Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade 2026: Chicago's Gay Halloween Guide
Everything you need for Chicago's Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade — the route, the costume contest, the Northalsted bars that go all out, and where to stay.
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Haunted Halsted 2026 Overview
Halloween in Chicago has a center of gravity, and it's a half-mile of North Halsted Street. The Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade is the Northalsted Business Alliance's Halloween-night street party — a costume parade straight up the spine of the city's gay village, with a contest, real prize money, and a few thousand people in the street watching. It is free, it is outdoors, and it is the reason Chicago's gay neighborhood is where you want to be on October 31.
- When: Saturday, October 31, 2026 — Halloween night
- Where: North Halsted Street, Northalsted (Boystown), Chicago
- Route (2025): steps off at Halsted & Belmont, finishes at Halsted & Brompton
- Cost: Free to watch, free to enter the contest, all ages
- Organizer: Northalsted Business Alliance, which also runs Market Days
- Billing: the 29th annual edition
Pro Tip
**October 31, 2026 falls on a Saturday.** Worth saying plainly, because the organizer's own page still carries "Friday, October 31" — that was 2025. A Saturday Halloween is the best possible draw for a street parade, and it means the bars will be at full tilt both the night of and the night before.
What's confirmed for 2026, and what isn't
We publish what's sourced. As of late July 2026, the Northalsted Business Alliance had posted the date and the 29th-annual billing for 2026, but not the detailed schedule — the times, registration window and contest specifics still on its page describe the 2025 running.
So everything below marked (2025) is what happened last year, and it is the best available guide to what 2026 will look like. Halloween street events of this age rarely change shape year to year, but we're monitoring the official page and will update this guide the moment the 2026 schedule posts. Nothing here is invented.
What's on in Chicago
Live from our events calendar — updated daily.
The Parade: Route, Times and the Costume Contest
The parade is short, dense and entirely about the costumes. There are no floats to speak of and no ticketed grandstand — it's a march up Halsted with the crowd pressed to both curbs, and then an awards show at the end.
The 2025 running went like this:
- 6:30 PM — registration opens. Contestants sign up at the registration tent, or in advance online
- 7:30 PM — the parade steps off from Halsted & Belmont
- 8:30 PM — the awards show, in the lot at 3514 N. Halsted
- 10:00 PM — wrap
The costume contest is the main event, and the prize money is not token. Five categories — Character, Creative, Scary, Youth (under 13) and Group — each paying $500 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third. That's $4,000 in total prizes. Entry is free and open to all ages, and contestants must be present to win.
Pro Tip
The sign-up window in 2025 was **6:30–7:30 PM** — a one-hour gate that closed an hour before the awards. If you're competing, treat 7:30 as a hard deadline and get there closer to 6:30. Chicago crowds bunch fast once the street closes.
The Group category is where Northalsted regulars put in real work — coordinated builds, rehearsed bits, sometimes a dozen people deep. If you're visiting and want to compete without a crew, Character and Creative are the realistic shots.
Northalsted: America's First Officially Recognized Gay Village
Some context for why a neighborhood parade carries this much weight.
Northalsted — still called Boystown by most people who live there — holds the distinction of being the first gay village in the United States officially recognized by a big-city government. That recognition came with money: in 1998, a $3.2 million streetscape project under Mayor Richard M. Daley erected the rainbow pylons that still line Halsted Street. Twenty-odd art-deco columns, ringed in rainbow bands, marking the district in a way no American city had done before.
Since 2012, the Legacy Project has been mounting commemorative bronze plaques on those pylons, turning the street into an outdoor museum of LGBTQ+ history. You walk past them on the parade route without necessarily noticing — but that's what the costumes are marching through.
The neighborhood's informal boundaries run Irving Park Road to the north, Broadway east, Wellington Avenue south and Sheffield Avenue west, overlapping Lakeview East. The business district formally adopted the Northalsted name in 2020; in practice, both names are in daily use, and nobody will blink at either.
Pro Tip
The rainbow pylons are the easiest orientation tool in the neighborhood. If you can see them, you're on the strip. The parade route runs between two of the busiest stretches — Belmont at the south end, Brompton up near Wrigleyville.
Where to Watch, and How to Do the Night
The route is roughly half a mile, so there's no bad stretch — but there are smarter ones.
- Halsted & Belmont (the start): the densest crowd and the earliest look at the costumes, right where the CTA drops you. Get there before 7 PM if you want a curb.
- Mid-route, between Roscoe and Aldine: the bars are thickest here, which means you can duck in and out. Best balance of view and access to a drink.
- Halsted & Brompton (the finish) and the 3514 N. Halsted lot: where the awards happen. Thinner crowd on the walk up, and you're in position for the contest results.
Dress for a Chicago street in late October — highs in the mid-50s Fahrenheit, and it drops once the sun goes. The costumes that win are almost always the ones built to survive standing outside for three hours.
The Northalsted Bars on Halloween Night
The parade ends at 10 PM. The night does not. Every bar on the strip runs a costume night, and the strip is walkable end to end — this is the rare gay Halloween where you never need a car or a cab between venues.
Northalsted Bars on the Route
Sidetrack, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Roscoe's Tavern, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Hydrate Nightclub, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Charlie's, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Progress Bar, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Splash, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
The Closet, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
The North End, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Scarlet Bar, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Love's, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Sidetrack is the anchor — a multi-room video bar with a rooftop deck, and the one place that reliably absorbs a parade-night crowd without feeling like a crush. Roscoe's Tavern is the other institution, with a dance floor and a long history of taking Halloween seriously. Hydrate is the late room: it runs latest on the strip and is where the night ends for most people still standing.
