What's on in Edinburgh October 2022: Paolo Nutini, Oktoberfest, Girl From The North Country, Edinburgh Cocktail Week

There’s a packed calendar of events in the Capital this month, including, clockwise from top left, Paolo Nutini, Oktoberfest, the Edinburgh Zoo Halloween Spooktacular and Edinburgh Cocktail Week.

The nights may be getting colder and darker, but as tempting as it is curl up with a boxset, there’s a packed calendar of events in the Capital this month.

We’ve cherry-picked some of those worth getting off the sofa for.

Oktoberfest

The world famous celebration of Bavarian culture returns to Edinburgh after a two-year break due to the pandemic.

The much-loved festival will see a giant tent pitched up in West Princes Street Gardens, ready to welcome up to 1,200 people. There will be authentic German food, live music – and of course plenty of beer.

The celebration dates back to the Munich wedding of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810.

Oktoberfest organiser, Carsten Raun, said: "It will be the same fun event. After Covid we want to get the focus back on being together with friends, having a good time, and getting out.

"This event will be the best combination of British and German interest in beer – you can experience everything that makes a real Oktoberfest. We will bring you the feeling of being in an authentic Oktoberfest Tent in the middle of Edinburgh.

“Blue and white colours characterise the tent and our waitresses and waiters are dressed in Dirndl and Lederhosen. The tent is filled with long tables.

“We serve delicious giant beer specially made for Oktoberfest, and it is certain that you will not sit for long before you want to sing along and maybe stand on the benches.”

Oktoberfest runs 6-9 October. For more information and to book tickets, visit the Oktobersest Edinburgh website.

Paolo Nutini

How cool is the boy from Paisley? He brings out an album, tops the charts, heads out on tour, and then drops off the radar for years on end.

The 35-year-old repeated the trick this summer, scoring his third number one album with his first music release in eight years.

The singer-songwriter’s fourth studio record, titled Last Night In The Bittersweet, rose through the rankings after being released on July 1.

Nutini previously topped the album chart with 2009’s Sunny Side Up and once again with Caustic Love in 2014, while his debut album These Streets peaked at number three in 2006.

The New Shoes hitmaker is finally on tour again after a long hiatus, and the good news is that he’s returning to Edinburgh.

Nutini will be coming to the Capital’s O2 Academy (formerly the Corn Exchange) on October 31 and tickets are like gold dust.

Girl From The North Country

Attention Bob Dylan fans! Celebrated playwright Conor McPherson (The Weir, The Seafarer) boldly reimagines the songs of the legendary singer-songwriter, like you’ve never heard them before.

It described as heart-breaking and universal story about family and love, and has had the critics drooling.

The premise is this: It’s 1934 in the heartland of America and we meet a group of wayward souls who cross paths in a time-weathered guesthouse. Standing at a turning point in their lives, they realize nothing is what it seems. But as they search for a future, and hide from the past, they find themselves facing unspoken truths about the present.

The double Olivier and Tony award-winning West End and Broadway smash-hit comes to the Edinburgh Playhouse from Tuesday, October 18 until Saturday, October 22.

Get your tickets from the venue’s box office or online.

Edinburgh Cocktail Week 2022

The Capital will be shaken and stirred once again with the return of Edinburgh Cocktail Week – a city-wide celebration of cocktail culture which allows you to enjoy countless delicious concoctions at fraction of their usual price.

After a sell-out event last year, organisers have decided that such an occasion screams out for more than a week to properly enjoy.

Happily, for 2022, the event has been extended to 10 days!

This year's event, which runs fro 7-16 October, promises to be the biggest ever festival as the team unveil a line-up of bars and live music.

Some 120 bars have confirmed for this year's Edinburgh Cocktail Week, along with a varied line up of headline music acts for the Cocktail Village.

These include sea shanty-singing TikTok sensation Nathan Evans, local singer-songwriter Callum Beattie, Swedish rising popstar Lilly Ahlberg, TikTok’s Edinburgh-based singing obsession Calum Bowie, and Scottish funk-disco band High Fade.

The festival has also introduced restaurants to its event programme.

Wristband-holders can enjoy a complimentary cocktail when they dine at some of Edinburgh's best restaurants – including El Cartel, Superico, Luckenbooths, Dine and Heron.

Wristbands are on sale now, while the full list of events, opening times and participating venues can be found at www.edinburghcocktailweek.co.uk

Pavement

Widely renowned as one of the most popular and influential bands to come out of the American underground in the last three decades, Pavement are bona fide musical legends.

The band’s visit to the Usher Hall on Wednesday, October 19 is one of those gigs that jumps out screaming EVENT.

Tickets are available from the venue’s website.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea

A musical play adapted and directed by David Wood, based on the book by Judith Kerr, direct from a smash-hit West End season.

Yes, the tea-guzzling tiger is back on the road in this delightful family show, which visit the Edinburgh Playhouse from 20-22 October.

It’s a show packed with oodles of magic, sing-a-long songs and clumsy chaos!

Tickets are available now.

Edinburgh Zoo Halloween Spooktacular

This Halloween, Edinburgh Zoo Spooktacular! returns with a new series of family-friendly frights.

Follow along the trail and meet some weird and wonderful characters along the way.

The Zoo dares you to come brave theur illuminated trail from 7- 31 October.

From pirates and dragons to skeletons and ghosts, there’s plenty to get you into the Halloween spirit, as well as themed food and drink kiosks throughout.

For more information, visit Edinburgh Zoo’s website.

The Satyricon

The past is brought back to life in this ambitious new production of a classical comedy at the Assembly Roxy, from 4-8 October.

Three footloose young men encountering adventures of seduction, theft, violence and more – what could go wrong?

The Satyricon is one of the earliest stories portraying the lives not of heroes and gods, but of ordinary people, from sailors and slaves to poets and prostitutes.

The minimalist set makes full use of the large thrust stage of the Assembly Roxy, transforming from forum to brothel, a forest, bath-house, a ship, and more.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.assemblyfestival.com/roxy