I must confess that I'm not much of a Halloween person. I adore seeing all the pumpkin decorations and eating absolutely everything that contains pumpkin––including the 40 Carrots pumpkin frozen yogurt, which I tried today––but I'm not that into Halloween. Back home, I would normally bake pumpkin coffee cake, hang out with some friends and go watch the zombie parade, which was my favourite attraction. But other than that, I barely noticed Halloween.
However, Halloween is a pretty big holiday in New York, and although I haven't decided what I'll be doing yet, I have been thinking of some cool ideas. They're all super different plans, so I guess they suit different moods and personalities.
This is an old-time tradition to celebrate Halloween in New York––it's turning 41 this year. This year's theme is "the garden of earthly delights." Those of you who like to dress up can join the parade and its massive puppets, music bands and artists. There's also a costume contest, so good luck if you're thinking on participating!
For those of us who don't particularly like the idea of wearing costumes––or coming up with a cool one, which seems to be my problem––people-watching is a good idea. I really love to see how creative and crafty people are when it comes to Halloween costumes, and I'm dying to take some pictures during the parade.
This event is planned around the current exhibition by the Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire––which is absolutely beautiful and you should all see!
This evening program includes a wide range of activities, ranging from a guided tour of the exhibit to performances, gallery talks, and art-making activities. Visitors are encouraged to wear nineteenth-century grievance attire, so I'm pretty sure you'll get to see some amazing dresses this day! It is also a more relaxed activity than many others, so it will probably be nice if you're just planning on chilling out for Halloween.
3. Visit a Haunted House
It's been a very long time since I last visited a Haunted House––despite the fact that I really enjoyed them––so it might be a good time to go back there. There are quite a lot of haunted houses in New York this season, so you'll probably have a lot of options. To be honest, I haven't done much research on this, but this TimeOut article might help. One of my friends also told me that the one near Times Square was very good!
4. Party Out!
I'm not really sure I'll be partying on Halloween, but I've seem some pretty cool events that I would totally attend to if I were on the right mood. My personal favourite is the Masquerade Ball at the NoMad Hotel––just because I love masquerade balls! But I would also consider attending the Freedom Party NYC Halloween Jam, which features a pretty cool group of DJs that will be playing varied music and making you have lots of fun.
I'm not really sure I would consider this a party, but there will also be a concert of The Infamous Stringdusters in the Highline Ballroom that could also be fun. I'm not 100% sure but you might get some drinks while listening to their music––which I recently found I really like––and share a cool evening with friends.
5. Stay in and Watch Movies
This is definitely not what I'm planning on for this Halloween––I really, really want to go out, even if it's nothing crazy––but I guess it's always an option. I'm not really into horror movies––although they seem to be a widely accepted favourite for Halloween––so I would probably recommend watching a cute Halloween-related movie that takes you back to your childhood. My personal favourites: Casper, Edward Scissorhands, and Hocus Pocus. I guess we could also add some more recent ones to the list, including the Harry Potter series, and Maleficent.
Love,
Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio
