fall Fest! Celebrate with fun activities like tarot readings, delicious food from food trucks, games, crafts, and lots of local shopping. Guided tours of our amazing big cats and cute foxes are available from 10 AM to 4 PM.
Saturday, October 5. Community Baby Shower at Haute City Center. Anyone in the community is invited to this FREE event where there will be giveaways, an opportunity to win door prizes, safe sleep and car seat safety instruction, a live birth simulation, maternal care providers and more!
Saturday, October 5. Friends of the Library Book Sale. Shop for books, DVDs, CDs, and more at the Friends of the Library Book Sale. Thousands of items will be available at low prices, from current bestsellers to your favorite classics.
Saturday, October 5. Gottcha Coffee Fall Festival.
Saturday, October 5. Grand Opening of Challenge RC.
Saturday, October 5. Fiesta Terre Haute. Mariachi dancers, live music, food trucks, games, giveaways, and more! Fairbanks Park.
Saturday, October 5. Max + Honey’s Pumpkin Festival. $5 per vehicle. $12 bracelet includes slide, pedal cars, jump pad, pony ride, hayride, barrel train, petting zoo, bubble station, pumpkin patch, corn box, corn maze, hillbilly swing ride, straw maze, and pumpkin sling shot.
Saturday, October 5-6. Pioneer Days at Fowler Park Pioneer Village. Step back in time during our 52nd annual Pioneer Days in our 19th-century log cabin village October 5th – 6th from 10 am to 5 pm. Experience the way of life lived by Pioneers of Indiana during the 1800s-1840s. There will be children’s activities, live music, hands-on demonstrations, vendors, craft and pie auction, historical cabins & covered bridge, food trucks and much more. $5 per vehicle
Sunday, October 6. Clay County Historical Scavenger Hunt. First team to complete the competition will win a free escape room experience.
Sunday, October 6. Harvest Market with WaterTower Estates Winery. Live music, free admission, vendors.
Monday, October 7. Teen Connections at the Vigo County Public Library. Ages 12–18: Hang out with friends, explore new hobbies, and create something you’ll love at Teen Connections. A variety of activities will be available for you and your friends to choose from, including games and crafts, and you can take your completed project home!
