Welcome to The Hub Nanaimo, your weekly insider guide to the best of community arts and culture. Did a friend forward this email to you? Subscribe to this newsletter.

I hope you already have your costume picked out and your candy purchased for the trick or treaters, but if you are still wondering what there is to do on Halloween we have you covered.

For this week’s newsletter I have scoured the city for halloween-related haunted houses, witches markets, parties and concerts happening in Nanaimo.

And if you’re free on Sunday, The Discourse team would love to see you at White Sails Brewing between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. for an informal meetup to chat and connect. Discourse Nanaimo founding reporter Julie Chadwick will also be there! More on that below.

Happy Halloween,

Mick Sweetman

🖊️ What you said ⌨️

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“The Discourse certainly seems to be the best source for what's happening in Nanaimo!”

—  Glen Foster, from our newsletter survey

🔎 Watch for 🔍

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 p.m.: The Discourse Nanaimo invites fans of community-powered journalism to an afternoon with award-winning reporters Julie Chadwick and Mick Sweetman on Sunday, Nov. 2 at White Sails Brewing!

Stop by between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. for a beverage and snack as we look back on the last five years of high-impact local stories. Chat about what we should dive into next and connect with other people in Nanaimo who are passionate about keeping our community informed and focused on solutions.

Know of an event you think should be shared? 

Send Mick an email.

🎃 Halloween 🧙

Thursday, Oct. 30, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: A Haunted Halloween Night at the Malaspina Theatre will feature a pumpkin pie eating contest, a costume contest, a mummy wrap challenge and pumpkin carving. A Haunted Trail at VIU’s student housing follows the event. 

Thursday, Oct. 30, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Explore the haunted basement of the OV Theatre during Halloween Spooktacular by the Reconciliation Theatre Society. Then listen to a spine-tingling story from Never Whistle at Night: An Anthology of Indigenous Dark Fiction.  Tickets cost $10 for adults, $5 for children and family passes are $20. 

Thursday, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.: Catch the Spooktacular Gorelesque Show at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $25. 

Thursday, Oct. 30 and Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.: Plunge into the depths of Prosper Peak Mine and experience the horrors of a coal mine disaster first-hand at the Beban Park Fairgrounds. Tickets cost $5. 

Thursday, Oct. 30 and Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.:  The Duggan Haunt, a live-action haunted house, will scare old and young alike but is not recommended for children aged eight and younger. Located at 2172 Duggan Rd. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 3 p.m.: Trick-or-Treat in the Old City Quarter and Downtown Nanaimo. Local shops offer treats and activities for kids at the Nanaimo Museum until 5 p.m. Free.

Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.: An all-ages Stranger Things themed trivia night will be held in the Country Club Mall Food Court. Admission is free. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m.: Halloween Party at The Queen’s with Canadian rock tribute band Give’er. Tickets cost $15 in advance or $20 at the door. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.: Cocaine Moustache, As Ash Fell, Lords Of Apathy and Barbecutioner will play an all-ages Halloween show at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and are $15 for youth. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.: The Nanaimo Pride Society is holding a HALLOQUEEN Dance party at the Nanaimo Yacht Club. Tickets cost $30 in advance or $35 at the door.

Friday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m.: Halloween Hoedown with Ded Zep (Led Zeppelin), Cruise Control (Julie Cruise), The Baby Deamers (Suicide), Young Neil & Horsey Craze (Neil Young & Crazy Horse) and more at The Vault Café. All proceeds to benefit D.U.L.F. Tickets cost $20.

Friday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m.: Woodstick will play a Halloween Party at the SIP pub. No cover. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 11 p.m.: The Sweet Spot Lounge transforms into a haunted haven for ghosts, ghouls and party creatures of the night with “Let the Ghoul Times Roll” — a spooktacular dance party with music from DJ Extatik. Tickets cost $10. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 9:30 p.m.: Halloween Video Dance Party at The Nanaimo Bar with a costume parade, prizes and horror visuals. Tickets cost $15. 

Friday, Oct. 31, dusk: The historic Nanaimo Bastion will be lit up in orange for Halloween.

Saturday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Slink down to a spooky Haunted Holiday Market at Wellington Hall with vendors, food and crafts. Entry by donation. 

