Park Slope Children's Halloween Parade: A Halloween Parade Near Me on Seventh Avenue

The Park Slope Children's Halloween Parade steps off at 6:30 pm on Saturday, October 31, 2026, from the corner of 7th Avenue and 14th Street in Brooklyn, and anyone who wants to march should be at that corner by 6 pm. If you typed halloween parade near me from anywhere between Prospect Park and the Gowanus, this is the one built for kids: it is free, it needs no registration, and the Park Slope Civic Council has run it every year since 1986.

The Civic Council announced the 2026 edition on September 22 with a theme that practically writes the costume brief for you: The Haunted Forest of Brooklyn. Think owls, foxes, mossy trees, mushroom caps, lost woodcutters and the occasional wolf. Nobody checks costumes against the theme at the line-up, but a block of kids dressed as walking oaks looks wonderful under the streetlights, and it gives younger children an easy idea that can be built from brown paper bags and a few felt leaves.

This year the procession is led by an orange and black vintage Ford, which is the detail most kids will remember. Behind it come strollers, wagons, toddlers on shoulders and older children who have outgrown trick-or-treating but not the parade. The council describes the event as perhaps the largest children's Halloween march in the city, which is a fair sign that the curbs fill up early.

The city permit for the march, number 968322, covers 6:30 to 9 pm and closes Seventh Avenue from 14th Street down to 3rd Street, then 3rd Street from Seventh Avenue to Fifth Avenue. In practice the parade heads north along Seventh, passes the shops around 9th Street, turns left on 3rd Street and walks two long brownstone blocks to Washington Park. The whole walk is a little under a mile, which is comfortable for a five-year-old and easy for a stroller.

The finish is the Old Stone House at 336 3rd Street, inside Washington Park and the J.J. Byrne Playground between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. The house is a reconstruction of the farmhouse Claes Vechte built in 1699, and it sat in the middle of the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn; later the Brooklyn club that became the Dodgers used it as a clubhouse. On parade night the lawn turns into an after-party with spooky music from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, so plan to linger rather than rush home.

Families who want to march simply show up at 7th Avenue and 14th Street before 6 pm and fall in behind the lead car. There is no sign-up table to find and no fee. Expect the thickest crowds mid-route near 9th Street, where the F and G station at 7th Avenue lets people out right onto the route. For a calmer curbside spot with a toddler, stand on 3rd Street between Sixth and Fifth Avenues, where the brownstone stoops give you a little height and the parade is close to its finish.

Merchants along Seventh and Fifth Avenues traditionally hand out treats as the costumes pass, so bring a bag even if you are only watching. The parade moves at a child's pace, and gaps open whenever a wagon wheel jams or a superhero needs a break. If you are meeting another family, pick a numbered cross street on Seventh rather than a storefront, because the sidewalks around 9th Street get crowded enough that awnings become hard to spot.

Driving is the wrong move on Halloween night: Seventh Avenue closes to traffic for the march, and parking in the Slope on a Saturday evening is already scarce. The F and G stop at 15th Street–Prospect Park, one block from the line-up, and at 7th Avenue near 9th Street, which is mid-route. If you only want the finale, take the R to 4th Avenue–9th Street, where the F and G also stop, and walk up to Washington Park in about ten minutes.

After the music ends the crowd drains back toward those same stations at once, so give the 4th Avenue–9th Street platforms fifteen minutes to clear before you head down. Families heading toward Windsor Terrace or Kensington often walk back up Seventh Avenue instead, which is quieter once the barricades come down and has plenty of open restaurants for a late dinner.

Seventh Avenue is lined with places that know exactly what Halloween night in Park Slope looks like. Purity Diner at 289 7th Avenue is the classic booth stop for grilled cheese and pancakes before line-up, and Little Purity at 390 7th Avenue sits right on the route near the start. Grand Canyon Diner at 179 7th Avenue is closer to the 3rd Street turn, which makes it a good post-parade target for families who do not want to walk back uphill.

For something sweet, Heap's Ice Cream at 171 7th Avenue is a block from the turn onto 3rd Street, and Cafe Grumpy at 383 7th Avenue covers the coffee needs of parents who will be up late sorting candy. Burger Village at 222 7th Avenue rounds out the options if the kids want burgers. With a 6 pm line-up, the smart window for a sit-down meal is mid-afternoon, before families start staking out the curb.

This is a neighborhood parade, not a spectacle with floats and giant puppets, and that is the point. If you want towering skeletons and a crowd of tens of thousands, the Village Halloween Parade in Manhattan starts the same evening; with small kids, skip it and come here. The trade-off is that Park Slope is gentle, close to the ground and wrapped inside a permit window that ends at 9 pm, which leaves time for a few blocks of trick-or-treating on the brownstone side streets.

The one thing to plan around is the weather. October 31 in Brooklyn can be mild or raw, and costumes built from cardboard do not survive a downpour. Layer a long-sleeve shirt under the costume, bring a small flashlight or glow stick so drivers and other families can see small children after dark, and agree on a meeting point in Washington Park in case you get separated on 3rd Street.

Date and time: Saturday, October 31, 2026; line up by 6 pm, step-off at 6:30 pm. Start: 7th Avenue and 14th Street. Finish: Old Stone House, 336 3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Cost: free, no registration. Organizer: Park Slope Civic Council, Box 172, 123 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Closest trains: F and G to 15th Street–Prospect Park or 7th Avenue; R, F and G to 4th Avenue–9th Street. Theme: The Haunted Forest of Brooklyn.

The Old Stone House itself normally opens Friday through Sunday from noon to 4 pm, so a daytime visit on Halloween weekend is an easy way to show kids the 1699 house before the evening march fills the lawn. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a family dinner spot near Seventh Avenue or a quieter trick-or-treat block once the music at Washington Park winds down.