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Halloween's Top Party Places
The Best Spots for Where to Spend this Goulish Night
Wild rockers rockin'
at a happening party in L.A
It's a scary thought, to be out on Halloween only to realize there's a much better party elsewhere.
The trick to finding the best treat is to know where to be in the first place.
Sexy costumes are part of any good Halloween party, regardless of location.
There are prime party places for major events such as New Year's Eve, the Fourth of July, holiday weekends such as Memorial Day and Labor Day, and St. Patrick's Day.
But there's so many places to go for Halloween it's almost spooky. There are fun cities, celebrations, unofficial parades, fetish balls and even a one-of-a-kind three-day music festival. PubClub.com is providing the information on them here in this article. And with Halloween 2009 landing on a Saturday, it's going to be even crazier this year.
– Top Halloween Party Cities –
Location, location, location. It's all a matter of knowing where to be in order find the best Halloween parties. These cities really know how to howl at the moon. Keep reading for the Best Halloween Parties in college towns, plus parades and other big events.
– NEW ORLEANS –
Live bands blast music to revelers out of the Bourbon Street bars.
PubClub.com's #1 place to party for New Year's Eve is also a great place to spend Halloween. And the party is not just on Bourbon Street.
See, in Nawlens, locals just can't wait for Mardi Gras. So they have created a parade for Halloween, as well, called the Krewe of Boo. It's on Frenchman Street in the Marigny. It's a fairly short walk – or long stumble – from the the Quarter. And there are unofficial parades in the Quarter, too.
Of course, anytime is party time in The Big Easy. The great thing about New Orleans is that the French Quarter is easy to get around on foot, there's tons of bars, great food, non-stop music and cocktails are allowed on the streets. And there's 3-for-1 drinks on Bourbon Street every day of the year!
For those seeking a real spiritual experience, New Orleans is home of voodoo. So take the ghost tour.
Links: Bourbon Street Bars.
– LAS VEGAS –
Party on the Strip – Halloween is everywhere in Vegas.
As one might expect, the City of Sin is absolutely sinful for Halloween. PubClub was there in 2009 can can say it's a blast! Walking through the casinos and seeing guys in chicken outfits playing blackjack is just plain entertaining. Plus, there's walking the Strip on Halloween night.
Plus, Vegas is a witches brew of parties, events, haunted houses and people just being in Vegas on Halloween.The casinos are full of characters in all manner of costume and there are parties all over the place. It is advisable to cover up those really revealing costumes until actually reaching a party. Believe it or not, there's a group trying to make Halloween a G-rated event. Right, in Vegas!
The most famous of the parties is the The Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball, held at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel. It has erotic stage performances, DJ, dancing and some incredible outlandish, sexy and sexual costumes. Tickets are $82.50 in advance ($232.50 in advance) and $87.50 and $237.50 in advance (the regular price drops to $47 after 1 a.m.).Even for those who don't go to the ball, the Circle Bar is an interesting place to be for drinks. (We'll provide a link for advance tickets shortly.)
People love to "take filight" while in Vegas for Halloween..
Studio 54 in the MGM also has a well-recognized party. Called "Nightmare on 54th Street," the club is decorated like Michael Jackson's Thriller video, which should really be an attraction this year. Another cool element are the "spider girls" who spin and swing on aerial webs and bungees.
 Another popular party location is at the Palms, which has five different clubs. The Playboy Club has the largest costume prize valued at $43,000, awarded to the three best Playboy-inspired costumes. Halloween night cover charges at the Palms nightclubs range from $25-40. For tickets to the Playboy at the Palms party, click here.
A tip about any Vegas club: There is selectivity in choosing how long one must wait to get inside. This is especially true for Halloween. The wilder and sexier the costume (and the hotter and sexier the costume wearer), the better.
The city's outdoor party is at the Harrah's Carnival Court. There's live music, a costume contest, drink specials and psychic and tarot card readings ($10 after 7 p.m.).
Indoors, Circus Circus hotel turns its AdventureDome into "Fright Dome." It has "scare zones," a freak show, five haunted houses and scary amusement rides. Fright Dome starts Oct. 2, and runs through Halloween. There is a $34.95 price tag, $15 more for access to all the haunted houses. There's also a haunted house calledMonster Mahem that runs from Oct. 9 thru Halloween. Admission is $23 and the location is Boca Park (Rampart at Summerlin Expressway.
Links: Halloween in Vegas . Tickets to moreLas Vegas Nightlife.
