Long before the Sixth Avenue parade fills the Village on Halloween night, the neighborhood's youngest marchers get an afternoon of their own. The 36th Annual Children's Halloween Parade steps off from Washington Square Park on Saturday, October 31, followed by a free street fair on West 3rd Street. It runs from 1 to 4 p.m.

NYU and Manhattan Community Board 2 organize the parade, and NYU describes it as one of the city's largest free children's events on Halloween Day. It is a separate event from the Village Halloween Parade, which steps off on Sixth Avenue that evening.

How the afternoon works

  • 1 p.m.: Families and children in costume gather at the arch at the foot of Fifth Avenue in Washington Square Park.
  • 1:30 p.m.: The fairgrounds open on West 3rd Street between LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street.
  • After the parade: Free trick-or-treat bags, performances, games and rides on West 3rd Street, until 4 p.m.

The block of West 3rd Street between Mercer Street and LaGuardia Place is closed to cars for the event from 1 to 4 p.m. as part of the city's Trick-or-Streets program. This year the city has a record 160 car-free streets and plazas across the five boroughs for Halloween, and the Department of Transportation is giving out 75,000 pieces of candy.

Who is behind it

The sponsor list reads like a map of the neighborhood. Along with Wegmans, Raising Cane's and Collins Building Services, it includes several NYU offices (the Alumni Association, the NYU Bookstore, the Photo Bureau and the Center for Student Life), the Washington Square Association, the Bedford Barrow Commerce Block Association, the NoHo BID, the Union Square Partnership and the Village Alliance, the NYPD 9th Precinct Community Council and Buchbinder and Warren.

More in the Village that day

The West 11th Street Block Association closes West 11th Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets from 3 to 10 p.m. on Halloween for its own block event.

In the week before, Washington Square Park has a run of free drop-in activities listed by NYC Parks:

  • Park Open Studio, a drop-in art class with materials from the Washington Square Park Conservancy, October 22 to 24 and October 29 to 31, 1 to 3 p.m., in the seating area at the park's northwest corner.
  • A salsa social with Mi Salsa Dura Baile, a free lesson followed by open dancing, on Wednesday, October 28, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Garibaldi Plaza.
  • Art in the Park with Miss Debbie, October 28, 3 to 5 p.m., at the large kids' playground.
  • Double Dutch with the Double Dutch Aunties, Thursday, October 29, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at Garibaldi Plaza.

How to go

The parade is free and needs no registration. The A, B, C, D, E, F and M trains stop at West 4th Street and Washington Square, and the R and W stop at 8th Street and NYU. Families meeting at the arch should plan to arrive close to 1 p.m., and the fair on West 3rd Street is a block south of the park.

Sources