Top Halloween Party Destinations 2023 Best Costume Parties & Locations

It’s a scary thought, to be out on Halloween only to realize there’s a much better party elsewhere.

The trick to finding the best treat is to know where to be in the first place.

There are prime party places for major events such as New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July, holiday weekends such as Memorial Day and Labor Day, and St. Patrick’s Day.

But there’s so many places to go for Halloween it’s almost spooky. There are fun cities, celebrations, unofficial parades, fetish balls and even a one-of-a-kind three-day music festival. PubClub.com is providing the information on them here in this article.

Top Halloween Party Cities In The USA

Location, location, location. It’s all a matter of knowing where to be in order find the best Halloween parties. These cities really know how to howl at the moon. Keep reading for the Best Halloween Parties in college towns, plus parades and other big events.

– NEW ORLEANS FOR HALLOWEEN –

PubClub.com’s #1 place to party for New Year’s Eve is also a great place to spend Halloween. And the party is not just on Bourbon Street.

See, in Nawlens, locals just can’t wait for Mardi Gras. So they have created a parade for Halloween, as well, called the Krewe of Boo. It’s on Frenchman Street in the Marigny. It’s a fairly short walk – or long stumble – from the the Quarter. And there are unofficial parades in the Quarter, too.

Of course, anytime is party time in The Big Easy. The great thing about New Orleans is that the French Quarter is easy to get around on foot, there’s tons of bars, great food, non-stop music and cocktails are allowed on the streets. And there’s 3-for-1 drinks on Bourbon Street every day of the year!

For those seeking a real spiritual experience, New Orleans is home of voodoo. So take the ghost tour.

– LAS VEGAS FOR HALLOWEEN –

As one might expect, the City of Sin is absolutely sinful for Halloween. PubClub has been there and can say it’s a blast! Walking through the casinos and seeing guys in chicken outfits playing blackjack is just plain entertaining. Plus, there’s walking the Strip on Halloween night.

Plus, Vegas is a witches brew of parties, events, haunted houses and people just being in Vegas on Halloween.The casinos are full of characters in all manner of costume and there are parties all over the place. It is advisable to cover up those really revealing costumes until actually reaching a party. Believe it or not, there’s a group trying to make Halloween a G-rated event. Right, in Vegas!

Each club has a party, with TAO packing in a couple of thousand people (we know; PubClub has been there on Halloween night).

The most famous of the parties is the The Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball, held at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday Oct. 26. It has erotic stage performances, DJ, dancing and some incredible outlandish, sexy and sexual costumes. Tickets are $80.Even for those who don’t go to the ball, the Circle Bar is an interesting place to be for drinks.

People love to “take filight” while in Vegas for Halloween..

A tip about any Vegas club: There is selectivity in choosing how long one must wait to get inside. This is especially true for Halloween. The wilder and sexier the costume (and the hotter and sexier the costume wearer), the better.

The city’s outdoor party is at the Harrah’s Carnival Court. There’s live music, a costume contest, drink specials and psychic and tarot card readings. It runs from noon-3 a.m., Admission is $10 after 7 p.m.

– LOS ANGELES HALLOWEEN CARNAVAL BLOCK PARTY –

The city’s biggest public Halloween gathering takes place on Oct. 31 in West Hollywood. It s called WeHoCarnaval and it’s an appropriate title.

Santa Monica Boulevard between La Cienega Boulevard and Doheny Drive is blocked off to traffic on Halloween night and people dress in all kinds of incredible costumes (remember, this is Hollywood, and people have access to movie costume creativity and possess the talent to properly display it).

There are beer gardens, bands in the street and the whole thing really a scene. It goes from 6-11 p.m., and really picks up about 8. The many bars in the area are thriving during and afterward.

The event is free and open to anyone, even those few who choose to go without costumes. More than 300,000 people wander the streets, making it LA’s second-biggest outdoor event, behind only the Rose Bowl Parade.

LA also has dozens of promoter parties at rented venues and clubs. Some of the most outlandish of these are in Hollywood and along the Sunset Strip.

