The 24th Annual West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval Festival / Party / Holiday Event Oct 31, 2012 6:00 pm

The West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval has been a signature WeHo experience since 1987, a full three years before West Hollywood even became an official city within Los Angeles County.

Massively attended by more than half-a-million people (compare that to West Hollywood’s resident population of just 35,000), the event takes place on October 31, regardless of whether the particular year’s Halloween falls on a Saturday night or a good-god-it’s-going-to-be-hard-to-get-to-work-tomorrow Tuesday.

Apart from checking out all the amazing costumes that attendees come up with every year, visitors can enjoy several dedicated stages of live entertainment, food vendors, pumpkin-carving contests, and the crowning of an Honorary Queen of the Carnaval.

Technically, the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval’s schedule only runs from 6–11pm, but visitors will find the main drag of Santa Monica Boulevard (roughly between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard) awash in people all day. In fact, city officials normally keep the street closed to vehicle traffic until 6am the following morning so costumed revelers have a chance to stumble home after a raucous night of partying at all the area bars.

Attending the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval is free, though parking in the area can be the stuff nightmares are made of due to the crowds. In an effort to help visitors attend, however, the city suspends all permit restrictions on city streets from 5pm–6am during the event. Parking meters remain active.

For a signature West Hollywood experience that everyone will surely remember (or maybe not, we don’t judge), be sure and check out the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval!

You don’t have to dress up, but come on, why wouldn’t you?