New York Village Halloween Parade

What it is

The Village Halloween Parade takes over Sixth Avenue from Spring Street to 16th Street every October 31. It started in 1974 as a children's puppet walk organised by Greenwich Village puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee and is now the largest Halloween parade in the world, with around 50,000 costumed participants and some two million spectators. The rule that defines it: anyone in costume can turn up at the start and march, with no registration and no fee.

What to expect

Two ways to do it. Watch from the barriers along Sixth Avenue, which means arriving hours early for a spot with a real view, or put on a costume and join the line up on Canal Street in the early evening and walk it yourself. The parade is genuinely open to anyone dressed up, which is why the middle of it looks nothing like a scripted event. Giant puppets, bands and a crowd that spills into every side street.

Getting there

For the start line take the A, C or E to Canal Street. For the route use the A, C, E, B, D, F, M at West 4th Street or the 1 at Houston Street. Sixth Avenue closes to traffic and several stations get exit only restrictions during the parade, so leave more time than the map says.

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