What I Learned at my First Halloween Carnaval
Every year since 1987, a mile of Santa Monica Boulevard has been blocked off on October 31st for the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval. Thousands of costumed attendees roam the street and bars, enjoying the various food trucks and live DJ set.
My boyfriend and I attended the event for the first time last year. I wore a devil inspired drag look and he went as Ghostface from the Scream franchise.
We arrived around 10 PM, unaware that the event runs from 6 PM to 11 PM. On most nights this wouldn’t be too late, but on Halloween, it was absolutely packed, and every bar had an infinite line. After waiting in one of them for half an hour and hardly moving an inch, we gave up. Instead of bar hopping, we decided to walk around, socialize, take pictures, and admire everyone’s costumes.
While the event may officially end at 11 PM, the crowd certainly didn’t thin out for the next couple hours. We stayed until midnight, only to discover that getting home wasn’t as simple as calling an Uber or Lyft. With the street blocked off and difficult to access, using a rideshare meant walking several blocks away from Santa Monica Boulevard. We headed toward W Holloway Dr and N Horn Ave, waited on the curb, and tried again. Although cars were now available, the prices were sky-high. We wondered if walking even farther, perhaps into a quieter residential area, might help reduce the fare. So we trekked 1.5 miles to Wilshire Boulevard, only to find that the Uber prices were exactly the same!
This year, I plan to arrive between 8 and 9 PM—a potential sweet spot with a lively but less overwhelming crowd. And while there’s no avoiding the steep rideshare prices, at least this time I won’t be hiking 1.5 miles in my heels to try and beat them.
queerestmagazine.com 
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