When does Halloween start on Halsted Street this year? At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, cars stop running on Halsted between Belmont and Addison, and they don't come back until 2 a.m. Sunday.
The Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade has always been a night event. Northalsted bills 2026 as its 30th year, and to mark it the Northalsted Business Alliance is adding something new. The page says it plainly: "we're making it an all-day affair." Before the parade there's now a seven-hour street festival, and it's built around kids, trick-or-treating and vendor booths. The evening parade crowd has never been the main audience for that kind of programming. In effect, Halsted gets two Halloweens this year, a day one and a night one, in the same five blocks. Halloween also falls on a Saturday, so nobody has to fit either one around a workday.
Northalsted lays out the official schedule in three blocks. The street restrictions add two more times worth knowing.
| Time on Oct. 31 | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 a.m. | No-parking rules start, and violators get towed | Halsted from Belmont to Addison, plus listed side streets |
| 10:30 a.m. | Halsted closes to vehicles | Same stretch |
| 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | Haunted Halsted Fest | Halsted from Aldine to Brompton |
| 2:00 p.m. | Day-of parade registration opens | Costume registration tent, 3211 N. Halsted |
| 6:00 p.m. | Street cleared for the parade | Fest crowd moves behind the barricades |
| 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. | Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade | Belmont to Brompton |
| 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. | Costume contest and post-parade party | NoHa parking lot, 3514 N. Halsted |
| 2:00 a.m. Nov. 1 | Traffic and parking restrictions end | Halsted and side streets |
Put together, Halsted is closed to cars for 15½ hours, and the parking restrictions run 19 hours.
The daytime fest is what's new, and its lineup is aimed at a different crowd than the parade's. From 11 a.m., Northalsted is turning Halsted between Aldine and Brompton into a free, pedestrian-only block party. The lineup:
For families, this matters most. The parade starts at 7 p.m., after dark, and it ends with a fire performance. The fest runs in daylight, and trick-or-treating at storefronts gives kids a way to do Halsted before bedtime matters. Northalsted calls the whole event free and all-ages for spectators, and pets can join in if they're leashed or carried.
Some details are still open. As of the page's Oct. 6 update, Northalsted hasn't announced a grand marshal, a theme or a full schedule of daytime performers, and featured appearances are listed as coming soon.
The day and night halves meet at one hard deadline. At 6 p.m., Halsted gets cleared for the parade, and everyone at the fest has to move to the sidewalks behind the barricades. Northalsted suggests using that hour to visit vendors and Halsted businesses before finding a spot for the parade.
That makes 6 to 7 p.m. the tightest hour of the day on the street. The daytime crowd hasn't gone home yet, the evening crowd is showing up, and the roadway is off-limits. If you want a curb spot, plan to be there before 6.
People marching in the parade are on their own clock. Northalsted strongly encourages signing up in advance, but it will take day-of entries starting at 2 p.m. at the costume registration tent at 3211 N. Halsted, on the east side of the street. One other event listing gives a 6 p.m. registration and staging time, so if you're marching, confirm your check-in window with the organizers.
The parade steps off at Halsted and Belmont and heads north to Brompton. Northalsted says it draws more than 300 costumed marchers each year, along with these groups, "with more to come":
Northalsted calls it Chicago's only Halloween night parade. Its page also notes that Fodor's Travel ranked it among the 10 best Halloween celebrations in the U.S.
The night ends at the NoHa parking lot, 3514 N. Halsted, with the costume contest and post-parade party. Judges pick finalists in five categories: Character, Creative, Scary, Group and Youth. Each category pays $500 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third, which adds up to $4,000. Entering costs $5, and registration is open now. After the finalists' stage turn, the party continues with live music, DJs and drag performances, and Northalsted says Halloween events go on in venues along Halsted all night.
The Youth category's age cutoff reads two ways on the organizer's page, "under 13" in one spot and "13 & under" in another. If you have a 13-year-old with a contest-worthy costume, check with Northalsted before registering.
The restrictions cover more than Halsted. Northalsted's notice also lists nearby side streets, so cars parked on those blocks after 7 a.m. Saturday can be towed. If your car normally lives on one of those blocks, move it Friday night, before the morning you'd rather sleep in.
As of Oct. 10, there's no posted 2026 CTA advisory about #8 Halsted bus reroutes or Red and Brown Line service for the day. A road closure that runs from late morning to 2 a.m. will almost certainly affect the Halsted bus, so check CTA closer to the date before you count on it.
Lakeview's Halloween doesn't happen on one night. It's spread across October, in different corners of the neighborhood, for different crowds. The daytime fest gives that week a family-friendly ending on Halsted itself.
Now through Nov. 1: Nightmare on Clark Street. A 21-and-over haunted house and bar pop-up on the rooftop at Stolen Saddle, 3505 N. Clark. It runs Thursdays through Sundays, and every ticket includes at least one drink.
Saturday, Oct. 24: Northalsted Halloween Pup Crawl. The 12th annual dog costume crawl runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with $5 advance registration and check-in at Halsted and Aldine. Miss Foozie's photo booth runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lark's Pup Patio Brunch at 3441 N. Halsted begins at 11 a.m., and Miss Foozie hosts the official after-party brunch on the Lark patio at 2 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 26: Trick or Treat on Southport. Free, 4 to 7 p.m., rain or shine, on Southport from Roscoe to Grace. There's a pumpkin patch, and a "Thriller" performance starts at 5 p.m. near Southport and Cornelia. As of mid-September, the list of participating businesses hadn't been published.
Saturday, Oct. 31: Wrigleyville Halloween Crawl. It starts at 5 p.m., covers more than 20 venues, and early-bird tickets start at $15.97, according to Block Club Chicago's Halloween guide.
Until this year, families had the Monday-afternoon Southport trick-or-treat, and Halsted was mostly an adult night out. Now kids can trick-or-treat at more than 25 Halsted businesses on Halloween itself, in daylight, before the street gets handed over to the marching bands, roller derby skaters and fire performers.
Streets like Halsted, with a parade route, closure notices and a 2 a.m. reopening, shape everyday life on a block in ways a listing never mentions. If you're thinking about a home near the Northalsted strip or along Southport and want to know what event weekends actually look like from a front step, Jake Tasharski can walk you through those blocks. Contact Jake to discuss your Chicago move.
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