It’s a very busy month in St Andrews! The Dunhill Links Championship is a huge event for the town, but there are also a myriad of other things to do in St Andrews and the surrounding area this October. Here’s our pick of the best 35 events in St Andrews and within 30 minutes’ drive, listed by interest. This is only a fraction of what can be found on Event St Andrews and Smart Community Fife – check them regularly for even more great local events!

Food & Drink:

Saturday 2nd October -9am-1pm – Fife Farmer’s Market – St Andrews
Head to Argyll Street car park for the monthly Fife Farmer’s Market for everything from buffalo and venison to artisan cheese, breads, candles and crafts.

Saturdays 2nd & 9th October – 9.30am-12pm – Newburgh Apple Market – Newburgh
The annual celebration of Newburgh’s private orchards, come to browse and buy eight varieties of apples as well as locally grown pears and homemade jams.

Friday-Saturday 8th-9th October – 11am-last orders – Ale Festival – St Andrews
The Whey Pat Tavern (Bridge Street) is running a special weekend with 10 ales to try over two days, as well as the exciting chance to win a t-shirt. Phone 01334 477740 for more details.

Saturday 16th October – 10am-4pm – Apple day – Lochore Meadows
A typical apple day, including apple identification advice, apple juicing, and a cider making course (advance booking essential!)

Sunday 17th October – 1pm-4.30pm –Apple Day – Falkland Palace, Falkland
A National Trust for Scotland apple day for all the family. Includes crafts, tree dressing, poetry and a ceilidh as well as the traditional apple pressing, apple baking stalls, and a ‘Longest Peel’ competition. Intrigued? We are!

Friday 22nd October – 7.30pm-9.30pm – Cheese and Wine Party – Crail
A fundraiser in Crail Town Hall in aid of the Crail Preservation Society. Tickets available from the Jerdan Gallery or on the door. Entrance: £5

Comedy:

Every Monday night at 8pm – Blind Mirth Improv – Barron Theatre – St Andrews
Billed as ‘St Andrews’ oldest, funniest (and only) improvisation troupe, Blind Mirth are enjoying a residency at the University’s Barron Theatre this term. With free admission, why not go and experience their very unique style of comedy?

Arts & Crafts:

Wednesday-Friday 6th-8th October – 7.30pm-9pm – ‘It’s a girl thing at Muddy Boots’ – Balmalcolm
Muddy Boots are once again running their risqué fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research! For £30pp, bring a group of your best girl friends and print your breasts onto a plate before turning the resulting patterns into a work of art (pandas, tractors, etc). Once all the plates have been glazed and finished, come back with your partners to enjoy the exhibition. All in aid of a very good cause; £20 of the ticket price goes straight to Cancer Research UK. Phone 01337 831222 to book a place, or to find out more.

Saturday 9th October – 11am-4pm – Make at the Mill – Gateside

This is the opening day of a two-week exhibition of outdoor visual art and sculpture. To celebrate the launch, the Make Studios are hosting an open studio and maker’s day; demonstrations include glassblowing, sandcasting, pottery wheel throwing, raku kiln firing, and lampworking. Bring your kids and they’ll have the opportunity to glaze their own pottery!

Thursday-Friday 21st-22nd – 9am-5pm – Basketmaking for beginners/improvers – Falkland
A two-day course for adults, tutored by Jane Wilkinson – beginners will make a circular basket, while improvers can turn their hands to oval work. The course – taking place at the Centre for Stewardship – costs £80/£60 but numbers are limited – places must be booked by the 13th October.

Tuesday 26th – 11am-4pm – Autumn Colours: a workshop – Falkland
A collage workshop for adults and children aged 12+. Led by artist Jan Hendry and writer Tess Darwin, use natural matierals and inspiration from the landscape to create simple books, journal pages, or small sculptures. The course – also at the Centre for Stewardship – costs £25/£20 and places must be booked by the 18th October.

