At 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, West Hollywood Park closes, along with both dog parks and the basketball courts. They stay closed until 7 a.m. Sunday. At the same moment, North San Vicente Boulevard between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue closes, along with the alleys beside it. The first DJ set is still eighteen hours away.
The City announced the 2026 Halloween Carnaval on October 5. It runs from 6 to 11 p.m. along the mile of Santa Monica Boulevard, Historic Route 66, between North Doheny Drive and North La Cienega Boulevard. Entry is free and no tickets are needed. That's the visitor's version. If you live here, Halloween in West Hollywood runs about ten days, and the hours that touch your block mostly fall outside the party itself.
The City's closure notice reads like a timetable, so here it is as one. All times are Saturday, October 31, through early Sunday, November 1, 2026.
| Time | What changes |
|---|---|
| 12:00 a.m. Saturday | West Hollywood Park, dog parks and basketball courts close. N. San Vicente closes from Santa Monica Blvd to Melrose Ave. |
| 5:00 a.m. Saturday | Library Garage closes |
| 7:00 a.m. Saturday | Side streets can close at Santa Monica Blvd. Robertson Blvd closes from Santa Monica to Melrose, and N. San Vicente from Santa Monica to Cynthia St. La Peer Dr and Almont Dr close at Santa Monica Blvd. |
| 10:00 a.m. Saturday | Santa Monica Blvd closes in sections from Croft Ave/Holloway Dr west to Doheny. La Cienega closes from Holloway to Melrose. Sunset Blvd turn lanes onto southbound La Cienega close. |
| 11:00 a.m. Saturday | Residential permit parking is lifted citywide |
| 12:00 p.m. Saturday | Santa Monica Blvd from La Cienega to Doheny must be fully closed to cars |
| 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. | The Carnaval |
| 6:00 a.m. Sunday | Most street closures end |
| 7:00 a.m. Sunday | The park, dog parks, Five-Story Parking Structure and Library Garage reopen. San Vicente reopens by this time. |
| 12:00 p.m. Sunday | Permit parking rules return |
That puts about 36 hours between the first closure and the end of the parking exception. The party takes up five of them.
On La Peer and Almont, the City says local drivers can still get in from Melrose Avenue while Santa Monica Boulevard is closed. If you live on either street, plan to come and go from the south all day Saturday.
The rule with the biggest effect on most residents' Saturdays has nothing to do with the route. From 11 a.m. Saturday until noon Sunday, the City lifts residential permit parking restrictions across the entire city. At the same time, it closes the public garages a visitor would normally use. The West Hollywood Park Five-Story Parking Structure is closed all day Saturday and the Library Garage from 5 a.m. Both reopen at 7 a.m. Sunday. The Plummer Park South Lot closes even earlier, from 5 a.m. Friday, October 30, through 8 a.m. Sunday.
The City's 2026 release expects "tens of thousands" of people. Its 2024 and 2025 announcements said "many thousands." Those are estimates, and the footprint hasn't changed. Still, with the garages closed and permit rules lifted, many of those visitors who drive will be looking for space on residential streets from late Saturday morning on. If your car is parked on the street Saturday, it's simplest to leave it there until Sunday afternoon. Errands that need a parking spot are easier on Friday.
This year also lands differently on the calendar. Halloween 2026 is a Saturday. In 2025 it was a Friday, and in 2024 a Thursday. In past years the closures ran on a weekday. This year they take up a whole weekend day, from morning coffee to the Sunday reopening.
The City's event page says the Carnaval is free and open to all, but it discourages bringing children and pets because the crowds get dense. With the West Hollywood Park dog parks closed for the whole day, dog owners near San Vicente will also need another place for Saturday's walks.
For families, the City-run event to put on the calendar is the free Youth Halloween Carnival on the Great Lawn at Plummer Park, set for Saturday, October 17, 2026. It's two weeks before the big night, on the east side of the city, far from the Santa Monica Boulevard closures. As of October 6, we found no other City or community trick-or-treat or dog-costume event listed for the week of Halloween, so October 17 is the confirmed option.
The Carnaval has kept the same basic shape for three years. In 2024, 2025 and 2026, the City described the same one-mile route from Doheny to La Cienega, the same 6-to-11 p.m. hours, free entry, one DJ stage at San Vicente and food trucks. No DJ or 2026 theme has been named yet. Last year's tie-in was a Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th-anniversary photo booth and a "Time Warp" with the shadow cast Sins of the Flesh.
The bigger change for 2026 is how much of Halloween now happens inside local businesses. The City set up a process to review and waive special event permit fees, encroachment permit fees and basic LA County Fire Department site plan review fees. It's open to bars, restaurants, clubs, hotels, cannabis businesses and entertainment venues hosting smaller Halloween events from Friday, October 23 through Sunday, November 1, 2026. The City's stated goal is to help those businesses host "small-scale Halloween celebrations with patrons." So the five-hour street party is surrounded by ten days of parties that the City is helping to pay for.
As of October 6, these events have confirmed 2026 dates, in calendar order:
Most of these are on the Sunset Strip or the Troubadour's stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard east of La Cienega, outside the mile-long Carnaval zone. If you want a Halloween night out without crossing the closures, the city's east end and the Strip have their own lineup. This list will likely grow as more venues get their permits through.
Transit is the one part of the Carnaval that has changed from year to year. In 2024 the City ran two separate special services, Cityline and PickUp. In 2025 they were combined into a single WeHo Halloween Ride. For 2026, the City's Halloween page still says transportation information is "coming soon."
Visit West Hollywood already lists a 2026 WeHo Halloween Ride. It's free, runs from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. along Santa Monica Boulevard between North La Brea Avenue and North Kings Road, and some vehicles connect to the Hollywood/Highland Metro station until midnight. Those hours and the Hollywood/Highland connection match last year's service. Until the City posts its own schedule, though, the 2026 version isn't official. The Metro bus lines serving the city are the 4, 10, 30/330, 105, 212/312, 217 and 218. The City sends riders to metro.net for detours caused by the closures. If you're heading home from the Troubadour or Micky's after midnight, check the route before you head out.
Halloween is the clearest example of how much the event calendar shapes daily life on specific West Hollywood blocks. Living near San Vicente, a street-parking stretch off Santa Monica, or a quiet street east of La Cienega makes for a very different October 31. If you want to talk through how that plays out on your street or one you're considering, The Xuereb Group knows these blocks well. Schedule a complimentary consultation, or start with our West Hollywood neighborhood guide.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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