Lite + Brite: 42 Vampiric Austin Events 10/17

Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.

If anyone over the next two weeks says to you something like, “Hey, what’s going on for Halloween?” would you be so kind as to share our Austin Halloween spreadsheet with them? We’ve just passed 150 unique events, ranging from dog costume contests to spooky films screened in unusual spots to immersive dance performances to seances to… listen, just click on the link and see for yourself. The more people look at this spreadsheet, the better it is for our egos, and then the more we want to keep adding to it, so as you can see sharing it is a win for all. While you’re at it, you can listen to our Halloween playlist here.

Looking ahead to this week in particular: If you’re a fan of vampires, now is your time, with a vampire ball, a vampyre soiree, and a Twilight drag show. Prefer goblins? You are also in luck, as twelve hours of goblin storytelling, face-painting, music, and magic is going down on Saturday. Outside of magical creatures, we’ve also got a multi-media, site-specific performance and scavenger hunt celebrating the Colorado River; an interactive performance where you play a journalist (created by Cheerful Secrets, whom we’ve had the good fortune of interviewing!); the return of Austin’s annual queer film fest; the kickoff of the annual Roots + Wings Festival (which includes whatever this is); a puppet show inside a historic Hyde Park home; and a celebration of two of Leila’s favorite movies. Scroll down for details on all of this and so much more.

If you’re not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you want to be, click here. We do one newsletter a week, usually on Fridays, plus a bonus edition around the start of each month. If you enjoy this newsletter, please support us by contributing to our Patreon and by forwarding this email to your friends who enjoy things like listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.

Let’s do fun stuff!

—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com

EVENTS WE’RE EYEING

Friday 10/17

  • Saul Ravencraft’s Damned Show at Nature’s Treasures
    “Wizard provocateur” leads variety performances in a talk show format
  • Crime Wave at Empire
    Local DJs spinning darkwave, goth, post-punk, + indie dance
  • Games Y’all at 1908 Kramer Lane
    See presentations, try out indie games in development + meet the people who make them
  • Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert at the Long Center
    Austin Symphony performs Return of the Jedi’s soundtrack live. Will they play Yub Nub!?
  • Revive at Something Cool Studios
    “Celebrating survivors of violence” w/interactive art, breakdancing, comedy, live music, talks
  • Velvet Shines Heavy at East Side Performing Arts
    Modern dancers examine the self through the metaphor of a speakeasy
  • Encuentro del Corazón at various venues
    “Weaving together art, memory, seeds, + community” through food, music, + film
  • aGLIFF’s PRISM 38 at Galaxy Theatres
    Fest devoted to films about + relevant to the LGTBQ community

Saturday 10/18

  • Goblintown at Tiny Minotaur
    Summon yr inner goblin w/goblin-themed storytelling, face painting, goblin ear workshops, live music, tarot, costume contest
  • The Way of Water at Laguna Gloria
    Immersive sound design, choreo from Austin Water staff, + birders
  • Jurassic Parque at Sky Candy
    Aerialists provide “high flying, high brow take on the 90s classic Jurassic Park”
  • Dog Beard and Moustache Competition at the Little Darlin’
    Moustachioed pooches compete for charity + vendors, raffles
  • Derby After Dark at the Buda Thunderdome
    Banked roller derby, only it’s kink-themed + adults-only
  • Shiba Inu Paw-rade at Pease Park
    A parade of Shiba Inu puppers ending in Japanese snacks
  • Freaks of Clay at Feats of Clay Pottery
    Vendors, carnival games, photo booth, costume contest, performance art, + pottery demos
  • Théâtre des Vampires at Elysium
    Vampire ball w/live music, DJs, burlesque performers, vendors, + costume contest
  • The Twilight Saga Drag Tribute at Cheer Up Charlie’s
    Drag performers pick a Twilight character to evoke for a night of werewolves + shiny vampires
  • The Bloody Ball: A Vampyre Soirée at the Vortex
    Glam-themed ball w/a blood-red carpet, live music, DJ, themed drinks, + vampyric dress code
  • Diwali Festival of Light at Mozart’s
    Celebrate the Indian fest of lights w/Indian food + drinks, dance workshops, movies
  • 12th Street Block Walk at Future Front
    Walk through East Austin + learn about its cultural history w/new + old businesses
  • Nightmarket.fun at Lakeline Park
    Food + artisan vendors, live music + dance, cosplay contest, eating competitions, + games
  • Austin Camerata at dadaLab
    Live chamber music + electronic music w/accompanying live visual artists
  • Emerge at Propaganda HQ
    Street artists paint live w/DJs, MCs, + beatmakers
  • Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert at the Long Center
    Austin Symphony performs Return of the Jedi’s soundtrack live. Will they play Yub Nub!?
  • Revive at Something Cool Studios
    “Celebrating survivors of violence” w/interactive art, live music, + fashion show
  • Velvet Shines Heavy at East Side Performing Arts
    Modern dancers examine the self through the metaphor of a speakeasy
  • Art from the Streets Show + Sale at Blue Genie
    See + buy works by artists experiencing homelessness
  • Encuentro del Corazón at various venues
    “Weaving together art, memory, seeds, + community” through food, music, + film
  • aGLIFF’s PRISM 38 at Galaxy Theatres
    Fest devoted to films about + relevant to the LGTBQ community
  • (weekly thru 11/29) Goat Yoga at Jester King
    “We call out to the beasts of the land to come forth and JOIN US!”

