The Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade still lasts an hour. It steps off at Halsted and Belmont at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, and finishes at Halsted and Brompton by 8 p.m. What's new for the 30th anniversary is everything before it. The Northalsted Business Alliance has added a free daytime Haunted Halsted Fest that runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the Alliance describes the change as "making it an all-day affair."
Halloween also lands on a Saturday this year, and the street is set aside for most of the day. Tow-zone parking starts at 7 a.m., and the street stays closed to cars until 2 a.m. Sunday. For anyone living between Belmont and Addison, October 31 now runs about 19 hours, and the parade is the shortest part of it.
The Day Now Has a Daytime Crowd
The Alliance calls the daytime portion an addition for the 30th anniversary, and it adds a whole afternoon of programming for families and neighbors. According to the Alliance's event page, five blocks of Halsted from Aldine to Brompton become a pedestrian-only block party at 11 a.m. with:
- A kids zone with games, Halloween crafts and inflatables
- Daytime trick-or-treating at more than 25 Halsted Street businesses
- More than fifty local vendor booths and sponsor activations
- A 360-degree camera for costume photos
- Live local music and street performers
- Beer, spirits and fall-flavored toddies for guests 21 and over with valid ID
The event schedule puts the fest at 3300 to 3526 N. Halsted. The page's introduction and Block Club Chicago's Halloween guide both describe a longer stretch, from Aldine to Addison. Either way, the closure zone covers all of it. Block Club's listing also confirms the new structure. It describes the 30th edition as "a day of spooky fun," with family programming early in the day before the nighttime parade.
The vendors also explain why the closure reaches past Halsted. The Alliance places every vendor on the cross streets next to Halsted, where they sell through both the block party and the parade. Those booths are why blocks like Roscoe and Buckingham are closed from curb to alley.
The Closure Map, Block by Block
Two times matter. From 7 a.m. Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday, parked cars on the listed blocks will be towed. From 10:30 a.m. until 2 a.m., the same blocks are closed to all vehicle traffic. The Alliance publishes these address ranges:
| Street | Affected addresses |
|---|---|
| Halsted, Belmont to Addison | 3200 N to 3600 N |
| Melrose | 720 W to 758 W |
| Aldine | 800 W to 830 W |
| Buckingham | 720 W to 820 W |
| Roscoe | 732 W to 820 W |
| Newport | 800 W to 840 W |
| Cornelia | 732 W to 820 W |
| Brompton | 743 W to 800 W |
Aldine, Buckingham, Roscoe and Cornelia are closed on both sides of the street, back to the nearest alley. A car parked on one of those blocks Friday night has to move before 7 a.m. Saturday, a few hours before the first booth opens.
Transit is less certain. When this post was published, we had not found a 2026 reroute notice for the #8 Halsted bus. Checking CTA service alerts closer to the date is the surest way to confirm how the route will run around the closed blocks.
The 6 p.m. Reset
At 6 p.m., Halsted clears. Everyone at the fest moves to the sidewalks behind the barricades, and the street is set up for the parade. The Alliance suggests using that hour to visit vendors and Halsted businesses before choosing a spot to watch.
Parade staging happens in the same hour, at the south end of the route. Costume contestants pick up number bibs at a registration tent at 3211 N. Halsted, on the east side of the street. Day-of entries are accepted starting at 2 p.m., and check-in closes at 6:15 p.m. That tent sits next to one of the corridor's newest businesses. Windy City Times reported that El Bar opened at 3209 N. Halsted on St. Patrick's Day 2026 as a Latino-focused bar built around agave spirits and Latino music. This will be its first Haunted Halsted.
The route runs north, so the best spot depends on what you want to see. Near Belmont you see the staging and the start. Near Brompton you see the end of the route and the finale. The parade will go on in rain or snow.
What Comes Up Halsted Between 7 and 8
The Alliance calls this "Chicago's only Halloween Night parade," with more than 300 costumed marchers. The groups behind the costumes are local:
- Windy City Jeep Club, with decorated vehicles
- Lakeside Pride Marching Band
- Chicago Thriller, the flash-mob dance group
- Chicago Spirit Brigade, a pep squad
- The Windy City Rollers
- Chicago Full Moon Jam, whose fire performers close the parade with the pyrotechnic finale
Watching is free and open to all ages. Entering the costume contest costs $5. The prize pool is $4,000, split across five categories: Character, Creative, Scary, Group, and Youth for kids under 13 with an adult. Each category pays $500 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third, and contestants must be present to win. Pets can march or watch if they are leashed or carried.
The night moves north once the parade ends. Judges call finalists to a stage in the parking lot at 3514 N. Halsted, where the costume contest and post-parade party run from 8 to 10 p.m. with live music, DJs and drag performances. The street stays closed to cars until 2 a.m.
The Saturday Before Belongs to the Dogs
The Alliance's Halloween calendar starts a week earlier. The 12th annual Northalsted Halloween Pup Crawl runs Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., along the sidewalks from Aldine to Cornelia. According to the Pup Crawl event page, it works like this:
- Check-in starts at 10 a.m. at the corner of Halsted and Aldine.
- Registration is $5 in advance and includes a tote bag, a raffle entry and pup swag. You fill the tote with treats and information from Northalsted businesses and pet-focused vendors along the route.
- Miss Foozie's Photo Booth is free for registered pets from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ken Brown's photos go online in the weeks after the event.
- Lark, at 3441 N. Halsted near Cornelia, hosts a Pup Patio Brunch starting at 11 a.m. Raffle drawings begin at 2 p.m.
Costumes are encouraged. The Pup Crawl stays on the sidewalks and uses less of the street than the parade, between the same cross streets that will close a week later.
On the calendar, October 24 is a morning walk with the dog and brunch on Lark's patio. October 31 starts with tow signs at 7 a.m., brings kids trick-or-treating at Halsted storefronts in the early afternoon, clears the street at 6, sends the parade north at 7 and ends with the costume finalists on stage at 3514 N. Halsted until 10.
If you're planning around October 31 because you're hosting guests, entering a costume or just working out where to park on Friday night, we're glad to help you plan the day. The VC Team lives and works in these North Side neighborhoods, and we're always happy to share what we're seeing on Halsted. Start Your Real Estate Journey.