Saturday, Nov. 1, 2:30 p.m.: The Queer Agenda will be screening a queer Halloween themed movie at the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library and will have a “crow trade” where you can bring “lightly used clothing, trinkets and treasures that are ready for a new home.”

Saturday, Nov. 1, 6 p.m.: Big Daddy will play a Halloween Dance Party at Legion #10. Tickets cost $20. 

Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.: The Black Cats, The Daisy Stranglers and Stoned Pilots will play a Halloween afterparty at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15.

Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.: Majesties Request (Rolling Stones cover band) will play at The Rocking Horse Pub for a Halloween bash. Tickets cost $15.  

Saturday, Nov. 1, 11 p.m.:  DJ All Good — one of Canada's premier turntablists — will play at 11 p.m. after a Scaraokie night at the Sweet Spot Lounge. Cover at the door. 

🎵 Listen 🎤

Saturday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.: Grateful Dead tribute band The Roses returns to The Vault Café. Tickets cost $20. 

Monday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m.: By Divine Right, Moon Grove, Uptights and Global Fake will play an all-ages show at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15. 

Thursday, Nov. 6, 8 p.m.: One Man Army, Last Year's Wishes and Dolly Desire will play an all-ages psychedelic indie rock, punk and pop show at The Vault Café. Tickets cost $10. 

🎭 View 🖼️

Thursday, Oct. 30 to Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.: Glorious! By Peter Quilter will be performed by the Nanaimo Theatre Group at The Bailey Studio. “This hilarious and heartwarming comedy tells the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a delusional and joyously happy socialite who, despite having no singing ability, performed enthusiastically for bemused audiences in 1940s New York.” Tickets cost $28. There is also a matinee performance on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. 

Sunday, Nov. 2, 1 p.m and 7 p.m.:  Hindi-language film Santosh will be screened at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium. Filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s searing narrative debut follows a young housewife widowed after her police constable husband is killed on the job. Through a government initiative, she is trained to take his place in a police station in rural Northern India, where she works mostly with men. Tickets cost $15.

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 6 p.m.: Gaza Fights For Freedom will be screened at Vancouver Island University, Building 200, Room 203 by the VIU Muslim Women’s Club and For Palestine Vancouver Island. Admission is free.

Thursday, Nov. 6 to Saturday Nov. 15, various times: Malapsina Theatre presents George Orwell’s Animal Farm at the Malapsina Theatre. Tickets cost $10 or are free for VIU students and staff with ID. 

⛹️ Meet 🎲

Thursday, Oct. 30, 5 p.m.: Discuss how literature helps us know and reflect on our lives with writer Carol Matthews at the Philosophy Café in the Harbourfront Library. Admission is free. 

Thursday, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.: Take a hand-building ceramic mug workshop at Lilach Lotan Ceramic Art. Tickets cost $45. 

Thursday, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.: The VIU Mariners volleyball teams take on the College of the Rockies Avalanche at the VIU Gym. Women’s game at 6 p.m., men’s game at 8 p.m. Admission is free for VU students. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.: The VIU Mariners volleyball teams take on the College of the Rockies Avalanche at the VIU Gym. Women’s game at 6 p.m., men’s game at 8 p.m. Admission is free for VU students. 

Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.: The Nanaimo Clippers hockey club takes on the Victoria Grizzlies at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets cost $22 in advance, $20 for seniors and $12 for children between six and 12 years of age.  

Saturday, Nov. 1, 4 p.m.: Magic: The Gathering — Commander Night at the Gabriola Island Library. 

Saturday, Nov. 1, 5 p.m.: The VIU Mariners basketball teams take on the Langara College Falcons at the VIU Gym. Women’s game at 5 p.m., men’s game at 7 p.m. Admission is free for VU students. 

Sunday, Nov. 2, noon: The VIU Mariners basketball teams take on the Langara College Falcons at the VIU Gym. Women’s game at 12 p.m., men’s game at 2 p.m. Admission is free for VU students. 

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 p.m.: Try some new board games at the Nanaimo North Library’s Sunday Board Game Group. 

What did you think of this newsletter?

⭐    ⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Like what you're reading?

Community news keeps us connected. We can't do this without you.