October is National Arts & Humanities Month, which launched thirty-plus years ago as National Arts Week to honor the twentieth anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts. Yet perhaps not so ironically, given the state of the arts in the U.S.’s current political climate, this year’s October art fair calendar is heavy on the international fairs, with London hosting Frieze, Frieze Masters and 1-54, along with several others, and the much-anticipated return of Art Basel Paris. The handful of domestic fairs on the list includes the second edition of Atlanta Art Fair—not to be confused with Atlanta Art Week—at the start of the month and the inaugural edition of Affordable Art Fair Boston. In New York specifically, the cancellation of the 2025 edition of ADAA The Art Show has left a void; scene newcomer Echo Soho (founded by and for female-led galleries) is stepping up.
According to our reports from on the ground, American collectors were feeling optimistic at the September art fairs (particularly this year’s Armory Show, which had healthy early sales) and it will be interesting to see whether those same collectors make their way across the pond or take a breather before the upcoming edition of Art Basel Miami Beach and all its associated satellite fairs and shows. If your plans involve doing the former, Observer’s guide to this year’s October art fairs can help you put together the perfect itinerary.
Art Now Fine Art Fair 2025
October 2-5
The tenth edition of the Art Now Fine Art Fair is one-of-a-kind, hosted by SaskGalleries in the Canadian prairies of Regina, Saskatchewan, promising an accessible and enjoyable pageant of the nation’s emerging artists. Programming for this year’s event includes daily conversation with presenting artists, live music and live artistic demonstrations, guided tours of the Dimensions 2025 craftwork exhibition and the Craft Is… Fine Craft Market, organized by event partner Saskatchewan Craft Council.
Art Jakarta 2025
October 3-5
Art Jakarta is a vibrant art fair with a priority on platforming work from Southeast Asian exhibitors. Under the leadership of fair director Tom Tandio, Art Jakarta has blossomed into an internationally-acclaimed forum for artistic exchange and cultural dialogue. The fair presents a diverse catalogue of 75 exhibitors, with a dedicated section called the “Scene” for the 33 participating artist collectives, studios and projects. Other exciting features include the Portrait of Possibilities, a new entry into the monumental self-portrait series of artist Agus Suwage, comprised of 60 painted zinc panel portraits, and Reserve for Care, an interactive installation by Azizi al Majid and Nuri Fatimah framed around the multisensory experience of sitting around a table.
art3f Luxembourg 2025
October 3-5
With a whopping twenty-one fairs in eighteen cities, the international contemporary art fair art3f comes to Luxembourg twice yearly, once in spring and once in late September. The focus of the latter Luxembourg edition, this year at Luxexpo – THE BOX, is squarely on friendliness and accessibility (there’s even a special kids’ section). Tickets are just ten euros, the opening night preview is open to all, and there’s an emphasis on affordability that you don’t see at many other art fairs. It’s a great place for collectors to discover artists on the rise and to relax in the presence of beautiful things—live music and a fully stocked café round out the experience. As art3f puts it, “Because life goes on and optimism takes back its rights, because you have to be positive, drink, eat, have fun, marvel, art is an excellent remedy!”
ArtVilnius 2025
October 3-5
Hosted by the Lithuanian Art Gallerists’ Association at LITEXPO center in Vilnius, the sixteenth edition of ArtVilnius has eighty galleries and institutions participating, with over 320 artists from sixteen countries. The art fair focuses on Baltic creativity, with an emphasis on artistic practices, traditions and narratives from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Along with installation, sculpture and performance exhibitions, the event will host conversations featuring various perspectives on the implications of art collection locally, internationally and historically. ArtVilnius is also family-friendly and hosts several creative workshops ranging from tutorials on postage stamp creation to lessons in trinket collection and cataloging.
ART X Lagos 2025
October 6-9
Since its launch in 2016, ART X Lagos has become one of the leading international art fairs in West Africa, creating a platform to showcase and uplift the contemporary culture of Africa. Under the leadership of founding director Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, ART X Lagos will return to the Federal Palace of Victoria Island in Lagos with a dynamic, multidisciplinary program. Alongside artist and gallery exhibitions, supporting programming will include ART X Live!, presenting both artistic and musical performances, ART X Cinema, dedicated to artistic independent African filmmaking, and ART X Talks, a series of conversations and panels featuring some of the most forward-thinking African and diasporic talents.
Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam 2025
October 8-12
The Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam will return to De Kromhouthal for its 19th edition with the provocative theme Nature and Connection. The fair will showcase over 1,000 works from 68 galleries exploring humanity’s relationship with the natural world, exploring nature as inspiration, subject, and occasionally, medium. The fair’s campaign artist, Koz Dos, will present his interpretation of the theme with both his featured Led Zeppelin-inspired painting, When the levee breaks, and a live painting demonstration. The Discover Programme spotlights Netherlands-based artists, Anne ten Donkelaar, Ben Rikken and Tarja Laine, while the Interactive Studio invites guests of all ages to contribute their plant to the collaborative mural. And as always, the pricing of artwork is accessible, with a new feature of eight galleries dedicated entirely to work under 750 euros.
The Other Art Fair London 2025
October 9-12
The Other Art Fair empowers both emerging artists and new collectors by lowering the barriers to entry into the contemporary art world for both. Presented by Saatchi Art, the Other Art Fair will return in East London’s The Truman Brewery with its largest edition to date, showcasing works brought by 175 artists alongside interactive installations, workshops, and a fully outfitted tasting room. Returning to the event is the Price Point Curated Hang where all works displayed are available for 300 euros and under. The fair is curious, yet charming—with a mini print vending machine stocked with the blithe illustrations of Hollie Fuller, an on-site S l o w l y tattoo studio pop-up booth, staffed by tattoo artists, Suki and Molly G and opening night life drawing workshops of the East London Strippers Collective—the event promises to be a fun, high-octane and, above all, an affordable experience.
ARTMUC 2025
October 10-12
Founded on principles of international diversity, artistic freedom, and subjective interpretation, the 2025 autumn edition of ARTMUC is slated to be the most ambitious year of the art fair’s twelve-year standing. With over 180 exhibitors, galleries and international projects from Europe, South America, India, Taiwan and Thailand, ARTMUC has declared this year’s roster the most diverse in its history. Highlighted exhibitions include the soft-sculpture, flying installation, Under Butterfly Wings, by Thai artist Rungploy Lorpaitoon, and the Indian start-up NALOM’s collection of silk scarves celebrating the extinct and endangered folk art forms of India’s remote villages. The event is priced at 17 euros for day tickets, and 18 euros for access to the full duration of the event, with free admission for wheelchair users and children under the age of 16.
Minor Attractions 2025
October 14-18
Minor Attractions, the lively art fair poised at the junction of nightlife and contemporary art, is returning to London’s majestic Mandrake Hotel for its third edition. This year’s Minor Attractions has expanded its roster to include over 70 galleries. The event highlights include local favorites such as Gnoissenne Gallery, Harlesdon High Street and The Sunday Painter, and newcomers from around the world such as Tokyo’s CON_, Sydney’s LAILA and Toronto’s Franz Kaka. Curated programming will extend into the evening, with presentations of cinema, music, book launches, and performances. Opening night kicks off with three live shows hosted by Soho Radio, setting the tone for what will be Minor Attractions’ “biggest and most diverse edition yet.”
PAD London 2025
October 14-19
PAD London is slated to return for its seventeenth edition in mid-October with an evolved selection, but familiar intent on 20th-century design, art, photography and jewelry. This year, sixty-seven galleries from approximately twenty countries will be participating, eleven of which will be joining for the first time. Among the exhibitors are Christian and Yasmin Hemmerle, fourth-generation family jewelers renowned for their innovative works, Bryan O’Sullivan, who designs a range of pieces fitting both classical and contemporary proportions and Adrian Sassoon, the U.K.’s leading gallery for international contemporary sculptural art and design. The preamble of the 2025 PAD catalogue asserts that, at the fair, “the eye is constantly alert, the mind on the ball… taste for historical and contemporary Design is not only revealed but constructed.”
Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2025
October 15-19
Frieze and Frieze Masters, the reigning headliners of London’s Frieze Week, will take to London’s iconic Regent’s Park for their 2025 edition, showcasing work from over 280 galleries from 45 countries. At the foreground are leading local and international galleries that help to mold the dialogue around both contemporary and historical art, including London’s own Modern Art, Seventeen and The Sunday Painter. Returning to the Frieze London is the Artist-to-Artist section, spotlighting six solo presentations nominated by prolific and respected artists such as Camille Henrot, Nicole Eisenman and Abraham Cruzvillegas. Across the row, Frieze Masters will introduce a new and exciting line-up for the third iteration of its Studio section, curated by chair emerita of modern and contemporary art at The Met, Sheena Wagstaff, alongside Margrethe Troensegaard. Exploring the studio as a unique space of both culture and creation, Studio features solo presentations from Dorothy Cross, Anju Dodiya, Samia Halaby, R. H. Quaytman, Anne Rothenstein and Glenn Brown.
