The 2010 New York City Village Halloween Parade

Manhattan residents are witness to many great scenes and spectacles on a regular basis. Holidays even seem bigger here, a bit brighter somehow. One event that comes to mind, mostly because the holiday is quickly approaching, is that of New York City's Village Halloween Parade. This public event welcomes any and all in costume to participate in the parade and stakes its claim as "the largest grass-roots event in the nation". It's an all-ages spectacle that everyone can enjoy and every Halloween night lower Manhattan becomes one giant costume party.

Going from Spring Street to 15^th Street, and with a time slot of 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., this masquerade march definitely stops traffic for quite a while, literally. The streets become crawling with festive, and occasionally overly-festive, costumed marauders. The Halloween spirit is definitely alive this night and it's hard not to have a good time. You must like crowds though, since it can suddenly become one of the largest you've seen in a while. Keeping up with your group can become tricky, so wearing the most original and outrageous costume can only help you be recognized in the crowd of wigs and fangs.

To get a great spot you either have to live, or know someone who lives, in an apartment along 6^th Avenue. To get a good spot you just have to get there early and be willing to endure an added 30 minutes to an hour of standing. If you're not up for the extra loitering than be prepared to endure the masses. Luckily some of the costumes and floats can be seen from behind other heads. Adding stilts or high heels to your costume would help as well.

Even if you end up getting there late and you somehow can't see past the heads of all those people wearing top hats and beehive hairdos standing in front of you don't fear. Just walking along the streets anywhere in lower Manhattan is a costume parade. Dressing up becomes contagious and most people here catch the fever. Even at the parade's end the night is still relatively young for those old enough to enter a bar, and lest you forget it's Halloween in the city that never sleeps.

New York's Village Halloween Parade