"Must be 21 years or older, must dress as a witch, must ride a bike, and MUST be prepared to dance!" That's the full description the Anaconda Chamber posted for the Smelter City Witches Brigade, which rolls at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
The Brigade is the last of three costume events on the town calendar that day. After it, the listings go quiet for about three weeks. Then they pick up again and build toward one week at the end of November, when several things are due at the same time. Fairmont Hot Springs hopes to finish the second phase of its pool rebuild, Main Street holds its light parade, and Discovery Ski Area is expected to start its season. For anyone who lives here, fall comes down to two dates: October 17, and the stretch from Thanksgiving to the first weekend of December.
October 17: Three Events, All in Costume
All three events the Chamber lists for that Saturday involve dressing up, and they run almost back to back:
- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 6 Hours of Disco. The Anaconda Trail Society's cross-country mountain bike race starts and ends in the parking lot at the base of Discovery Ski Area, 180 Discovery Basin Road. Riders try to finish as many laps as they can in six hours on a 5.5-mile course around the Echo Lake Trail System. You can enter solo, as a team of two or as a team of three, and the listing calls the race suitable for all levels. Category winners get custom trophies, there's a costume contest with prizes for the best dressed, and all proceeds go to the nonprofit's trail development and maintenance.
- Noon, Drag Racing Banquet. It's at The Forge Hotel, and this year's theme is "Out to the Movies," so guests are asked to come as their favorite movie character. The listing asks for an RSVP and gives Sandee Reap Garner, (406) 544-5631, as the contact.
- 6 p.m., Smelter City Witches Brigade. The rules are the ones quoted above. The listing gives no starting point or route.
The banquet listing is the only one that needs checking before you go. Lost Creek Raceway's 2026 schedule also lists an awards banquet on October 17, and the track's address is 595 Galen Road. A separate regional events listing calls it the Lost Creek Raceway Awards Banquet and puts it at 9 a.m. at the raceway itself. The Chamber has a noon banquet at The Forge, so the two listings disagree on both the time and the place. They could describe one event or two. Since the Chamber listing already asks for an RSVP, ask about the time and location when you call.
If you start with a 9 a.m. race at the ski hill and finish with a 6 p.m. bike ride in a witch's hat, you're only home for a few hours. The town's whole October happens in that one day.
Three Weeks With Little on the Calendar
On the Chamber's front-page feed, the next event after the Witches Brigade is on November 7. Between those two Saturdays, almost everything happening in town is at the Washoe Theatre.
The Washoe Theatre's schedule has the bluegrass band Nu-Blu playing live on Thursday, October 15, two days before costume Saturday. Films then run in weekly blocks through the rest of October. The theater says it will be closed on Halloween, Saturday, October 31, and it notes that programs can change without notice. That closure matters. On the night with the most costumes nationally, Anaconda's best-known downtown venue will be dark, and the Chamber lists no Halloween event in town. Here, October 17 does the job Halloween does in most places.
Two midday events come next, and both look ahead to December:
- Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Anaconda Garden Club Holiday Bazaar at the Elks Club, 223 Main St. Plans include Santa photos, lunch, bake and craft sales, a regifting table, plant sales, raffle baskets, a silent auction and a kids' craft table. Proceeds support local scholarships and beautification projects.
- Thursday, November 12, noon, "Anaconda's Past: Holiday Traditions at the Forge" at The Forge Hotel, 100 Union Ave. The listing links to the county's Anaconda's Past page but doesn't name a host.
So Santa photos on Main Street are on the calendar three weeks before the town lights its tree, and The Forge hosts both the October banquet and the November history talk.
