On North Halsted, Halloween has long started with the parade. On Saturday, October 31, it starts at 11 a.m.
Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026. The Northalsted Business Alliance is billing this year's Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade as its 30th anniversary, and it is marking the occasion by adding a free street festival that starts eight hours before the parade. The organizer's page labels the daytime program "New! Daytime Family Programming For 2026." So the parade, ranked among the 10 best Halloween celebrations in the US by Fodor's Travel, now comes at the end of the day.
The Parade Now Closes Out a Full Day
The easiest way to see what changed is to set this year's schedule beside an older one. The Windy City Times recap of the 2022 parade describes a 7:30 p.m. start at Halsted and Belmont. The route ran north and then looped back to a stage on Roscoe Street for the costume contest, and vendors set up in the 7-Eleven parking lot.
This year the parade steps off at 7 p.m. from Halsted and Belmont and ends at Halsted and Brompton. The awards show and after-party then move to the NoHa parking lot at 3514 N. Halsted. Before any of that, the organizer's detailed schedule turns five blocks of North Halsted, Aldine to Brompton, into a pedestrian-only block party from 11 a.m., with the event set to end at 10 p.m. The schedule gives the festival address range as 3300 to 3526 N. Halsted. The organizer's introduction and Block Club Chicago's 2026 Halloween guide describe the stretch as Aldine to Addison.
| Time | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. | Haunted Halsted Fest opens | N. Halsted, Aldine to Brompton |
| 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Little Monster's Crawl trick-or-treat | Broadway, Belmont and Clark businesses |
| 2 p.m. | Day-of costume registration opens | Registration tent, 3211 N. Halsted |
| 6 p.m. | Halsted cleared, spectators move behind barricades | Festival footprint |
| 6:15 p.m. | Bib check-in closes | Registration tent |
| 7 p.m. | Parade steps off | Halsted and Belmont |
| 8 p.m. | Parade ends, costume contest and after-party begin | Halsted and Brompton, then 3514 N. Halsted |
| 10 p.m. | Official event ends | Halsted |
The Morning Runs on Two Trick-or-Treat Routes
Adding the daytime hours put two neighborhood trick-or-treat events in the same three hours.
On Halsted, the festival includes trick-or-treating at more than 25 Halsted Street businesses, a kids zone with games, Halloween arts and crafts and inflatables, more than 50 vendor booths and sponsor activations, a 360-degree camera, and live local music and street performers. Admission is free. Beer, spirits and fall-flavored toddies are for sale to guests 21 and older with valid ID.
A few blocks east and south, the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce runs its Little Monster Crawl from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with participating businesses along Broadway, Belmont and Clark handing out treats. The chamber's list of participants ranges from Almost Home Tavern & Grill at 3801 N. Clark, which plans candy and hot cocoa for kids, to Wake N Bakery at 3508 N. Broadway. Some businesses will have trick-or-treaters come inside, and others will set up a table outside.
Halsted and Belmont sits at the corner of both routes. A family can work the Broadway and Belmont storefronts before 2 p.m. and still have the Halsted kids zone open afterward, since the festival runs all afternoon before the street is cleared for the parade.
6 p.m. Is the Changeover
At 6 p.m., Halsted Street is cleared to set up for the parade, and festival guests move to the sidewalks behind the barricades. The organizer suggests using that hour to visit vendors and Halsted businesses before picking a spot to watch.
The other half of the evening forms at the south end of the route during the same window. Parade entrants check in for number bibs at the registration tent on the east side of Halsted near Belmont between 2 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. The organizer encourages advance sign-up and accepts day-of entries starting at 2 p.m. at 3211 N. Halsted. Contest entry costs $5 and is open to all ages, and watching is free. Judges choose finalists in five categories: Character, Creative, Scary, Group, and Youth for ages 13 and under. Each category pays $500, $200 and $100 for first through third place, with $4,000 in total prizes.
Two doors from that registration address, El Bar at 3209 N. Halsted will see its first Halloween parade go by. It opened on St. Patrick's Day 2026. In Windy City Times' profile of the bar, owner Miguel Becerril said he wanted a Latino-owned bar in Northalsted nightlife and more representation of Latino culture there.
The lineup that steps off at 7 p.m. has been part of the parade for years. Windy City Jeep Club, Lakeside Pride Marching Band, the Chicago Thriller flash mob, Chicago Spirit Brigade and the Windy City Rollers are all on the 2026 roster, and Chicago Full Moon Jam closes the parade with fire performers. Most of those groups also appear in the 2022 recap, along with the same $4,000 prize pool. The eight hours of street festival in front of the parade are what is new this year.
The organizer's Featured Appearances and Live Performance sections still read "More information coming soon."
After the Fire Performers, the Night Moves to Clark
The official program ends at 10 p.m. Saturday-night Halloween events keep going a few blocks west along Clark Street.
- Wrigleyville Halloween Crawl, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., organized by Chicago Twenty Something, with 3554 N. Clark St. listed as the location on its event page. Block Club Chicago's guide describes stops at more than 20 venues and a free dinner buffet, with neighborhood institutions like the Cubby Bear and Murphy's Bleachers among them.
- Nightmare on Clark Street, a ticketed, 21-and-over walk-through haunted house and Halloween bar on the Stolen Saddle rooftop at 3505 N. Clark St. It runs Thursday through Sunday with varying hours, and Sunday, November 1, is its final night.
- Dolloween: A Lesbian Halloween Party, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Level Sporting Club, 3343 N. Clark St., hosted by Ladies Love Us, with a costume contest at 9 p.m.
On Halsted, the organizer says Halloween events will continue in venues along the street all night after the costume contest wraps up.
The Corner Where It All Starts
The parade steps off beside the Lakeview Connection building, a two-level, 60,000-square-foot retail building at the corner of Belmont and Halsted. According to Block Club Chicago, it has mostly sat empty since it opened in 2023, apart from a Fifth Third Bank branch on the Clark Street corner. In April, the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce shared that Whole Foods Market is expected to open in the long-vacant space at 827 W. Belmont Ave. No opening timeline has been reported, so this year's step-off will again pass a corner that is still waiting on its main tenant.
For anyone checking the forecast before Saturday, the organizer says the parade will go on in rain or snow.
When a street like Halsted takes on a full day of programming, the blocks around it change too. That kind of local detail is what we follow closely for clients buying and selling in Lakeview. If you're thinking about your next move in the neighborhood, IKGroup is glad to help. Request a private consultation and home valuation.
