Edmonton is kicking off October with a weekend so full it's hard to pick a lane. The city's events calendar for Oct. 2-4 spans film screenings, two big markets, an Oktoberfest send-off and a surprising number of haunted houses — so whether you're travelling with kids, a date or a group of horror fans, there's something on the list.

The headline event is the Edmonton International Film Festival, celebrating its 40th edition. It runs until Oct. 3 across two downtown-adjacent venues: Landmark Cinemas 9 City Centre on 102nd Avenue and Metro Cinema on 109th Street. Expect gala screenings, Q&As with visiting filmmakers, and spotlights on local talent, with tickets from $15.

If you'd rather be outside, the Edmonton Corn Maze in Spruce Grove, west of the city, is open until Oct. 25 with farm animals, mini golf, spud gun launches, a sunflower stroll and a pumpkin patch arriving this fall. Admission starts at $15, and it runs Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday afternoons only.

Halloween season has clearly arrived early. Pumpkins After Dark at Borden Park launches its Edmonton season this weekend, running nightly from 6:30 to 11 p.m. until Oct. 31 with a rebuilt, more immersive trail of carved-pumpkin displays. For genuinely scary options, Deadmonton on 47th Street has three new haunts this year and runs through Nov. 7, while the Haunted Hike in Vegreville (about an hour east) offers 20 themed rooms with live actors — plus a tamer Kids Hour at 3 p.m. before the 6-11 p.m. Scary Hour sessions on Fridays and Saturdays.

Prefer your weekend fright-free? Fan Park hosts the final weekend of Edmonton's Oktoberfest on Oct. 2 and 3 from 5 p.m., with entry at $36.50 and dirndl-and-lederhosen dress encouraged. Retro fans can hit Metro Cinema's All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party on Saturday morning — cartoons from the 1940s to the 90s plus unlimited sugary cereal for $19.

Shoppers have two strong options. Queen Mary's Market, open every weekend, packs 130-plus vendors and five restaurants into one building, with antiques, collectibles and local produce — free entry. Callingwood Farmers' Market, the city's largest and longest-running outdoor market, has over 200 vendors and runs Sundays until Oct. 11, so this is one of the last chances to catch it this season. Book lovers can also drop into the free Harvest Art and Book Fair on Oct. 3-4, now in its fourth year, with author panels, zine-making workshops and local vendors.

For travellers, this is a good snapshot of why Edmonton works as an early-autumn city break: most of these events are free or under $40, clustered around the downtown core, and easy to combine into a single day. Film fans and food-market browsers get the best of it on Saturday; haunt-seekers should book ahead for evening slots.