Rio de Janeiro · Culture
A Leblon theatre keeps up its bossa nova weekends until 8 November, The Color Purple plays as a musical in Barra until the 25th, and the CCBB’s October programme is free. The rest of the month, day by day.
RIO DE JANEIRO — There is a great deal to do in Rio in October, and very little of it is written down anywhere in English. This guide is the monthly selection for people who live here rather than visit: what is on, where, when, what it costs, and why it might be worth crossing the city for.
Until 8 November the Teatro Café Pequeno in Leblon keeps up its eighteen-concert bossa nova season, and until 25 October the musical A Cor Púrpura plays a short run in Barra. Here is the rest of the month.
Until 8 November: Bossa Nova Weekends in Leblon
Fridays and Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 7pm
Bossa Nova Sessions at the Teatro Café Pequeno
Teatro Café Pequeno, Av. Ataulfo de Paiva 269, Leblon · From R$50 (about US$10)
Eighteen concerts over five weekends in the neighbourhood where the genre was born. The line-up runs from harmonica player Maurício Einhorn and singer Ithamara Koorax to guitarist Victor Biglione, who marks fifty years on stage this year — his 1995 Montreux live album, co-produced by Quincy Jones, has just been reissued. Small room, reserved tables, the most accessible October programme in the city for a listener without Portuguese.
Mid-October
Wednesdays and Thursdays, until 22 October, 7pm
“Pra Quem Não Me Conhece” returns to the Laura Alvim
Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim, Ipanema · Price from the venue
Nicole Musafir’s comedy about her own life, extended after sold-out shows at its premiere. In the first run her grandmother, the pianist Lydia Musafir, played in public for the first time at 91. In Portuguese.
Until Sunday 25 October
A Cor Púrpura — The Color Purple, the musical, fifth Rio season
Teatro Multiplan, Shopping VillageMall, Av. das Américas 3900, Barra da Tijuca · From R$60 (about US$11) · Wednesday to Friday 8pm, Saturday 4pm and 8pm, Sunday 3.30pm and 7.30pm
Fourteen performances only of the Brazilian production of the Alice Walker musical, with Suzana Santana again as Celie and Tadeu Aguiar directing. English-speaking audiences know the story from the novel and the films, which makes this the easiest musical in town to follow in Portuguese. Tickets through Sympla and the box office; every section also has a solidarity ticket at a special price against one kilo of food.
Thursdays through November, 8pm
“Jazz dos Muertos” on Thursdays at La Esquina in Lapa
La Esquina, Lapa · Price from the venue
A new weekly jazz night in the heart of Rio’s bohemian district, built around jazz, Latin jazz, bossa nova, samba jazz and soul. It opened on 15 October with “Aura Jazz” by the Giovana Adoracion Quinteto, and the name is a playful nod to the idea that the old masters are gone but their music is still on stage. Simple to enjoy without Portuguese.
Friday 16 October, 8pm
Ira! — twenty years of Acústico MTV at the Circo Voador
Circo Voador, Lapa · Price from the venue
São Paulo’s long-running rock band marks twenty years of its acoustic live record, under the Arcos da Lapa. The crowd sings everything. Details here.
Friday 16 October
Victor & Leo, “Essência” tour
Qualistage, Via Parque Shopping, Av. Ayrton Senna 3000, Barra da Tijuca · Price from the venue
The sertanejo brothers play songs that marked the genre and several generations of Brazilians, in a tour called “Essência”.
Friday 16 October, 8pm
Fábio Rizental premieres “Três Rosas Negras” at Acaso Cultural
Acaso Cultural, Rua Vicente de Sousa 16, Botafogo · R$55 to R$200 (about US$11 to US$40), on the door or online
The guitarist plays songs by Milton Nascimento, Djavan and Luiz Melodia in new jazz-rock fusion arrangements, with guests Ithamara Koorax and Chady.
Saturday 17 October
Ana Carolina, “25 Anas” tour
Qualistage, Via Parque Shopping, Av. Ayrton Senna 3000, Barra da Tijuca · Price from the venue
The singer-songwriter marks twenty-five years of career with the tour “25 Anas”.
