NYC Halloween Parade 2026 Wraps Sixth Avenue: Body and Soul, Firehorse and Thousands in Costume
The 53rd Village Halloween Parade moved up Sixth Avenue on Saturday night under the theme 'Body and Soul' - giant puppets, the new Firehorse! procession, more than 50 bands by the organizers' count and thousands of costumed New Yorkers, on a clear, dry Halloween.
The Village Halloween Parade took Sixth Avenue on Saturday night for its 53rd year, stepping off at 7 p.m. from Canal Street and moving north to West 15th and 16th Streets under this year's theme, 'Body and Soul.' Anyone in costume could march for free by joining the lineup at Canal and Sixth between 6:30 and 9 p.m., and the sidewalks filled on both sides of the avenue, with organizers and published guides putting the most crowded stretch between Bleecker and 14th Streets.
Leading the parade this year was Firehorse!, a new procession commissioned from master puppeteer Basil Twist and choreographed by Julie Atlas Muz, ahead of the parade's signature giant puppets, dancers and bands playing music from around the world. Spectrum News NY1 carried the parade live from 8 to 9:30 p.m. for viewers at home.
The city's Department of Transportation and Notify NYC had Sixth Avenue closed between Canal Street and West 15th Street from 7 to 11 p.m., with surrounding streets affected and individual closures at NYPD discretion as crowds moved. The parade ran on the clear, dry Halloween the station's weather feed promised - no precipitation on the day, with temperatures falling from a high near 61 into the 40s by the time the last marchers cleared.
Halloween night in the Village is only the first half of the weekend's street takeover. By the time the parade crowd went home, the upper level of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was already closing for the TCS New York City Marathon, which takes the same city over on Sunday morning.