There are also Halloween haunted houses at theme parks. Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park (Orange County) turns into “Knott’s Scary Farm.” It runs late September thru Nov. 1, every day except Mondays and Tuesdays (of course it’s open Monday the 31st). Prices are $34-51, despending on the night.

Link: Knott’s Scary Farm Tickets

At Universal Studios, it’s month-long evening horror show called Halloween Horror Nights. There’s a myriad of mysterious mayhem, including six mazes, and scary things from Hollywood movies.

Link: Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights

– NEW YORK CITY FOR HALLOWEEN –

The Village is the place to be for Halloween in the Big Apple. There’s a parade and anyone in costume can jump into it. There are 52 bands, dancers and artists and nearly 1 million people, making it the largest Halloween celebration in the USA.

A parade runs on 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 21st Street from 7-10 p.m.

Elsewhere in the City, there’s a pumpkin and scarecrow contest display in Central Park called Pumpkin Festival’s Scarecrow Contest it’s Saturday, Nov. 1, from noon-5 p.m.

– HALLOWEEN IN SALEM, MA –

Naturally, the place of the landmark witch trials would have an awesome Halloween party. Here it’s a ball at The Hawthorne Hotel, and it’s one of the biggest Halloween parties on the East Coast.

It’s called the Salem Witches Halloween Ball and it includes not only the hotel but spills out into the street and into the Common. Tens of thousands of people are walking around all over town, in fact. This is a big, fun event.

Link: Official website of the event.

Top Halloween Festivals & Events

In addition to happening cities, there are also great events that mark Halloween.

FANTASY FEST, KEY WEST, FL

The Conch Republic is known for its colorful characters throughout the year, so when given an excuse like Halloween it’s even more of a zoo. Key West style, of course.

Fantasy Fest is a 10-day nearly non-stop party. There are parades, street parties, costume balls, a pimp ‘n ho party, a PJ and lingerie party (featuring Kristy Morgan from the reality TV show Tila Tequila), a toga party, a “Heaven & Hell” costume contest, a “kinky lu’au,” and, of course, a Rum Barrell pirate bash.

All kinds of people (straight and gay) turn out for one of the largest elaborate costume parties in the country. It’s Mardi Gras in October.

FantasyFest Facts 2020: Canceled

Links: PubClub Fantasy Fest Writeup.

Official Website: FantasyFest.

FRONT STREET, MAUI, HAWAII HALLOWEEN

Editor’s Note: After the wildfires, the event won’t take plac ein 2023 but PubClub.com still wants to acknowldge it and it will return.

Talk about a party in paradise. Gorgeous Maui’s main town of Lahina attracts some 25,000 people to a parade on Front Street.

Everyone, including spectators, are in costume, lined up along the street or watching from the bars and restaurants.

It begins at 4:30 with a children’s parade with the main event starting at 7. In the past, the costume contest was held at Banyan Tree Park but this year it will be in the various restaurants and bars. The park does have food booths but no liquor is sold there.

The parade is free but restaurants and bars have cover charges.

Front Street in Lahina is always on Halloween night Oct. 31.

WORLD’S LARGEST OUTDOOR COCKTAIL PARTY

College football comes to life not for Halloween but for the annual Georgia-Florida college football game in Jacksonville, FL.

Some do-gooders are trying to get ride of the event’s unofficial nickname – coined by a sports writer who saw a tailgater offer a beer to a police officer – but a party is a party, right? Half the fans don’t even have tickets to the game; they just go to socialize and support the Bulldogs and Gators.

The  2022 game is Saturday, Oct. 29 with kickoff at 3:30 p.m., Eastern time.

Link: World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party A College Football Tradition

TOP HALLOWEEN COLLEGE PARTY SCHOOLS

The place to find the biggest and wildest Halloween parties may just be on college campuses. In fact, PubClub.com has devoted an entire separate article on the subject.

But here’s a quick overview:
• Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
• North Carolina University, Chapel Hill, N.C.
• East Carolina University Greenville, S.C.
• University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

Link: Top Halloween Party Schools