A stretch of the High Line at 14th Street will be turned into a garden built for gnomes on Saturday, October 24, when Friends of the High Line hosts its family Halloween event, Gnome-topia, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free with an RSVP through the park's events page.

The idea is to shrink everyone down. The event recasts the park's plantings as larger than life, so families can see the High Line from the height of a garden gnome or a mushroom. The set is an immersive cardboard world made by artist Yung Oh Le Page with the High Line's teaching artists.

What's on the program

The games lean on gnome lore. Kids can play Toad-in-the-Hole, a pub game that involves tossing discs at a target, or join the Red Hat, Green Hat relay race, with candy for the winners. A costume station is set up for last-minute touch-ups, so children can show up half-dressed and leave fully gnomed.

The afternoon also includes a magic show, face painting, a live DJ set and candy. Drag artist Miss Woman the Woman is the emcee for the day.

Friends of the High Line says the activities are designed for children ages 6 to 10, though anyone is welcome to come.

Rain plan

The event space is covered, so Gnome-topia goes on rain or shine. If extreme weather hits on October 24, the event moves to Saturday, October 31, at the same time, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. People who RSVP will get an email if that happens, and the High Line will post the change on its website.

Access and accommodations

The program venues are wheelchair accessible. ASL interpretation can be arranged with two weeks' notice, and other accessibility requests go to the High Line's programs team at programs@thehighline.org. The park keeps a live elevator status page on its website for visitors who need to avoid stairs.

Attendees should know that the High Line photographs and films its events, and coming to the event counts as agreeing to be in those photos and videos.

Who runs it

The High Line is owned by the City of New York and is run as a public park by Friends of the High Line, a nonprofit, in partnership with NYC Parks. The nonprofit raises nearly all of the park's yearly budget, and its free public programs are supported in part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

More on the High Line this week

Gnome-topia is one of several free programs on the park's calendar over the next week.

  • Stargazing on the High Line runs every Tuesday night from 6:15 to 9:30 p.m., including October 20 and October 27. It is free and open to the public, and telescopes are provided.
  • The docent-led High Line Tour: From Freight to Flowers covers the park's past as an elevated freight rail line. Upcoming tours are on Tuesday, October 20, and Tuesday, October 27, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 21, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and Saturday, October 24, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. From November through April, the tours move to Saturdays and Wednesdays.
  • A 90-minute Spotlight tour on architecture and design, led by a volunteer docent, looks at buildings on and off the park on Thursday, October 22, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Getting there

The High Line is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. through November 30, then 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. from December 1. For Gnome-topia, head to the park at 14th Street. The A, C, E and L trains stop at 14 St-Eighth Avenue, about two avenues east, and the M14 buses run along 14th Street. Bikes, scooters and dogs (other than service dogs) are not allowed on the High Line.

RSVP for Gnome-topia on the High Line's event page, and check the same page on the morning of October 24 for any weather update.

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