Part of the Gay Los Angeles Guide — bars, events & things to do.
Saturday, October 31, 2026
Santa Monica Blvd (Doheny–La Cienega), West Hollywood
Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069The circuit parties, afterhours and official events happening across West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval in Los Angeles — dates, venues and tickets.
Every Halloween, West Hollywood throws the biggest costume party in Los Angeles — and one of the biggest in the world. The West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval shuts down a mile of Santa Monica Boulevard through the heart of the Rainbow District and fills it with hundreds of thousands of wildly costumed revelers, DJs, and the kind of see-and-be-seen energy only WeHo can pull off. It's free, it's outrageous, and it's the anchor of LA's queer Halloween weekend.
This is your local-friend's guide to doing it right: when and where the Carnaval happens, what to expect on the street, the best bars to duck into, where to stay, and how to get in and out of the madness. Whether it's your first WeHo Halloween or your tenth, here's the plan.
Once the street closes and the sun goes down, Santa Monica Boulevard becomes a slow-moving river of costumes. There's no parade route to line up for and no single stage act to catch — the event is the crowd. You walk the mile, you gawk at the outfits, you get your photo taken a hundred times, and you bar-hop the whole way.
The core ingredients:
Pro Tip
Wear a costume you can actually walk and stand in for hours, with shoes to match. And set a meeting spot with your group before you go in — cell service gets crushed with half a million people packed onto one boulevard.
The Carnaval spills straight into West Hollywood's bars, which go all-out for Halloween weekend. The Rainbow District along Santa Monica Boulevard is wall-to-wall gay bars, and on Halloween they run at maximum volume. A few of the anchors:
The Abbey and its adjoining Chapel are the biggest gay club in WeHo and the all-night magnet after the street party winds down. Micky's brings its multi-level dance parties (like the long-running "Let's Go Bananas" Halloween night). Revolver Video Bar is the classic video-bar hang, Beaches and Trunks keep the boulevard buzzing, and GYM Bar, Hi Tops, and Mother Lode round out the crawl.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Look for each venue's own Halloween programming: Halloween at The Abbey & The Chapel, Micky's Halloween weekend, and Revolver's Halloween party are the ones to plan around.
Halloween weekend is one of the busiest of the year in West Hollywood — book early. Staying in WeHo means you can walk to the Carnaval and stumble home, no rideshare surge required.
The walk-everywhere choice — you're inside the Rainbow District, steps from Santa Monica Boulevard and every bar on the crawl.
A short walk or quick rideshare from the boulevard, with a bit more calm at night.
West Hollywood and the surrounding hills are full of short-term rentals — often the best value for a group. Book something walkable to Santa Monica Boulevard so you can skip the Halloween-night surge pricing entirely.
Do not plan to drive to the Carnaval. Santa Monica Boulevard closes, surrounding streets jam, and parking evaporates.
Pro Tip
Go early. The boulevard closes and the crowd builds fast after 6 PM — arriving by 6–7 PM means smaller crowds and easier bar entry than the 9–10 PM peak. Leaving before the 11 PM close (or well after) beats the crush.
The West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval is on Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 6:00 to 11:00 PM on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. It happens every year on Halloween itself.
On Santa Monica Boulevard between N. Doheny Drive and N. La Cienega Boulevard — a one-mile stretch through West Hollywood's Rainbow District, the city's LGBTQ+ neighborhood. The main DJ stage is at Santa Monica Blvd & N. San Vicente Blvd.
Yes. The Carnaval is completely free and open to everyone — no tickets required. Individual bars and clubs along the route may charge cover for their own Halloween parties.
You don't have to wear one, but you'll want to — the entire event is a celebration of costumes, and the crowd goes all-out. Anything goes, from full production builds to a quick DIY look.
Rideshare or walk — do not drive. Santa Monica Boulevard is closed and surrounding parking is towed or full. Request rideshares a few blocks off the route to dodge the worst surge and traffic, or stay in West Hollywood and walk.
It draws hundreds of thousands of people to Santa Monica Boulevard and is billed by the City of West Hollywood as one of the largest Halloween street festivals in the world. It's the biggest Halloween event in Los Angeles.
Beyond the street festival, every gay bar in the Rainbow District throws its own Halloween party — The Abbey and The Chapel, Micky's, Revolver, Beaches, and more all run costume nights and DJ sets across the weekend.
The Carnaval is a Saturday-night blowout, but WeHo is worth a full weekend — brunch on Santa Monica Boulevard, the shops and design district by day, and the bars every night. Build out your trip with our LGBTQ+ guide to Los Angeles and browse the full Los Angeles events calendar for whatever else is on.
However you costume up, West Hollywood on Halloween is a bucket-list night for queer LA — go big, go early, and have a blast.
Let people know you're going, see who else is attending, and share the event with friends.
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