Sunday 18 October
Vanessa da Mata at Vivo Rio
Vivo Rio, Av. Infante Dom Henrique 85, Parque do Flamengo · Price from the venue
One of the defining voices of Brazilian pop of the last two decades, in the big auditorium inside the Flamengo park. Her catalogue crosses MPB, pop and reggae, and most of the room will know every word.
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Late October
Tuesday 20 October to Sunday 1 November
Cine Uruguai: Novos Horizontes at CAIXA Cultural
CAIXA Cultural Rio de Janeiro · Free
Twenty-one Uruguayan films, sixteen features and five shorts from the last ten years, with talks and a masterclass. It opens with “Agarra-me Forte”, a Goya nominee for best Ibero-American film, and 23 October is a tribute day to the former president José “Pepe” Mujica with “Uma Noite de 12 Anos” at 2.30pm and the documentary “Os Sonhos de Pepe” at 5pm.
Thursday 22 October, 8pm
Naiara Martins launches “Terras do Sem-Fim” at Acaso Cultural
Acaso Cultural, Rua Vicente de Sousa 16, Botafogo · Price from the venue
The singer, songwriter and literary critic, nominated for a 2024 Jabuti Prize in philosophy, presents the show built on her first album. It runs from bossa and samba to songs with words in Yoruba and Kayapó, under the musical direction of Pedro Braga.
Friday 23 October
John Pizzarelli at Vivo Rio
Vivo Rio, Av. Infante Dom Henrique 85, Parque do Flamengo · Price from the venue
The American jazz guitarist and singer, a regular visitor to Brazil, with the songbook between Nat King Cole and bossa nova. The month’s most expat-friendly evening in a big room.
Saturday 24 October, 8pm
Black Pantera open their Brazil tour at the Circo Voador
Circo Voador, Lapa · Price from the venue
The trio from Uberaba, Rock Artist of the Year 2025, starts its Continental tour in Rio. Hard, political rock from the interior of Minas Gerais. Details here.
Saturday 24 October, 9.30pm
Oswaldo Montenegro at the Qualistage
Qualistage, Av. Ayrton Senna 3000, Barra da Tijuca · Price from the venue
The songwriter and filmmaker with the melodic catalogue that half of Brazil grew up on. Melodic, unhurried, and a good introduction to mainstream Brazilian songwriting.
Free at the CCBB Through October
Until Monday 19 October
Soy Loco por Ti, Centroamérica — Central American cinema
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rua Primeiro de Março 66, Centro · Free
Twenty-one features and shorts from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, most of them never before screened in Brazil, in their original languages with Portuguese subtitles. It runs three weeks into October and costs nothing.
Until 16 November
Amazônicas — Poéticas Femininas
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rua Primeiro de Março 66, Centro · Free
Women artists from the North of Brazil, curated by Sissa Aneleh, with Afro-indigenous ancestry at the centre and virtual- and augmented-reality elements. It runs well past the end of the month, so there is no rush.
Running All Month
Until Sunday 1 November, Fridays 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays 7pm
“Heathers – O Musical” in a new Rio staging
Teatro Nathalia Timberg, Barra da Tijuca · Price from the venue
A new Brazilian staging of the Broadway musical, directed by Rafaela Amado with musical direction by Anna Hannickel. It runs on weekends from 9 October, in Portuguese.
Until Sunday 25 October, Fridays and Saturdays 7pm, Sundays 6pm
“Café, Almoço, Jantar” at the Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim
Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim, Ipanema · Price from the venue
A comedy of manners that follows one family through 1987, 1994 and 2018, three breakfast, lunch and dinner scenes in a boarding house, to show how Brazil’s politics and economy reach private life. Written by Ivan Fernandes, back for a short run after a September premiere at the CCJF.
