West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval 2009

WeHo Halloween Costume Carnaval 09

Not sure how this event stayed under our radar for so long. We knew it happened every year, but because the Day of the Dead event was happening the same night, we missed out on this one. Spanning over a mile and a half, more than 500,000 costumed revelers take to the streets of West Hollywood to celebrate Halloween every year since 1987.

The organized entertainment started early with a parade March starting at Doheny being led by Vaud & the Villians, a New Orleans 18 piece band who rocked the vaudville stage. We caught the Prince Burlesque number later in the evening there as well. The March picked up more people until they ended up at the Arcade Stage. The Arcade stage hosted the costume contest and the crowning of the Carnaval queen by Rikki Lake. Our favorite Magician Christopher Wonder was the host of the Illusion stage, where a balancing act, fire dancers and other sideshow acts performed.

But it was the costumes that were the main attraction of this night. Tourists posing with half naked Batman & Robins, OctoMom and six foot Geisha girls, backing up traffic for blocks. Several silver balloon boys were in attendance along with the usual mix of sexy pirates, and drag queens in silver lame. Standouts were an Amy Weinhouse who kept in character for the evenings, stumbling down Santa Monica Blvd with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

Three DJ booths were pumping tunes into the warm night air, giving each area its own raver energy, some stopping to dance and enjoy their favorite song, before moving on down the boulevard.

It is the biggest Halloween party in the united states, but with even the police letting girls sit on their bikes for pictures and officers getting pictures with their favorite costume, it felt like a huge block party, a place to see new and old friends, to drag that Ninja Turtle costume out of the closet just one more time and be part of the experience that is uniquely the Weho Halloween night.