Five new things to do in October
From Blackpool lights to ice axes: five September additions that deserve a place on your list this month.
Every month, we add more things to the list. Some are the sort of thing that need a plane ticket, a healthy budget and a conversation with your insurer. Some are free, close to home, and can be done before you’ve had time to invent a reason not to. September gave us a particularly good mixture, including one proper autumn evening out, one free way of seeing how television gets made, one activity involving whisky, one small adventure that can fit around a normal week, and one that requires sharp bits of metal and a frozen waterfall. You don’t need to attempt all five this month. That would be an odd way to spend October, unless you’re unusually committed to having a very full diary. These are our favourites from the activities added last month. They’re deliberately varied, because a list worth keeping should have room for a brilliant trip, a local plan, and something that makes you say, “I didn’t know people could do that.” 1. See the Blackpool Illuminations Blackpool is at its best when it leans into being Blackpool. The Illuminations run along the Promenade for miles, with lights, tableaux, the Tower and all the gloriously excessive seaside energy you’d hope for from a town that decided darkness needed improving. The main display is free, and it’s one of those outings where walking part of the route is better than trying to tick off every last bulb. Go on a weekday if you can, wear something capable of surviving a Lancashire seafront, and leave enough time for chips somewhere that has no reason to describe itself as artisanal. The 2026 display is scheduled to run nightly until 3 January 2027, so October is a very good time to go before the Christmas crowds properly get involved. See the Blackpool Illuminations is a proper evening out without needing a complicated plan. Blackpool Tower lit up after dark. Photograph by Jonny Gios via Unsplash. 2. Be in the audience for a television recording There is something faintly ridiculous about being told when to laugh for a living, which is part of the appeal. A live television studio recording gives you the chance to see how much waiting, clapping and last-minute rearranging goes into an hour of television that later looks effortless from the sofa. Tickets are often free, although they are not the same thing as a guaranteed seat. Read the arrival instructions, take ID, expect security, and don’t wear a T-shirt with anything you’d regret seeing on a wide shot. You may be there longer than the broadcast itself, but you’ll leave with the mildly smug knowledge that you were the applause under somebody else’s punchline. It’s one of the better options when the weather has turned and you still want a plan that gets you out of the house. Check official production listings for current shows and availability, because television has a charming habit of changing its mind. 3. Blend your own whisky There are plenty of whisky tastings in the world. This one asks you to stop nodding intelligently at someone else’s notes about peat and become responsible for the final result yourself. At a blend-your-own-whisky session , you taste different component whiskies, play about with proportions and bottle the one you like best. You don’t need to arrive knowing the difference between a sherry cask and a port finish. You just need to be willing to have an opinion after the second sample, which has never been a major problem for most of us. It’s a good one for an autumn birthday, a small group, or a Saturday afternoon that needs upgrading from “shall we go to the pub?” Book ahead, check what you get to take home, and make a sensible plan for getting back. Experimenting with a blend. Photograph by Sabri Tuzcu via Unsplash. 4. Have a local microadventure A microadventure is the antidote to assuming every memorable thing has to involve annual leave. Pick a small objective that feels a bit outside your routine: walk to a viewpoint at sunset, take a train somewhere you’ve never bothered getting off, visit a late-opening museum, or spend one night somewhere legal and properly prepared. Our local microadventure activity is intentionally loose because the point is that it belongs to where you are. It can cost almost nothing, it can take an evening, and it still gives you a story other than the one about having watched three episodes of something with your phone in your hand. October is made for this if you prepare for the dark and the weather rather than acting surprised by either. Tell someone where you’re going, take layers and a light, and choose a plan you’ll actually enjoy rather than one you think sounds impressive. 5. Climb a frozen waterfall This is the bigger one. You are unlikely to leave the house on a Tuesday, glance at the frost on the car and accidentally end up climbing an icefall, which is probably for the best. Climbing a frozen waterfall needs a qualified guide, the right conditions, cold-weather kit and a reasonable comfort with heights. It is properly challenging, and that is exactly why October is the right moment to start looking at it. Good winter dates and guides don’t wait around for people to finish dithering. You don’t have to become someone who owns ice tools. Book an introductory guided day, listen to the people who understand crampons, and find out whether this is your idea of a brilliant day or an expensive way of discovering you prefer a warm pub. Either answer is useful. Start with a qualified guide and suitable conditions. Photograph by Jon Hieb via Unsplash. What gets added next? This is going to be a monthly thing. We’ll keep going through the new additions and pulling out the five that feel most worth your attention, rather than giving you a spreadsheet-shaped dump of everything that appeared. For October, start with the one that makes you want to check dates. Then put one that feels a little daft, ambitious or unexpectedly doable on your own list. Blackpool, television, whisky, a nearby hill or an icefall: it’s a decent set of options for a month that is often unfairly reduced to buying a pumpkin and complaining about the clocks.