HARTFORD, CT — Hartford leans into the season with a gothic "Dracula" downtown, ghost tours at the Mark Twain House and a Día de Muertos celebration, alongside the Hartford Symphony's Tchaikovsky program, an Election Cake bake-off at the Old State House and blues at Black-eyed Sally's, from Thursday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 25.
This Weekend's Arts & Entertainment
- "Dracula" — running through Nov. 1, with an open-captioned matinee Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, directed by Jackson Gay, retells the gothic tale from a new point of view. Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street
- Dinur Conducts Tchaikovsky 4 — Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24, 8 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25, 3 p.m. Music director finalist Yaniv Dinur leads the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Gabriela Ortiz's "Kauyumari," Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Ying Li and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Belding Theater at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue
- Ghost Tours of the Mark Twain House — Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24, tours at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m. Guides share the house's haunted history and Victorian traditions around seances and spirits, along with Twain's own interest in the supernatural; tickets are nonrefundable. Earlier Friday, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Glastonbury Poet Laureate Victoria Nordlund leads a Tarot Poetry Workshop in the house ($35, or $20 for members). The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Avenue
- "Why We Remember the Founding" — Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 to 7 p.m. Historian Michael D. Hattem talks about how Americans have told, and fought over, the story of the Revolution for nearly 250 years; tickets are $15. Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, 1 Elizabeth Street
- Día de Muertos Community Celebration — Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A free, all-ages celebration with arts activities, mariachi music, Mexican folk dance, face painting, ofrendas and food for sale; free tickets must be reserved in advance for an 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. or 1:30-4 p.m. block. Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, 1 Elizabeth Street
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This Weekend's Restaurants & Bars
- 5th Annual Election Cake Bake-Off — Saturday, Oct. 24, noon to 3 p.m. Connecticut bakers compete to have their spice cake crowned the official Connecticut Election Cake of 2026, reviving the state's old tradition of celebrating Election Day with cake. Connecticut's Old State House, 800 Main Street
- "Borrowed Wings" at Bar Max — Thursday, Oct. 22, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.; a second show was added. TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street
- Live music at Black-eyed Sally's — Dr. G & the Believers bring a blues dance party from New London County, Friday, Oct. 23, 8 to 11 p.m.; and Rhode Island's Neal & the Vipers play American roots music, Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. Black-eyed Sally's, 350 Asylum Street
Hear the Founding talk Thursday, take a lantern-lit ghost tour at the Mark Twain House and dance to the blues at Black-eyed Sally's on Friday, judge the cakes at the Old State House and celebrate Día de Muertos Saturday, then end with "Dracula" or Tchaikovsky on Sunday afternoon.
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