Music:

Wednesday 6th October – 1.15pm-2pm – Fitzwilliam String Quartet – St Andrews
Come to the Younger Hall (North Street) at lunchtime to enjoy the Fitzwilliam String Quartet play the Mozart Horn Quintet, as well as Thurlow’s Fantazia and Unbidden Visions. Entrance: £2, or free for ConcertCard holders.

Thursday 7th October – 8pm – Fitzwilliam String Quartet – St Andrews
If you missed Wednesday’s lunchtime recital, there’s another chance to catch the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, this time playing: Purcell Music from the Fairy Queen, Jeremy Thurlow Quartet No. 1, Shostakovich Quartet No. 8 and Haydn Quartet No.5, Op. 76. Younger Hall. Entrance: £10/£8, or free for ConcertCard holders.

Thursday 7th October – 8pm – Skerryvore – St Andrews
Award-winning Scottish band performs for one night only at the Byre Theatre, with “blazing bagpipes, fiddle and accordions, electrically fused with funky rhythms and soul-gripping songs… creating a ‘Trail-Rock’ fusion for the 21st century.” Entrance: £12/£10

Friday 8th – 8pm - Upbeat Beatles – St Andrews
A Beatles tribute band, “recreating the excitement, raw energy and authentic sound of the original Fab Four from 1963. Head to the Byre Theatre for this trip down memory lane. Entrance £16/£10

Tuesday 12th – 8pm – Doric String Quartet – St Andrews
The St Andrews Music Club hosts the Doric String Quartet in the Music Department of St Leonards School. Hear them play string quartets from Haydn, Britten and Schubert. Entrance: £11/£10, £3 (students), £2 (children)

Thursday 14th – 7.30pm – Orchestra of the Justus Liebeg University – St Andrews
The Younger Hall is the venue for this touring student orchestra from Giessen. Come out to hear them play Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert – an rare chance to hear a full orchestra play for free.

Thursday 14th – 7.30pm – Celebrating ECM with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – St Andrews
“The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra celebrates the most stylish and influential recording company in jazz over the past forty years, ECM, with the most beautiful sound next to silence. Featuring the outstanding double bassist and ECM recording star Arild Andersen, the world class SNJO brings the creativity of composers including Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Jan Garbarek and Kenny Wheeler to the stage with passion, vigour, sensitivity and colour in an evening of music to swell the heart and stir the imagination.”
Byre Theatre – £16.50/£10, free for under 16s with an accompanying adult

Wednesday 20th – 7.30pm – Mozart at the Piano – St Andrews
The excellent Scottish Chamber Orchestra play at the Younger Hall play two contrasting Mozart pieces (as the title suggests), as well as some Beethoven and an exquisite overture from Mendelssohn. Entrance: £19.50/£10.50

Thursday 28th – 8pm – John Armitage Memorial Trust ‘Sing a New Song’ – St Andrews
Edinburgh University Chamber Choir, University of Aberdeen Chapel Choir, the University of St Andrews Chapel Choir, Thistle Brass and organist Tom Wilkinson join their considerable forces to perform contemporary choral compositions from such major names as Gabriel Jackson, Tarik O’Regan, Paul Mealor and Scotland’s own James MacMillan. Holy Trinity Church (South Street) – entrance: £12/£5

Literature, Theatre & Dance

Wednesday 6th October – 7pm – The Shakespeare Schools Festival 2010 – St Andrews
Four local schools stage four different half-hour Shakespeare adaptations at the Byre Theatre. Entrance: £7.50/£5.50

Thursday 7th October – 5pm-6pm – Booker Prize Lecture 2010 – St Andrews
Author of the 2007 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel, Lloyd Jones will be reading an extract from Mister Pip, as well as speaking more generally about his writing, and taking questions from the audience. Lloyd Jones will also be signing copies of Mister Pip after the event, which is taking place at the Buchanan Lecture Theatre.

