Ancient Greek music, an arty celebration of the natural world, and rather more ghosts than you might normally expect in a month — October has definitely landed in here in Otley.

Otley Common marks its first anniversary with an open day and an evening of eclectic entertainment, while the Wildlife Arts Festival makes a comeback for its fifth year with talks, exhibitions, music and workshops.

There’s history stretching back a little further than 12 months too, with Homer’s Iliad brought to life using ancient Greek instruments and a heritage walk exploring more than 1,000 years of Otley’s past.

Elsewhere we have live music, storytelling, markets, wine tastings and theatre. And that’s before the month ends, appropriately enough, with paranormal investigations and Halloween ghost tours.

EMOM gets another spin

Venue: Otley Common
Day/time: Saturday, October 3, 6.30–10.30pm

The Otley Electronic Music Open Mic (EMOM) returns to Otley Common for a second spin following a packed launch night back in June, which brought together 11 original electronic acts from across the north of England.
Live beats, electronic jams and original sounds are the order of the night, with performers taking short slots in a format that cracks along faster than some of the beats. Whether you make electronic music yourself or just fancy hearing something a little different, it should be a great night.

Folk tales for curious grown-ups

Venue: Otley Courthouse
Day/time: Sunday, October 4, 7.30pm
Local storyteller Vickie Orton and folk singer Carol Timlin bring Sun, Stars and Straw to Otley Courthouse — a mix of stories and songs that are dark, funny, local and, apparently, all true.
Drawing on traditional folk tales but giving them a rather different twist, they’ll be joined on the night by local folk singer Jude Caldwell. Definitely one for curious grown-ups rather than the bedtime-story crowd.

Taste your way around France

Venue: Tapas & Tunes
Day/time: Wednesday, October 7, 7pm
When it comes to wine, David Lawson from Chez Vin really knows his stuff, and he’s joining the team at Tapas & Tunes for a French Classics wine-pairing adventure. The event matches five classic French wines with five regional French dishes. Can’t think of a better way to spend a Wednesday.

Discover 1,000 years of Otley history

Venue: Around town and Otley Parish Church
Day/time: Saturday, October 10, heritage walk 10.30am; church tour 12.30pm

Otley has more than 1,000 years of history sitting in plain sight — if you know where to look.
Otley Parish Church’s monthly Heritage Walk explores some of Otley’s best stories before a separate guided tour heads inside Otley’s oldest building.
The church itself contains fragments of Anglian crosses dating back more than 1,200 years, so there’s plenty of history packed into one morning. You can join the walk, the church tour or both.

Lunchtime music from two RNCM graduates

Venue: Otley Courthouse
Day/time: Thursday, October 15, 1pm
Otley Courthouse’s lunchtime recital series continues with two talented graduates of the Royal Northern College of Music.
American-Iranian mezzo-soprano Sophie Iliaifar has performed in a string of RNCM operas as well as Bernstein’s Mass at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, while pianist Tsukushi Mitsuda has performed solo and duo recitals around the country.
Together they’ll be taking to the Courthouse stage for the latest of its regular lunchtime concerts.

Homer – with added double pipes

Venue: Otley Courthouse
Day/time: Friday, October 16, 7.30pm
Ancient Greek double pipes probably don’t feature in too many Friday nights out in Otley. But this one will be different.
A Musical Iliad comes to Otley Courthouse, with award-winning storyteller Clare Goodall and historical musician Lizzie Gutteridge bringing Homer’s epic tale of love, war, tragedy and loss to life.
The story is accompanied by ancient Greek music and live improvisation on aulos — those aforementioned ancient double pipes — and lyres, in what promises to be a pretty unusual night of storytelling and music.

Otley Common blows out its first candle

Venue: Otley Common
Day/time: Saturday, October 17, open day 11am–3pm; Otley Common Varieties from 8pm
Otley Common is one and it’s marking its first birthday with an open day featuring music from Pop n Rock Choir, tea and cakes from Otley WI, building tours, table tennis, jujitsu and a chance to meet some of the groups who now call the Common home.
Then, in the evening, things get a little more… varied. Otley Common Varieties brings together Judy Garland reimagined with songs by The Smiths, beatbox flautist James Lyons, mind reader Harrison Richards and the blues of Sleepy Jake, all held together by comedian and compère Sapphire McIntosh. Quite a way to celebrate blowing out those candles.