– LOS ANGELES –
No cat fight here: People party at Halloween in West Hollywood.
The city's biggest public Halloween gathering takes place in West Hollywood and is called Carnival. It's an appropriate title. Santa Monica Boulevard between La Cienega Boulevard and Doheny Drive is blocked off to traffic and people dress in all kinds of incredible costumes (remember, this is Hollywood, and people have access to movie costume creativity and possess the talent to properly display it).
LA's biggest street party brings out 300,000 for Halloween.
There are beer gardens, bands in the street and the whole thing really a scene. It goes from 6-11 p.m., and really picks up about 8. The many bars in the area are thriving during and afterward. The event is free and open to anyone, even those few who choose to go without costumes. More than 300,000 people wander the streets, making it LA's second-biggest outdoor event, behind only the Rose Bowl Parade.
Links: Carnival coverage & photos. See also the official website of the event.
LA also has dozens of promoter parties at rented venues and clubs. Some of the most outlandish of these are in Hollywood and along the Sunset Strip.
There are also Halloween haunted houses at theme parks. Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park (Orange County) turns into "Knott's Scary Farm." It runs Sept. 30, Oct. 1-4, 7-11, 14-8, 21-25 and 38-31. Prices are $31.99-$49.99 in advance and $53.99 the day of the event.
At Universal Studios, it's month-long evening horror show called Halloween Horror Nights. There's a myriad of mysterious mayhem, including "Saw: Game Over,” a “live” maze experience based on the “Saw film franchise, multi-sensory horror experience, “My Bloody Valentine: Be Mine 4 Ever" and Chucky's Fun House.
 "Scare zones" include a live staging of "Shaun of the Dead," a "Welcome to Hell!" where the seven deadly sins are punished by stilt walking demons, the “The Meat Market” with fog rolling across rotting, maggot-infested animal carcasses and the whirling blades of the butchers’ chainsaws and "Freakz," where freak show carnival characters have developed a taste for human flesh. Plus, Universal is running the "Rocky Horror Picture Show, A Tribute," with live on-screen and onstage performances of the funny cult flick.
The event dates are Oct. 2 & 3, 9-11, 15-18, 23-24, 28-31, and run from 7 p.m.-1 or 2 a.m. Prices are $40-55 and vary by day. Costumes, masks, make-up and props are not permitted here. Guests wearing costumes will be turned away at the front gate.
Links: Universal Halloween Horror website.
– NEW YORK –
The Village is the place to be for Halloween in the Big Apple. There's a parade and anyone in costume can jump into it.
There are 52 bands, dancers and artists and nearly 1 million people, making it the largest Halloween celebration in the USA.
It runs on 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 21st Street from 7-10 p.m. Official website of the event.
Students and faculty at the New York City College of Technology have crreated a high-tech haunted house, the Gravesend Inn Haunted Hotel. October 16, 17, 22–24, and 29–31; admission $6 for adults and $4 for students with a valid ID. Website.
Elsewhere in the City, there's a pumpkin and scarecrow contest display in Central Park called Pumpkin Festival’s Scarecrow Contest it's Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon-5 p.m.
– SALEM, MA–
The Witches Ball is one of the East Coast's biggest Halloween parties.
Photos: Salem Witches Halloween Ball
Of course, the place of the landmark witch trials would have an awesome Halloween party. Here it's a ball at The Hawthorne Hotel, and it's one of the biggest Halloween parties on the East Coast.
It's called the Salem Witches Halloween Ball and it includes not only the hotel but spills out into the street and into the Common. Tens of thousands of people are walking around all over town, in fact. This is a big, fun event.
The 2009 event is not on Halloween night but Friday, Oct. 30.
Link: Official website of the event.
– Halloween Festivals & Events –
In addition to happening cities, there are also great events that mark Halloween.
– FANTASY FEST, KEY WEST, FL. –
Key West, a haven for characters, gets a lot of them for Fantasy Fest.
Photo: Fantasy Fest.
The Conch Republic is known for its colorful characters throughout the year, so when given an excuse like Halloween it's even more of a zoo. Key West style, of course.
Fantasy Fest is a 10-day nearly non-stop party. There are parades, street parties, costume balls, a pimp 'n ho party, a PJ and lingerie party (featuring Kristy Morgan from the reality TV show Tila Tequila), a toga party, a "Heaven & Hell" costume contest, a "kinky lu'au," and, of course, a Rum Barrell pirate bash.The Pretenders in Paradise costume competition has a 2009 theme of "It’s Not Easy Being Green."