1-54 London 2024
October 16-19
1-54 returns this year to London’s Somerset House for its 13th edition. Founded by Touria El Glaoui, it remains the first and only international fair dedicated to African and diasporic contemporary art. Alongside artist talks and panel discussions with both emerging and established voices in the art world, 1-54 will also feature a curated Caribbean Spotlight. Of the over 50 exhibitors from 13 countries, most participants come from Africa or wider diaspora, including 193 Gallery, 50 Golborne x Project Loop and Affinity Gallery. Among various special projects and installations is Mónica de Miranda’s remarkable Earthworks installation, nested in the courtyard of Somerset House—the work utilizes stage-sculptures, vertical gardens and public space to depict an imagined terrestrial community where human and non-human life blends into one.
Echo Soho 2025
October 16-19
Founded by gallerist and art fair veteran India Rose James, the inaugural edition of Echo Soho is set to take place at the Mannette Street Artists’ House of London, offering a platform to underrepresented artists and highlighting female-led galleries. Launched as a satellite art fair of the Soho Revue, Echo Soho presents a bold and accessible alternative to the traditional art fair. Timed to coincide with Frieze Week, the fair’s highlights include performances, workshops, a special preview courtesy of the Contemporary Art Society and an AWITA-curated chapel presentation.
FOCUS Art Fair London 2025
October 16-19
For its landmark fourth edition, FOCUS art fair will unite 42 exhibitors in London’s SAATCHI GALLERY, honing in on its foundational dedication to Asian contemporary art with a bold, transformative program. Founded in 2017 by Paris art agency HongLee Curator, FOCUS was envisioned as an interface between the physical and digital art worlds, and is one step closer to achieving this vision by availing the advanced display technology of collaborative partner, LG Electronics. In addition to exciting showcases from exhibitors such as Gore Gallery, presenting a solo show of Oliver Mourão, East Atelier Gallery Seoul and Jay Chung Gallery, there will be exhibitions from Michelin-starred Chef Kiran Kim (colloquially known as “Chef KiKi”). Kim will present her “Art on Table” performance, which melds the experience of fine art and fine dining.
Art Market Budapest 2025
October 16-19
Art Market Budapest is Central and Eastern Europe’s leading international art fair. Since its founding in 2011, it has featured exhibitors from over 40 countries with innovative and inspiring exhibitions, performances, discussions and concerts. Art Market Budapest also has a satellite fair, Art Photo Budapest, dedicated entirely to photography—the only fair of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe.
Parallax Art Fair 2025
October 18-19
Born from a provocative 2010 research exhibition in London, Parallax Art Fair has since grown into the largest indie art and design fair in Europe. With the foundational philosophy on the equality of all artists and artworks, Parallax Art Fair primarily exhibits independent artists and designers, rejecting the conventional dealer-artist dynamic that many fairs are predicated on. Instead, Parallax Art Fair keeps exhibitor space prices and break-even points low, and offers free entry to visitors. With over 10,000 works of art and design on display, Parallax Art Fair is both experimental and accessible.
OFFSCREEN 2025
October 21-26
Returning for its fourth edition to the exquisite 17th-century baroque La Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, OFFSCREEN offers visitors a refreshingly active art fair experience. It features a selection of avant-garde, historical and contemporary exhibitors, underscoring installations and experimentation with the still or moving image. Programming highlights include an exhibit on the video art and sculpture of Shigeko Kubota, and showcases from 28 participants, including Maria Brunner, Laurent Lafolie and Gisela Capitain.
Affordable Art Fair Boston 2025
October 23-26
After hosting events in cities such as London, Sydney, Stockholm and Amsterdam, Affordable Art Fair is making its Boston debut in the city’s cosmopolitan South End. As this fair’s name implies, Affordable Art Fair prides itself on offering visitors an array of art priced $12,000 and under, with various monthly payment plans available. Showcasing work from both emerging and established exhibitors, workshops, interactive artist performances, kid-friendly activities, food, live music and talks, the Boston edition of Affordable Art Fair will be an eclectic yet intentional “creative smorgasbord.”