Cheese, monks and a whey-out plot

Venue: Otley Courthouse
Day/time: Thursday, October 22, 7.30pm
There will be cheese. There will be ghosts. There will, inevitably, be cheese puns.
Mikron Theatre brings Wensleydale Whey – a new musical comedy set in the Yorkshire Dales – to Otley Courthouse.
The story follows a group of monks searching for a living soul who can revive their long-lost traditional Wensleydale recipe, taking in the history of cheese along the way.
Live music accompanies the slightly bonkers plot, along with rather more fromage-related wordplay than is probably healthy.

Taste your way through up to 100 wines

Venue: Otley RUFC
Day/time: Friday, October 23, evening
If you enjoy your wine, this is probably one to get in the diary. David Lawson and Chez Vin are back, this time at Otley Rugby Club, with their Autumn Wine Fair and the chance to taste your way through a frankly heroic selection of up to 100 wines. There’ll also be a hog roast and tapas to help soak up the research.

Where wildlife meets art

Venue: Otley Common
Day/time: Friday–Sunday, October 23–25, various times

Otley’s Wildlife Arts Festival returns for its fifth year, celebrating the natural world through art, music, talks, books, photography and more. The weekend opens on Friday with TV wildlife presenter and Wildlife Friendly Otley patron George McGavin, before Saturday brings the main art exhibition and stalls at Otley Common. Then on Saturday evening, Wild Notes brings together Sarah Smout, Amy-Jane Beer, Chris Brain and Matthew Hedley Stoppard for a celebration of nature in music and words. There are also creative workshops and a packed programme of talks covering everything from badgers and toads to rivers, adders, rewilding and insects.

Two markets, one Sunday

Venue: Otley Market Place and Otley Courthouse
Day/time: Sunday, October 25, Farmers’ Market 9am–1pm; Craft Fair 10am–1pm

Otley Farmers’ Market returns to Market Place with local food and drink, fresh produce and handmade goods from a range of independent producers. Just around the corner, Otley Courthouse hosts its monthly Craft Fair, bringing together handmade gifts, crafts and creations from independent makers. So you can do the Farmers’ Market, wander across to the Courthouse and make a morning of it.

Proof of ghosts? You decide

Venue: Otley Common
Day/time: Friday, October 30, 7.30pm
Do ghosts exist? Psychologist and paranormal investigator Dr Graham Ramsden comes to Otley Common with Proof of Ghosts — an evening exploring the evidence for and against the paranormal. He’ll share photographs and audio gathered during years of investigations, talk through some of the possible explanations and leave you to make up your own mind. Believer, sceptic or somewhere firmly in the middle, the timing just before Halloween feels rather appropriate.

A night of traditional Irish song

Venue: Bloomfield Square
Day/time: Friday, October 30, 7pm
Drogheda-born singer and musician Dónal Maguire brings a night of traditional Irish music to Bloomfield Square. Maguire has spent decades performing traditional Irish songs, as well as playing mandolin and tenor banjo. He’s particularly known for his unaccompanied singing and a repertoire deeply rooted in the Irish tradition.

Spend Halloween with Otley’s ghosts

Venue: Meet under the Jubilee Clock in Market Place
Day/time: Saturday, October 31, 6.30pm and 8pm
Halloween night feels like a pretty good time to find out just how haunted Otley really is. Yorkshire Ghost Tours are running two special Halloween outings around the town, led by Otley’s resident ghost guide Spindleshanks McScrew. Along the way, you’ll hear local history, old legends and tales of some of Otley’s more unsettling residents as you make your way through the town’s streets after dark.

For more details on all these and other events in Otley, make sure to bookmark the Visit Otley events calendar for further details https://www.visitotley.co.uk/whats-on/calendar/