All kinds of people (straight and gay) turn out for one of the largest elaborate costume parties in the country. It's Mardi Gras in October.
Fantasy Facts 2009: Oct. 23-Nov. 1. Official Website: FantasyFest.net. PubClub Guide: Key West Bars.
– FRONT STREET, MAUI, HAWAII –
Talk about a party in paradise. Gorgeous Maui's main town of Lahina attracts some 25,000 people to a parade on Front Street.
Everyone, including spectators, are in costume, lined up along the street or watching from the bars and restaurants.
It begins at 4:30 with a children's parade with the main event starting at 7. In the past, the costume contest was held at Banyan Tree Park but this year it will be in the various restaurants and bars. The park does have food booths but no liquor is sold there.
The parade is free but restaurants and bars have cover charges.
Front Street 2009: Oct. 31. Official Website: LahinaHaloween.com. PubClub Guide: Masui.
– PHISH FESTIVAL –
This is going to be huge. It's a multi-day camping and music event featuring the band Phish at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California (near Palm Springs, about two hours from L.A.).
This eagerly-awaited concert is actually the band's eighth Halloween bash – the official name is Phish Festival 8 – but first on the West Coast. Phish fans are like Deadheads and the band is, for the first time, combining two of its most cherished traditions – a multi-day camping festival and performing on Halloween – in a three-day celebration.
The band will play eight sets over the course of the event, which runs Oct. 30, 31 and Nov. 1, including one on Halloween night when it will cover the entire album of another band. Tickets for all three days are $200, plus $15 for car camping or $25 for an RV (the way to go, frankly). There are no single-day tickets available. Beer will be sold in the concert grounds.
"This will be the best Halloween party you can find," said one future festival-goer, who is among the many Phish fans who have been talking about it for months.
Link: Event Website.
– WORLD'S LARGEST OUTDOOR COCKTAIL PARTY –
It's not a Halloween party but the annual Georgia-Florida college football game in Jacksonville, FL, lives up to its unofficial nickname.
These are arch-rival schools, which in college football is usually enough to create a wild atmosphere, but this is held at a "neutral" site in northern Florida, half Dawgs and half Gators. Of course, many more fans than the 77,000 that fit into Jacksonville Memorial Stadium converge on the area.
It's a short walk from downtown to the stadium and much of it is through an open area which, of course, is ideal for tailgating. Over the years, it eventually became known by its nickname, and that pretty much says everything.
Those who don't go into the game make their way to the Jacksonville Landing, an area on the water with bars, restaurants and shops. And big screen TVs.
Other interesting college football games on Halloween include USC at Oregon, Cal at Arizona State, Ohio at Ball State, and Iowa at Wisconsin.
– Top Halloween Party College Towns –
Give college students any reason to party and they will do it in grand style. Some take it to the extreme and here are three places where huge block parties take priority of things like, say, going to study at the library.
– ATHENS, OHIO –
The Halloween scene at Ohio U.
There's a reason the University of Ohio is one of PubClub.com's Top Party Schools (#7). It's the annual Halloween party. To quote a student, "Where else do they have a Halloween
party where the city literally doubles in size and roughly 20 bars in a three-block stretch uptown? Athens, of course!!"
– CHAPEL HILL, N.C. –
Even without Halloween, Franklin Street is one of the best college party places in America. Add in the excuse of Halloween and it become absolutely an all-out blast.
About 75,000 people head to the street. It's an official event (with a large police presence but they are only looking for trouble, not causing it), that runs from 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. It peaks at midnight.
– GREENVILLE, N.C. –
The ECU Bunnies.
The football team once disguised themselves as patsies and upset some major-college teams. But there's no disguising the fact that East Carolina University has a Halloween scene to rival that of Ohio U.
Here, again, we quote a student: "5th street is like Mardi Gras on Halloween. The Greenville Police
Dept. (GPD) , closes down a 6 block area because the party is so big and
crazy."
– SANTA BARBARA, CA –
It is not surprising that a college which has its own beach and students and alumni proudly proclaim that UCSB stands not for University California Santa Barbara but U Can Study Buzzed would have a wild Halloween celebration.
But it's not just the students who roll down Isla Vista. Nearly 50,000 people converge on the area, with many parties starting and spilling into the frat houses in a real-live Animal House.
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 Related Article; Best Places to Party for NYE
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