Calgary's arts calendar gets a serious shake-up this autumn as Fluid Fest rolls into town, running Oct. 15 to Nov. 7. Spread across multiple venues, the festival packs three weeks of contemporary dance, experimental performance and live music into one program — and yes, there's a Halloween cabaret.

Fluid Fest is an annual event from Springboard Performance, a Calgary non-profit that focuses on contemporary and movement-based art. The idea is simple: put artists and audiences in the same room for work you're unlikely to see anywhere else, with a mix of homegrown Calgary talent and visiting performers.

A few highlights stand out. At Contemporary Calgary, DJ Dooshima headlines a 360 DJ Party spinning a blend of Afrobeat, amapiano, house, dancehall and hip-hop. On the stage side, EBNFLǑH Dance Company fuses hip-hop with contemporary movement for a production that bridges street dance and formal choreography. The centrepiece for late October is the Fluid Fest Horror Show: A Goth Extravaganza Cabaret at The GRAND on Oct. 30 and 31 — a Halloween-ready mash-up of drag, music, comedy and performance art, with a Halloween after-party to keep things going past midnight.

One of the festival's quirks is that it isn't anchored to a single hall. Shows happen at five venues around the city: Contemporary Calgary (701 11th St. SW), The Grand Theatre (608 1st St. SW), Inside Out Theatre (625 11th Ave. SW), Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (111 12th Ave. SE) and the Esker Foundation gallery space (1011 9th Ave SE). All are in or near the downtown core, so it's realistic to catch two shows in an evening if you plan it well.

Tickets start at $15, with some performances at $40 or more depending on the show. Students and seniors get discounted rates, and there's a built-in reason to make a night of it: buy four eligible tickets and you save 15 per cent — handy for groups or anyone planning a mini festival marathon. The full schedule, with dates, showtimes and per-show pricing, is on the Springboard Performance website.

For travellers, this is a good excuse to build a Calgary trip around something you can't stream. Autumn is a shoulder-season sweet spot in the city, and the festival's venue-hopping format means you'll see different corners of downtown between shows. If contemporary dance or a goth drag cabaret sounds like your kind of night out, the timing is hard to beat.

Story via Curiocity.