Sunday 10/19

Monday 10/20

  • The Mariposa Twist at a private Hyde Park residence
    Watch theatrical puppet vignettes in an historic house

Tuesday 10/21

  • Reel Science at the Long Center
    Watch a film about nocturnal insects, Q+A w/entomologists, + make seedballs
  • Meaningful Minimalism at Swift Fit Events
    Help launch a book on minimalism w/micro-consults + letterpress

Wednesday 10/22

  • Records to Read To at Carpenter Hotel
    Quiet reading set to author-curated records + drinks

Thursday 10/23

No Humans Allowed 254
Programmatic Synthpop

With the onset of October, spooky season has begun! We take off the gloves and get our hands dirty with an hour of spooky, synthy tunes for Halloween + Italoween. We’ve got the better part of a month to get getting creepy, so we’ve just begun.

Stream Programmatic Synthpop

Tracklist
Depeche Mode – But Not Tonight
Car Crash Set – Fall from Grace
Night Moves – Transdance (New York Disco Mix)
Jarmaz – Night City Life (Disco Remix)
New Musik – Hunting (Hober Mallow Edit)
Red Lion – Somebody Told Me
Gina X Performance – Kaddish
The Venetians – Sound on Sound (Hysteric Edit)
Depeche’s Cover – No Disco
Camouflage – The Great Commandment
Paul Haig – Fear and Dancing
Kuruki – Crocodile Tears
Depeche Mode – Lie to Me
Heaven 17 – Let Me Go

No Humans Allowed is Brian Blackout’s award-winning, weekly robots-themed radio show on internet station KPISS.fm. Machine vibes 4 machines. Songs for robots, androids, mandroids, cyborgs, AIs, cylons, skinjobs, roombas, wifi routers, smart devices, anything colored Bondi blue, and virtual assistants. Humans not required. Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm, with over 200 episodes now streamable in the archives on topics like and Beach Simulations, Roomba dance parties, undersea adventures + Cyber Texas.

PATREON THANKS

A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers James Gray, Emily Heddleson, Andrew Creswell, Robert B., Roman Gonzalez, Nick Ivons, Molly Fonseca, Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Gino Scaramuzza, Erica Speegle, Jarrett Holtz, Thomas Refferson, Bones Malones, Amy Hayes, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Alexander Freed, Kristen Backor, and Timon A. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Mailchimp fee” and “spend hours researching Austin events when technically we should be working.”

If you’d like to support us on Patreon and get access to exclusive member-only benefits, you may do so here.

SOCIALS

Recent weeks found us celebrating the fifth anniversary of No Humans Allowed, attending a Blue Lapis Light aerial dance performance on the side of a building, and readying our annual spreadsheet of Halloween events. Follow Lite + Brite on Instagram to keep up with our adventures. We’re now on Bluesky too. Yay federation! And come chat with us and the rest of the L+B community on our Discord server (where we sometimes post stuff early too).

ABOUT US

How do we choose which events to feature?

Honestly, it’s pretty random. We might include anything in Austin that we, personally, would conceivably want to go to, generally excluding normal concerts, comedy shows, and movie showtimes because there are many other good resources for finding those. (We especially recommend Showlist for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, Concept Animals’ ATX Art for You for gallery openings + artist talks, and the 60+ Weirdest Things in Austin for exactly what it sounds like). This list is by no means exhaustive; it’s just stuff that caught our eye this week. If you have an event that you want us to consider including, send it over.

Who are we?

We are Leila + Brian. We make this newsletter. We do our own events, most often No Lights No Lycra, + also BYOT, a party where we share very good YouTubes (here’s a playlist from the last one). We go very hard seeing bands at SxSW (here are playlists of our favorites from 2025). We once got called “local Austin couple” by KXAN. We do some other stuff here and there. We love going out to creative events in Austin, and we want you to join us. Visit us at liteandbriteatx.com, and support us on Patreon if you like what we do.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, CHAMPIONS

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