[Updated in 2023 – originally posted in Italian in 2009 🇮🇹]
There’s nothing like the Village Halloween Parade to really get the best of NYC’s creativity and good vibes!!!
Every year, hundreds of New Yorkers show up dressed with the most unusual, unique, funny, provocative, and sexy make up and costumes!!!
The New York 50th Annual Village Halloween Parade is happening on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 7pm!!!
The 2023 Parade Theme is Upside/Down : Inside/OUT!!
We’ve been living in a very challenging time, and it’s time for us to reflect about who we are: “WHO or WHAT do we most NEED and WANT to be on Halloween 2023! How do we return to innocence after experience? Do we? Can we? Should we?”
This year Puppet Performance Design – Mirror Mirror – focus on how mirrors promise to show things as they are, while the world they reveal is a backwards… Halloween is about shattering with normal is, reminding us about the infinite possibilities reality actually offers every day.
How to join the Parade
Show up in costume and masks at the Sixth Ave and Canal Street from 6:30pm to 9pm on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. You can only enter this area from the EAST and SOUTH. That is Sullivan, East Broome and Canal Streets. If you come from the West, enter ONLY from Canal Street.
I would personally recommend you to start getting your spot in line around 5:45pm.
The best way to get there is by subway. The closest stops are: Canal St of the 1, A, C, and E trains.
Where to watch the parade
- Along East and West side of 6th Ave, between King St and West 15th.
- The Parade starts at Canal at 7pm and ends around 11pm at 15th Street.
- The most crowded streets are between Bleecker and 14th Street, so you might consider getting there very early to save your spot
BE AWARE OF SUBWAY SERVICE CHANGES:
- Spring St Station of the C, and E lines: trains will be closed in the southbound direction from 5pm to 10pm; and the northbound side will be exit-only.
- West 4th St Station of the A, B, C, D, E, F, and M: Street entrances will become exit only or entrance only at various times, based on how busy it gets.
- Visit the MTA’s website to plan your trip!
You can also watch the Village Halloween Parade LIVE on NY1 from 8 – 9:30 pm.
Is the New York’s Village Halloween Parade free?
Yes! it is FREE for all, however, if you want to skip the line, you can also buy VIP $200 tickets to entry via a private entrance to the band lineup area between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Ticket sales end at 7:30 pm on October 31, 2023. BUY TICKETS HERE.
Fun Facts about the Village Halloween Parade:
- Participating in the Parade appears among the 100 things to do before you die, in the book of the same name “100 Things to do Before You Die” .
- How did it all start? In 1973, a puppets maker had the idea to entertain his children and his neighbors by dressing up and going around Greenwich Village, his neighborhood.
- The official AFTER PARTY 2023 is at Webster Hall: “Webster Hell”