When does Halloween start in West Hollywood? The City has an official answer, and it isn't October 31. Its waiver of special event and encroachment permit fees covers business Halloween events from Friday, October 23, through Sunday, November 1, 2026. That makes it a ten-day window, and the bars, restaurants, hotels and venues on Santa Monica Boulevard plan their season around it.
The Carnaval itself runs five hours. It is free, it is on Saturday, October 31, from 6 to 11 p.m., and it covers a one-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard between N. Doheny Drive and N. La Cienega Boulevard. The stage is at San Vicente. If you live here, though, what matters is everything around those five hours. One city lot is closed for ten days. On the day itself, closures arrive in waves starting at midnight. The parking rules on your own block change for 25 hours. A free shuttle replaces the regular routes, and the bars stay open hours after the stage goes dark.
The Week Before the Street Closes
The first week of the window belongs to the neighborhood, not to the crowds.
Friday, October 23. The West Hollywood Recovery Center Log Cabin, at 621 N. Robertson Blvd., hosts its free, sober #BOO! party from 8 p.m. to midnight, with a DJ, costume contest, food and performances, according to WEHO Times. An earlier WEHO Times roundup listed the party for October 22, so check with the Log Cabin before you go. The same night, Micky's runs one of its Rocky Horror Fridays, the drag series it holds every Friday in October at 8 p.m., with tickets from $10. That leaves October 23 and October 30 on the calendar.
Sunday, October 25. The City's Floating Pumpkin Patch runs from noon to 2 p.m. at the West Hollywood Park Aquatic and Recreation Center, 8750 El Tovar Place. Registration is required. This is the last City-run family event of the season. The Youth Halloween Carnival and the "Fang-tastic" Pet Zone took place at Plummer Park on October 17, alongside a ribbon-cutting for the park's new dog park. The timing makes sense, because the City strongly discourages bringing kids and pets to the Carnaval on the 31st.
Monday, October 26. The Crescent Heights Lot closes and stays closed through Wednesday, November 4. Of all the event's effects, this one lasts longest. It starts five days before the Carnaval and ends four days after.
Saturday, October 31, Hour by Hour
The City doesn't close the boulevard all at once. It closes it in stages, and the schedule decides which errands you can still do by car that day. From the City's Halloween event page:
- 12:00 a.m. North San Vicente Boulevard closes between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue, adjacent alleys included. West Hollywood Park closes, along with both dog parks and the basketball courts. The Five-Story Parking Structure is closed all day.
- 5:00 a.m. The Library Garage closes.
- 7:00 a.m. Closures reach Robertson Boulevard between Santa Monica and Melrose, and North San Vicente between Santa Monica and Cynthia Street. La Peer Drive and Almont Drive close at Santa Monica Boulevard, but you can still reach both from Melrose.
- Before 10:00 a.m. Barricades start going up on the side streets next to Santa Monica.
- 10:00 a.m. Santa Monica Boulevard closes from Croft Avenue/Holloway Drive to La Cienega, and from La Cienega west to N. Doheny Drive. La Cienega closes between Holloway and Melrose. The turn lanes from Sunset onto southbound La Cienega close.
- 11:00 a.m. The City lifts residential permit parking citywide.
- 12:00 p.m. Santa Monica Boulevard between La Cienega and Doheny must be fully closed to vehicles.
- 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. The Carnaval.
- 6:00 a.m. Sunday. The boulevard closures are scheduled to end. The park, its dog parks and the Five-Story structure reopen at 7 a.m.
- 12:00 p.m. Sunday. Permit parking restrictions come back.
Two items on that list matter most to residents. With permit parking lifted citywide from 11 a.m. Saturday to noon Sunday, the curb on your block is open to anyone for 25 hours. And because the park and dog parks close at midnight Friday, the Saturday-morning dog walk at West Hollywood Park can't happen. They're closed for about 31 hours.
What a Record Year Looked Like
Last year's Carnaval fell on a Friday. WEHOonline cited an LASD estimate of 150,000 attendees and called the crowd a record. The writer described the night as mostly safe and friendly. At the November 10 Public Safety Commission meeting, LASD reported one arrest connected to the Carnaval, for trespassing, according to Canyon News.
This year the event falls on a Saturday, and the City's October 5 announcement expects tens of thousands of costumed visitors in the Rainbow District. The City pays real money for the event. WEHOonline reported that the fiscal year 2027 budget sets aside $1,993,193 for the Carnaval, up from $1,876,850 the year before.
The event almost didn't survive. The City started it in 1987. It was canceled in 2020 and 2021, and Beverly Press reported that the 2022 cancellation came down to budget, cost, crowd management and security. Before the pandemic, crowds had been described in the hundreds of thousands. By April 2023, Beverly Press reported that the council was ready to bring it back on a somewhat smaller scale, and it returned that fall. The rules for attendees have barely changed since then:
No backpacks, camera cases, tote bags, etc. will be permitted (clear plastic bags will be allowed)
The City carried the same bag rule in its 2023 release. Alcohol, weapons, fireworks and drones are also banned on the route. You can't buy or drink alcohol on the street, but you can walk the route and go into nearby venues.
Getting Around Without the Car
With the boulevard closed, the City's own transit takes over. On October 31, The PickUp and Cityline drop their regular schedules and run together as the free WeHo Halloween Ride. It travels Santa Monica Boulevard from N. La Brea Avenue to N. Kings Road from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Some vehicles also run to and from the Hollywood/Highland Metro B Line station from 6 p.m. to midnight. The City is posting route and schedule details at wehopickup.com.
The shuttle runs until 3 a.m., four hours after the stage closes, so the City's transit plan covers the late crowd as well as the early one. Metro lines 4, 10, 30/330, 105, 212/312, 217 and 218 all serve West Hollywood, and the City sends riders to metro.net for detours caused by the closures.
Where the Night Goes After 11 p.m.
The 3 a.m. shuttle makes sense once you see what the venues have planned. Halloween in West Hollywood keeps going after the City's event ends.
- The Abbey Food & Bar is hosting "Haus of Horrors" from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on October 31, with DJ Abel, emcee Big Dream, dancers and a $1,000 costume contest. The organizer, Tryst, lists presale tickets at $15.
- The Abbey and The Chapel are both listed with after-parties, DJs and costume contests to follow the Carnaval.
- Micky's is selling a $50 Halloween pass that runs from noon to 4 a.m. and covers entry between the street event and the club, according to the Out x Out guide.
- Revolver Video Bar has a Halloween party listed for October 31. Times, lineup and cover hadn't been posted when the guide went up.
Micky's pass starts at noon, which is when the boulevard has to be fully closed. It ends at 4 a.m., two hours before the boulevard reopens. That's essentially the whole closure. For anyone who lives within a few blocks of Santa Monica Boulevard, the real Halloween runs from noon Saturday to dawn Sunday. It also helps to know about the City's text alerts. Text "halloween" to (323) 848-5000 to get the City's Halloween updates by SMS.
If you live near the Carnaval route, the Halloween schedule shapes your block for a few days every fall. When you're weighing a home along Santa Monica Boulevard, or planning a sale around the season's closures, Josh Flagg and his team can show you how a particular street handles this week. Work With Josh.
