(Awww)
Do you have babies, little ones, tiny tots or rugrats? Halloween in the Slope is great fun for all ages—with a little forethought.
Updates for Halloween 2024
Trick or Treating takes place on Halloween, October 31st. In Park Slope, most businesses on 7th Avenue give out candy, but it’s much more fun to go see the fun candy chutes and costumes along the residential streets. (There’s no trick or treating on Saturday/Sunday). In other neighborhoods, just like Park Slope, there are wonderful places to trick or treat. No Trunk or Treat here!
The Park Slope Parents/Old Stone House Halloween Costume Contest is always the Sunday before Halloween. Photos from 2024 are HERE.
The Park Slope Civic Council Children's Halloween Parade take place at 6:30pm on Halloween. The Parade kicks off at 7th Avenue and 14th Street and winds up at the Old Stone House at 5th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets.
Check out much more in the PSP Guide to Halloween + Harvest Fun: 2024 Edition!
Timing for Trick or Treating
- Trick or treating is alive and well on local streets. Some streets get permits to close the streets so folks can roam without car traffic. There are lots of parades, a few on Halloween and others typically the Sunday before.
- Go early while it's still light. If you head out around 4:30, then you have plenty of time to get in some trick or treating, grab a quick dinner, and sort your candy and swap (which is what I did with my family when I was young—Butterfingers are still my favorite). Trick or treating is typically over by 7:15pm or so. Some folks stay out later (and sometimes with the candy their kids brought home that they didn’t like, but most houses close up by 7 or so).
- The stores open have candy and hand it out at the doorway—you don’t have to go in. However, some stores on 5th and 7th Avenues sometimes have "no trick or treaters til 4" signs, but that’s typically when Halloween is on school days. PLEASE patronize the stores that provide candy and make things fun! Local businesses can spend hundreds of dollars on candy (and have to pay a staff person that day JUST to pass it out), so you can pay it forward by supporting them.
Where to go
- Choose two or three residential streets—that's usually enough for most kids, and do you really need that much candy? Many folks just sit out on their stoop and handed out candy. During Covid, lots had cool candy chutes that they still bring out each year.
- Scout out blocks & houses with a lot of Halloween decorations—that's a big indication that there will be celebrations! Parents also suggest that brownstone and wood frame house blocks are great and welcoming to trick or treaters. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. OF PLACES WITH GREAT DECORATIONS!
- All of Brooklyn typically has trick or treating.
- Co-op and apartment buildings aren’t typically “outsider welcoming” for trick or treating. However, if you do know folks in a building, it can be fun. In some buildings, you only knock on doors that have decorations on them. Some people just leave a big bowl of candy out for trick or treaters—which you may find heaven or hell depending on your perspective. It's nice if the bowl-leaver-outers oversee your kids so they limit their candy hoarding.
Equipment to bring
- Strollers are great for marching in the Halloween parade, but not so great for getting around on the crowded sidewalks. Consider bringing a carrier and/or a stroller that folds easily to facilitate getting through the crush. If you're going to the Park Slope Parade, you would join the parade at the end of the procession, say, 3rd Street and 7th Avenue. This lets kids march, but not for so long that it becomes exhausting.
Make it sociable!
- Go trick-or-treating with friends and make it an occasion. Have a quickie kid dinner of brains, eyeballs, and spiders, then head out for trick-or-treating. Let kids go trick or treating on their own. If you have to be there, hand with parent-friends at the end of the block.
Stay SAFE
Be sure to review Park Slope Parents' tips for a safe Halloween.