Eight Days at the End of November
The late-November week is where the pieces of the fall calendar meet. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. Here's how the days from that Thursday to the following Friday line up from the published schedules:
| Date | What's scheduled | How firm |
|---|---|---|
| Through Thursday, Nov. 26 | Fairmont Hot Springs waterslide closed through Thanksgiving | Posted by the resort |
| Late November | Fairmont phase-two outdoor pools targeted for completion | "Hoping to be completed," per the resort |
| Friday, Nov. 27, 5:30 p.m. | Christmas Stroll begins; Main Street light parade | Chamber-scheduled |
| Friday, Nov. 27, 6 p.m. | Tree lighting at Kennedy Commons | Chamber-scheduled |
| Thursday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m. | Ladies Night Out | Chamber-listed |
| Friday, Dec. 4 | Discovery Ski Area projected opening | Third-party projection only |
Fairmont's rebuild
Fairmont Hot Springs' renovation page, updated October 1, 2026, says phase one is open. It includes tiered adult-only soaking pools, a main soaking pool for all ages with a center water feature, a cold plunge and a three-lane exercise lap pool, all built on the existing outdoor pool deck. Phase two replaces the old outdoor pools with a family activity pool. That pool gets a large waterfall, a waterslide runout lane attached to it, an overhead pedestrian bridge and a splash pad for younger kids. A large fire pit area on the deck and more seating and cabanas are part of the same phase. The resort says it is "hoping" to finish phase two by late November 2026, and that major renovations to the indoor pools will follow in summer 2027.
The resort also says the waterslide stays closed through Thanksgiving during the work. If phase two finishes on time, the new family pool and the reopened slide would come back about the same week Main Street lights up. Construction dates slip, though. Check Fairmont's page before a holiday-weekend visit, especially if your guests are kids looking for the splash pad.
The Christmas Stroll
The Christmas Stroll is set for Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving. Things start at 5:30 p.m. with the light parade down Main Street, and the tree lighting at Kennedy Commons follows at 6 p.m. Shopping and activities run downtown through the evening. For a warm stop off the parade route, the Montana Standard covered the opening of BW Blacksmith Coffee & Grill in the former Donivan's space at 211 E. Park Street. It serves coffee, has a full bar, and offers breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Chamber feed lists two more early-December events after the Stroll. Ladies Night Out is Thursday, December 3, at 6 p.m., and the Anaconda Community Market is Saturday, December 12, at 10 a.m.
Discovery's first chair
On October 17, racers will be riding laps from the Discovery parking lot. About seven weeks later, the same lot should fill with skiers. Discovery Ski Area lists its season as "Early Dec Weather Permitting - April 4" and hasn't announced a firm 2026–27 opening day. OnTheSnow's projected-openings list shows Discovery on December 4 for the 2026/27 season. The site says its projections aren't necessarily official or final. Treat December 4 as a likely date, not a confirmed one. Discovery's own announcement and the snowpack will settle it.
If all three happen on schedule, the new family pool at Fairmont, the tree lighting at Kennedy Commons and the first lift ride at Discovery will fall within the same eight days.
Where These Dates Live Now
Every date in this post comes from an event listing, a business's own website or a regional outlet. None comes from the Anaconda Leader. The Montana Free Press reported that the Anaconda Leader closed on June 8, 2026, after 55 years. Its last print edition came out the Friday before, from its office at 121 Main St.
That's why this fall's dates are scattered across several places. The Anaconda Chamber's event calendar has the race, the bazaar and the Stroll. Fairmont posts its own construction updates, the Washoe posts its own film schedule, and Discovery will announce its own opening day. The October 17 banquet shows what can go wrong. With the Leader gone, two sources give two times and two venues for what may be one event. One phone call clears it up, and the RSVP request already asks you to make it.
Between Costume Saturday and the first chair at Discovery, a lot of people are planning around the same few weekends, including family coming in for Thanksgiving and the Stroll. If those visits have you wondering what your place near Kennedy Commons or out toward Discovery Basin Road would bring before ski season, Clinton Roberts is glad to help. Get your free property valuation, and you'll know where you stand before the tree lighting at Kennedy Commons.
