HOME  » WORLD TRAVELER  »  ALAN’S VIEW

Alan’s View

October 2010

ASD Picks: 3 Best Halloweens

Last year at this time I began our newsletter discussing Halloween, and I thought it worth repeating some of that piece—but in the context of identifying the three absolutely best places to spend this year’s Halloween. [But read this in the “do as I say, not as I do” mode because I’ll be “celebrating” this year’s Halloween in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), which I hope to tell you about in one of these columns, but hardly the first place a Halloweener would go.]

A brief history: The top three things that the Irish have done for the world are a) created Irish coffee; b) saved civilization; and most importantly, c) gave us Halloween! (My apologies to those who think St. Patrick’s Day is more important than saving civilization.) According to history.com, the origins of Halloween date to some 2000 years ago, when the Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. The night before, when ghosts of the dead visited the living world, Celtic priests built huge bonfires, Celts wore costumes, and God knows what else happened! A thousand years later, the Romans—who knew a good thing when they saw it—revived the holiday with the help of a pope or two. November 1st became All Saints’ Day, the evening prior became Hallowmas, and the costumes evolved into saints, angels and devils. In nineteenth-century America, Irish immigrants, by then perhaps the world’s experts in partying, helped educate the masses (i.e., doubting Protestants) about this not-to-be-missed opportunity to celebrate (and make money selling candy), and soon everyone was trick-or-treating. It is even estimated that today more people celebrate Halloween than watch “American Idol.”

By “best” Halloween I mean large street parties that are let-your-hair-down fun, and actually take place on or, if a multi-day event, include October 31st. This emphasis on fun rules out the more spiritual “Day of the Dead” celebrations taking place in much of the world outside the U.S. and Canada. And one of the most outrageous events in the U.S., San Francisco’s (although it has moved to neighboring Richmond for the first time) incredible Exotic Erotic Ball, an over-the-top, warehouse-filled nightclub and costume party held on October 24th, is ruled out on both counts.

For a period of time, San Francisco could claim top honors for a Halloween street party, thanks to the creativity and energy of its gay and lesbian community. Times change. City officials who deemed the celebration unmanageable have tamed the raucous Castro Street parties. No streets will be closed, and the police will likely outnumber the revelers. That makes my first choice for where to be easy.

1. Key West Fantasy Fest
It would be hard to beat sunny Key West, a short hop from Miami, as a backdrop to a Halloween celebration. Fantasy Fest lasts nine days, beginning Friday, October 22nd, and the highlight among many wild and crazy happenings is the spectacle of the Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade on the 30th. If you’ve ever wondered how you’d look in body paint, this is the place to be. October 31st is somewhat anti-climactic, so you’ll have Sunday morning to wash the paint off before flying off to catch another great Halloween event in either New York or LA (where the time-zone advantage makes this possible).

2. West Hollywood Costume Carnaval
It’s not the largest Halloween street party (see #3), but it’s huge and creative. As we say in our events calendar section, “All persuasions except the overly timid are welcome to participate or gape.” West Hollywood, a little slice of Los Angeles that benefits from an influential gay and lesbian community, could easily lay claim to being one of the nation’s party capitals. With hundreds of thousands more people attending this Halloween event than just ten years ago, there’s now unfortunately more gaping than participating, but I’m hopeful that enough of you will show up in your Sarah Palin or Lady Gaga costume and turn that ratio around.

3. New York’s Village Halloween Parade
It’s an attitude like, “If the Yankees don’t win
the series it was a bad season.” New Yorkers
will settle for nothing less than being the numero uno Halloween fun capital. As the promoters modestly put it, their parade will be “the Nation’s Most Wildly Creative, Largest Public Participatory Event in the Greatest City in the World!” Of course, it’s not without its controversy, not unlike San Francisco, where some people think too much partying is a bad thing. Nonetheless, the parade has survived for 36 years, and this year’s Greenwich Village parade promises to give anti-partiers another reason to complain.