"A real Halloween Parade!" That's how the Brooklyn Heights Association described this year's event in its October bulletin. The exclamation point is earned. On Saturday, October 31, the costume parade steps off at 10:30 sharp from the north end of the Promenade, on Halloween itself. Last year it ran on October 26, five days before the holiday.
On a weekday, Halloween in the Heights is mostly a late-afternoon rush on a handful of blocks. With the 31st on a Saturday, the city's street permits, the BHA's schedule and the blocks with established trick-or-treat traditions add up to a single route that starts at the north end of the neighborhood in the morning and finishes at the south end after dark. The route runs from the Promenade to Willowtown, and this year it has more car-free street than it did two years ago.
The morning starts at the north end and walks south
The parade route covers the length of the Promenade. Families gather at the north end and march to the south end. The bake sale is there, and Brooklyn Bridge Parents' 2026 Halloween guide notes that the parade has no set end time.
The BHA is still looking for bakers. The deadline to sign up through the association's form is Monday, October 26, and treats should be dropped at the south end of the Promenade between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. on the 31st, before the marchers show up. The association asks bakers to wrap treats individually where possible and to list major allergens.
So by late morning, the parade has delivered a crowd of costumed kids to the southern end of the Promenade. That's a short walk from Willowtown, which is where the afternoon is centered this year.
Willowtown opens at noon, not at dusk
The biggest scheduling change for 2026 is on NYC DOT's Trick-or-Streets list, which this year runs for the fifth year in a row. The Willowtown Association has permits for two car-free streets on October 31:
- Columbia Place Open Street, State Street to Joralemon Street, from 12:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Joralemon Street Open Street, Furman Street to Hicks Street, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Compare that with two years ago. In 2024, Brooklyn Heights Blog listed Joralemon as the only street closure in the Heights. Adding Columbia Place, and opening it at noon, gives the neighborhood a car-free block for eight hours of a Saturday. The parade's south end is close by.
The two closures work as a pair. Columbia Place runs from State Street up to Joralemon, so the two closed streets meet. Last year Brooklyn Bridge Parents told families to enter Willowtown's Halloween from Hicks Street, and reported that the café Nako was serving treats and hot drinks on Columbia Place until 7 p.m. That was 2025. Nothing published so far confirms Nako's plans for this year, but the entry point and the layout of the blocks haven't changed.
DOT includes the usual caveat that listed events are subject to delay or cancellation, including for weather. Check the DOT page on the morning of the 31st before planning around a closure.
The blocks that don't need a permit
The car-free streets are the official layer. Under them is a tradition that predates Trick-or-Streets and runs on neighbors, not paperwork. All of it is a few blocks from the Willowtown closures.
Garden Place, Joralemon to State. The Brooklyn Eagle called it a famous, high-volume block in its October 2025 roundup of Heights decorations. The paper named 2025 the "Year of the Skeletons" and described pumpkin displays running down brownstone stoops across the neighborhood. Last year's Brooklyn Bridge Parents guide said trick-or-treating on Garden Place starts around 4 p.m. and lasts until dusk or until the candy runs out.
Hicks Street, the same stretch. One block over, the 2025 guide pointed families to FDNY Engine 224's Halloween display.
Grace Court Alley. The dead end off Hicks has an annual pumpkin display made by neighbors, according to the same guide.
These blocks run on custom, so no organization publishes a 2026 schedule for them. The most recent detailed coverage is from last year, and no 2026 reporting yet describes this year's displays. What's settled is where they are. Garden Place, the Engine 224 stretch of Hicks, Grace Court Alley and the Willowtown closures all sit within a few blocks of each other at the south end of the Heights. On a Saturday, the 4 p.m. start on Garden Place comes after four hours of an already-open Columbia Place, not at the end of a school day.
Decorations from 2025 were also documented on Willow Street, Columbia Heights, Cranberry Street, Henry Street, Montague Terrace and Sidney Place. That's useful context for a longer loop, though it doesn't tell you what will be up this year.
The afternoon has competition next door
With the holiday on a Saturday, neighboring neighborhoods have scheduled their own events for the same hours. A family that wants to fit everything in will have to choose.
- 10:00–10:30 a.m. Bake sale drop-off at the south end of the Promenade.
- 10:30 a.m. BHA Halloween Parade leaves the north end of the Promenade.
- 12:00 p.m. Columbia Place goes car-free, until 8 p.m.
- 3:00 p.m. Dumboween's March to the Arch begins, with marchers gathering on Washington Street between Front and Water Streets. The Archway party runs 3:30 to 6 p.m., and more than 60 Dumbo businesses hand out candy from 3 to 6 p.m. Look for the pumpkin sign. Dumbo's event page has the full schedule.
- 4:00 p.m. Joralemon Street closes to cars from Furman to Hicks, until 8 p.m. At the same hour, the Cobble Hill Association's parade steps off from Cobble Hill Park at Clinton Street and Verandah Place.
- 8:00 p.m. Both Willowtown closures end.
Dumboween's march goes through Brooklyn Bridge Park on the way to the Archway, so the Heights and Dumbo programs share the waterfront for the middle of the afternoon. If you're heading to the 4 p.m. Cobble Hill parade instead, the Willowtown blocks are on the way back. Brooklyn Bridge Park itself hadn't posted any Halloween-night programming for this year as of mid-October. Last year's Pier 3 haunted labyrinth shouldn't be counted on unless the park announces it again.
The two weeks before the 31st
Most of October's lead-up events in the Heights are on the next two weekends. They're spread far enough apart that you can do a costume test run before the big day.
- Saturday, October 17. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Harvest Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pier 6, with a mini pumpkin patch, crafts, live performances and pumpkin carver Lenny Calvin.
- Sunday, October 18. The Packer Pumpkin Patch runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the BHA calendar. The calendar entry doesn't give a location, so check the organizers' page.
- Friday, October 23. Library Lab: Spooky Science is from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the craft room at the Brooklyn Heights Library, 286 Cadman Plaza West. It's for ages 5 to 12, and no registration is required.
- Sunday, October 25. The last Montague Open Streets Sunday of the season includes a dog costume contest from noon to 2 p.m. near Montague Diner at 148 Montague Street, plus face painting and square dancing. The street is closed to traffic between Clinton and Hicks. The Montague BID lists hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., while the BHA bulletin says 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you're parked on those blocks, plan around the later 7 p.m. time. The same day, the Court Street Fair runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Court Street between Atlantic Avenue and Joralemon Street.
Monday, October 26 is the bake sale sign-up deadline. Five days later the parade starts at 10:30, Columbia Place goes car-free at noon, and Joralemon closes at 4.
We follow the Heights calendar as closely as we read building bylaws, because block-by-block details shape daily life. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of Garden Place and Willowtown, or anywhere else in Brooklyn Heights, The Rosen Team is glad to talk through the blocks with you. Schedule a 10-minute introductory call.