For something with more edge, Charlie's leans country-western with a late license, Progress Bar is the sleek dance option, and Splash brings the pool-party energy indoors. The Closet, a small lesbian-leaning stalwart at the Broadway end, and The North End, the neighborhood sports bar, are both good bets when the big rooms get impossible.
Pro Tip
On a Saturday Halloween the strip fills by about 10 PM and stays that way. If you want a specific bar, get in before the parade ends rather than after — the queue outside Sidetrack and Hydrate on a Halloween Saturday is a real thing.
Beyond the strip
Chicago's gay nightlife isn't only Halsted, and Halloween is a good excuse to see the rest of it.
Leather, Bears and Beyond Northalsted
Cell Block, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago Eagle, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Jackhammer, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
2Bears Tavern Uptown, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Max's Place, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Atmosphere, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Meeting House Tavern, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
The SoFo Tap, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Dorothy, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Cell Block is the leather bar on the strip itself; the Chicago Eagle and Jackhammer sit further north in Uptown and Rogers Park and run their own Halloween programming. Up in Andersonville — the city's other gay neighborhood, about fifteen minutes north — Atmosphere, Meeting House Tavern and The SoFo Tap make a quieter, more local alternative to the Halsted crush. Dorothy in Ukrainian Village is the cocktail-forward outlier and worth the trip on a normal night, less so when the parade is on.
One circuit option is already on the calendar for Halloween night itself: BRÜT Chicago — Halloween, the touring underground party founded in New York in 2013. Venue and set times firm up closer to the date.
Where to Stay
Staying in Northalsted or Lakeview means you walk home from the parade, which on Halloween night in Chicago is worth more than a nicer room downtown.
City Suites is the one actually in Northalsted, steps from the strip. Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace sits just off Broadway in Lakeview and is the reliable mid-range pick. The Willows and The Majestic are the quieter Lakeview East options — residential streets, short walk to Halsted. If those are gone, Hotel Zachary and the Chicago Hotel Collection put you in Wrigleyville, one Red Line stop north.
Pro Tip
Halloween lands on a Saturday in 2026, which means the whole city is booked, not just the gay village. Northalsted has a genuinely small hotel inventory — book well ahead or plan on staying downtown and taking the Red Line up.
Getting There
Take the train. Halsted closes for the parade, street parking in Lakeview is difficult on an ordinary night and effectively impossible on Halloween.
- CTA Red, Brown and Purple lines to Belmont — the closest stop to the parade start, two blocks east of Halsted
- Red Line to Addison — better for the Brompton end and the Wrigleyville hotels
- The 8 Halsted bus runs the length of the strip, though it reroutes during the closure
Make a Weekend of It
With Halloween on a Saturday, the sensible shape is a Friday arrival, the parade and the strip on Saturday, and a slow Sunday. Andersonville is the right call for the recovery day — brunch, bookshops and a much gentler pace than Halsted.
If you're building a longer Chicago trip, our guide to the best gay bars in Chicago maps the whole scene, and Northalsted Market Days is the same neighborhood's August blowout — the other date worth planning a trip around.
When is the Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade 2026?
Saturday, October 31, 2026 — Halloween night — on North Halsted Street in Northalsted (Boystown), Chicago. It's billed as the 29th annual edition. In 2025 the parade stepped off at 7:30 PM after a 6:30 PM registration window; the Northalsted Business Alliance hadn't published the detailed 2026 times as of late July.
Where does the Haunted Halsted parade start and end?
In 2025 it started at Halsted & Belmont and finished at Halsted & Brompton, with the awards show in the lot at 3514 N. Halsted. That's a walk of roughly half a mile up the middle of the gay village. The 2026 route hadn't been separately confirmed at the time of writing, but it has run this stretch consistently.
Is the Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade free?
Yes. Spectator admission is free and all ages, and entering the costume contest is free and all ages too. The bars along the route set their own covers on Halloween night, which is where you'll actually spend money.
How does the Haunted Halsted costume contest work?
There are five categories — Character, Creative, Scary, Youth (under 13) and Group. Each pays $500 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third, for $4,000 in total prizes. In 2025, registration ran 6:30–7:30 PM at the registration tent with online sign-up also available, and contestants had to be present at the 8:30 PM awards show to win.
What are the best bars for gay Halloween in Chicago?
Sidetrack and Roscoe's Tavern are the two Northalsted institutions and both go all-out for Halloween; Hydrate is the late-night room. Charlie's, Progress Bar, Splash, The Closet and The North End fill out the strip, all within a walk of the parade route. For leather, Cell Block is on Halsted itself with the Chicago Eagle and Jackhammer further north.
Where should I stay for Halloween in Northalsted?
City Suites is the hotel actually in Northalsted, with Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace, The Willows and The Majestic nearby in Lakeview. Hotel Zachary and the Chicago Hotel Collection in Wrigleyville are one Red Line stop north. Book early — a Saturday Halloween fills the whole city, and Northalsted's hotel inventory is small.
How do I get to the Haunted Halsted parade?
Take the CTA. The Red, Brown and Purple lines all stop at Belmont, two blocks from the parade start, and the Red Line stops at Addison for the north end of the route. Halsted closes for the parade and Lakeview street parking is very difficult on Halloween night, so driving is a poor plan.
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Robbie S.
I'm Robbie, the founder of Out x Out. I'm from Minneapolis, though I'm spending 2026 building this community from the road — somewhere between South America and Asia. The idea for Out x Out came from a trip to Berlin, where the gay nightlife calendar was years ahead of ours: you could see not just where to go out, but which night to go — so naturally I wanted that kind of insider info for every city in the US (and beyond... eventually). I'm more of a behind-the-scenes type, but the whole point of this is connection: I'd take one real one over a hundred surface-level ones, and I'm trying to build that for the community, city by city.
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