Art Toronto 2025
October 23-26
Art Toronto, Canada’s largest international art fair, is returning to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for its 26th edition with an expansive new program and a diverse roster of exhibitors. With more than 100 galleries participating, there are presenting galleries from nearly every continent, including cities across Canada, the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and elsewhere. This year’s Focus Exhibition, curated by Dr. Zoé Whitley, explores the versatility of Canadian artistic practice and creative thinking, while the Discover section distinguishes a selection of gallery presentations on exceptional solo artists, including Jermay Michael Gabriel (Black Artists’ Networks In Dialogue (BAND) Gallery), Greg A. Hill (Central Art Garage) and Aline Setton (DURAN CONTEMPORAIN). Capping it all off is a new section tightly curated by Karen Huber, Arte Sur, dedicated to the vibrant and vivid artistry of Central and South America.
Art Salon Zurich 2025
October 23-26
The founders of Art Salon Zurich, Fabian J. Walter and Sven Eisenhut, envisioned the galleries, dealers, and artists when designing the city’s newest art fair, and this ethos is clearly communicated through the fair’s fourth edition, with 40 local and international participating galleries present diverse and current works, including those by Swiss artists such as Carlos Leal and Hanna Roeckle. A first for the Art Salon Zurich, the Zilkens Best Booth Award will be presented, recognizing the outstanding curatorial approach and design execution of the winning booth. Two of the anticipated special projects are Galerie Bildhalle’s tribute to the Swiss photography pioneer, René Groebli, and the Jasmin Glaab Gallery’s exhibition, “Female Artists,” on the works of important and underrecognized contemporary artists.
Art Basel Paris 2025
October 24-26
The majestic Grand Palais, nestled on the banks of the Seine overlooking the Champs-Élysées, only further reinforces Art Basel Paris’s critical dialogue with the city’s art history. This year’s program is a celebration of the city’s prolific avant-garde movements, past and present, with 206 leading galleries participating, a variety of panels, performances and a Public Program spanning nine monumental venues across the city. Some highlights of the Public Program include the presentation by Miu Miu at the Palais d’léna, British artist Helen Marten’s 30 Blizzards, a fascinating blend of sculpture, video and libretto performance, and Alex da Corte’s inflatable sculpture Kermit the Frog, presented by Sadie Coles HQ.
AKAA 2025
October 24-26
The Also Known as Africa art fair, or AKAA, will take place in the Carreau du Temple for its 10th edition. The fair’s mission in highlighting the diverse and thoughtful expression of African and diasporic art is paid forward with 41 participating galleries, spanning countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Headed by new artistic director Sitor Senghor, who has both a personal and familial history in uplifting African art, the fair will feature a monumental installation by Serge Mouangue in the central aisle of the venue. Presented by Tokyo gallery, gallery space Un, Mouangue’s The Third Aesthetic invites audiences to stop and behold its “sculptural staging imbued with collective memory,” thus making the audience collaborate in the piece’s dialogue around materiality, spirituality, and self.
MENART FAIR 2025
October 25-27
The fifth edition of this Paris art fair in the heart of the Marais district will be an all-female event, with a focus on the women’s art scene in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA). The work showcased at this year’s MENART FAIR—the first international contemporary art fair dedicated to artists from MENA nations—will both examine the legacy of pioneering women artists in the region and provide a platform for contemporary creators. Questions of gender will be explored, as the 29 participating galleries exhibiting work in the Galerie Joseph Saint Merri highlight the richness of the Arab-Persian art scene. Kicking off the fair will be an invitation-only performance by Lebanese drag icons Andrea & Diva.
Atlanta Art Fair 2025
October 25-28
The second edition of Atlanta Art Fair promises to build upon the vigorous momentum of the first. Expanding its programming to showcase over 70 regional, national and international galleries, the event will include a comprehensive assortment of talks, performances, installations, and cultural collaborations. Helmed by director Kelly Freeman, artistic director Nato Thompson and art advisors Tim and Dirk von Gal, the Atlanta Art Fair illuminates the city’s pivotal role in art exchange and inspiration, especially—though not exclusively—in the American South. Local exhibiting galleries include the Alan Avery Art Company, Marcia Wood Gallery and Gerber Fine Art, while M. David & Co. and Spanierman Modern are coming from New York and Luis De Jesus and Residency Art Gallery from L.A. Participating international galleries include Russia’s Khankhalaev Gallery and South Africa’s The Melrose Gallery.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