Wednesday 13th – 7.30pm – Austen’s Women – St Andrews
Adapted and performed by Rebecca Vaughan, this is a whistlestop tour of thirteen of Jane Austen’s most beautifully observed female characters. Portraying such women as Lizzy Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, Anne Elliot, and the Dashwood sisters, Vaughan moves from scenes of high comedy to moments of profound pathos. The Edinburgh Guide calls her performance “unfaultable…thoroughly enjoyable”. Head to the Byre Theatre to enjoy this performance. Entrance: £15/£13/£10

Friday 15th – 7.30pm – Solo Works – St Andrews
A quadruple bill of modern dance from DavidHughesDance Productions, with original commissions by Christopher Bruce, Cesc Gelabert, Siobhan Davies and Javier de Frutos. The Guardian said “The solos are such a box of goodies you are spoiled for choice – a great vehicle for Hughes’ dramatic expression.” Byre Theatre, entrance: £14/£10/£8

Wednesday 20th – 7.30pm – Scottish Ballet Up Close Tour – St Andrews
Scottish Ballet performs a selection of captivating works including two pieces choreographed by Scottish Ballet dancers. Pre-show talk at 6.30pm. Byre Theatre, entrance: £15/£13/£10

Thursday 21st – 7.30pm – Carmen – St Andrews
Scottish Opera presents this brand new translation of the classic opera ‘Carmen’, reset in 1960s Spain… Byre Theatre, entrance: £16/£14/£5

Sunday 24th – 1.30pm-4pm – Poetry walk with Anna Crowe – Falkland
Take a gentle walk up Maspie Den to the Yad and back. Anna Crowe will lead you on a conversation with the landscape in a process of listening and speaking back.  Bring an open mind, a good pair of shoes, and a notebook and pen. No need to book, just turn up in the Stable car park.

Family:

Saturday-Sunday 9th-10th October – 10am-4.30pm – Pirates Ahoy! – Anstruther
Head to the Scottish Fisheries Museum to learn how pirates lived, what their weapons were like and how it was to live in a pirate training camp; complete with live firings of muskets and cannons. Free with entrance to museum: £6/£5 concessions, children go free with accompanying adults.

Friday 15th October – 10am-1045am – Bookbug Session at Ladybank Library
Bring your babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers for songs, rhymes and stories. Contact the library – 01334 659460 – to book your place.

Saturday 16th – 11.30am or 1.30pm – Magic Spaghetti – St Andrews
Comedy from Licketyspit for children (aged 3+) and their families at the Byre Theatre. Entrance: £8/£6

Monday 18th – 12pm-4pm – Octoberfest – Cambo House
Gather apples for the pigs, or for yourself, make Halloween lanterns and corn dollies, and enjoy some traditional story telling at this day out for all the family. Entrance: £4, accompanied children free.

Wednesday-Saturday 20th-23rd – 10.30am or 1.30pm – The Attic – St Andrews
Half-term theatre for children aged 2-4 and their carers. One extra showing on the 23rd at 3pm. Byre Theatre, entrance: £6

Tuesday 26th – 11am or 2pm – If I was a Mouse, I would Hide in your Hood – St Andrews
A beautiful puppet production for children aged 3-6 at the Byre Theatre. Entrance: £8/£6

Thursday 28th – 10.30am-12noon or 1.30pm-3pm – Spooky Halloween – Falkland
Get set for Hallowe’en at the Centre for Stewardship: make some spooky lanterns and masks. Suitable for children aged 6+. Places must be booked by 18th October. Entrance: £4 per child.

Saturday-Sunday 30th–31st – 2.30pm-9.30pm – Halloween Festival – Balmalcolm
Come to Muddy Boots for a spooky Hallowe’en Festival for all the family: ghost train, party games, haunted house, BBQ and lantern parades. Contact 01337 831222 for more details.

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So – there’s something for everyone in St Andrews this month – why not make a weekend of it and stay with us? Use our portal for all the information you need to plan your visit.

Think we’ve missed something? Add your own top events in the comment box below!