Every Saturday, from midnight
Rock-blues at the Bukowski, the oldest rock bar in the city
Bar Bukowski, Rua Álvaro Ramos 270, Botafogo · R$39.90 (about US$8) at the door, free from 1am on the guest list
The Saturday-night residency continues through October: the Charles Zanol Trio from midnight, with Pedro Leão on guitar and Dawton Mendes on drums and cajón. R$39.90 (about US$8) at the door includes a drink if you arrive before 10pm; R$99.90 (about US$19) gives you R$80 (about US$15) back in food and drink. Names on the guest list through @barbukowski enter free from 1am. The bar runs from 7pm to 5am.
Until 4 December
The Jazz Room: a Sinatra and Armstrong tribute
Teatro Rival Petrobras, Rua Álvaro Alvim 33, Cinelândia · From R$100 (about US$19)
The Rival’s long-running tribute evening — the American songbook with a live band in the Art Deco theatre off Cinelândia. The reliable option when nothing else on this list fits the night.
Through October
October season at the CCJF: four new exhibitions, film festivals and concerts
Centro Cultural Justiça Federal, Av. Rio Branco 241, Centro · Price from the venue
The federal-justice cultural center opens four exhibitions this month (word-and-image rooms, an eleven-artist audiovisual collective, a show on native bees and an artist working with state-school children), alongside theater, two film festivals with retrospectives, open-air cinema and concerts ranging from a flute orchestra to MPB choirs, opera and jazz. The full day-by-day program is on the CCJF site.
16 to 31 October, four stops
“Um Rio Dentro de Mim” — the award-nominated musical tours greater Rio
Ramos (16 Oct) · Madureira (17 Oct) · São João de Meriti (22 Oct) · Nova Iguaçu (31 Oct) · Price from the venue
Carol Botelho and Deborah Marins sing Vinicius de Moraes and Aldir Blanc in a musical that reads as a mother’s love letter to Rio — twice nominated for the Prêmio Musical Rio and on the road through the Sesc network until the end of the month.
Football in Rio in October: The Last Clássico
Thursday 29 October, 8pm
One derby left in October: Vasco against Flamengo
Vasco home fixture, stadium to be confirmed · Tickets from the clubs
Vasco host Flamengo on Thursday 29 October, which the Brazilian football confederation (CBF) has set for 8pm; confirm the stadium before you go. It is the last clássico of the month, so buy only through the clubs’ own sites, and go early.
Planning Your Rio in October
Sunday 25 October is the second round of the general election: the presidential race and the contest for Rio de Janeiro governor both go to a runoff, with voting from 8am to 5pm. Rio de Janeiro state did not restrict alcohol sales in the first round; check nearer the date whether that holds for the runoff.
Where we have not printed a ticket price, the organisers had not published one at the time of writing — check with the venue before you travel. Programmes at the CCBB and the theatres change during the month, so confirm on the day.
Dollar values use the RT rate of about R$5.22 to US$1 on 5 October 2026.
This guide to Rio in October runs monthly, and returns in November. If you run a venue, a gallery or a production in Rio and would like to be considered, write to the newsroom with the date, the time, the address and the ticket price.
Those four things are what get an event into the list.
More on living here: our Rio de Janeiro coverage and Expats in Brazil.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highlight of October in Rio?
With the Festival do Rio over, the stand-out is A Cor Púrpura, the Brazilian staging of The Color Purple, at the Teatro Multiplan in Barra from 14 to 25 October; the bossa nova weekends in Leblon run until 8 November.
When is the runoff election in Rio?
Sunday 25 October, the second round for president and Rio de Janeiro governor, with voting from 8am to 5pm. Check nearer the date whether alcohol sales are restricted.
What is the bossa nova programme?
A Leblon theatre hosts five weeks of bossa nova from 2 October to 8 November.
What is free in Rio in October?
The CCBB in Centro charges no admission: its Central American film season, Soy Loco por Ti, runs until 19 October, and the exhibition Amazônicas — Poéticas Femininas until 16 November.
Correction — 5 October 2026: the Tom Zé ticket range, the date of the Vasco v Flamengo match and the Ira! sales figure were corrected.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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