Hotels near Frenchmen Street on Halloween Night

On Halloween night itself, Saturday 31 October 2026, the costume party that matters most is not ticketed at all. Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny, just downriver from the French Quarter, fills with thousands of people in elaborate homemade costumes, and the three blocks between Esplanade Avenue and Royal Street turn into one long street party. Things build slowly through the evening and properly take off after 10pm, when brass bands start playing on corners and the music clubs spill out onto the pavement. Walking the street is free; individual venues such as The Spotted Cat Music Club may charge a small cover or ask for a one-drink minimum. Frenchmen Street is the city's main live-music strip, which is why the soundtrack here leans toward jazz, brass and funk rather than DJ sets.

For many visitors this is the best of the things to do in New Orleans for Halloween, because the costumes are the entertainment. Locals take it seriously, with group costumes, puns on city politics and full Mardi Gras-level beading. Bourbon Street in the French Quarter also packs out on 31 October and is louder and drunker, with open containers in plastic go-cups allowed on the street. Expect heavy crowds on both streets.

The same weekend brings Halloween New Orleans (HNO), the LGBTQ+ Halloween weekend that reaches its 43rd edition in 2026 and raises money for Project Lazarus, a local HIV/AIDS housing charity. Its 2026 programme runs from 30 October to 1 November, with the Lazarus Ball at The Barnett on Friday, a costume party at The Fillmore from 10pm to 3am on Saturday and a Sunday tea dance at Woldenberg Riverfront Park.

Pro Tip: Eat dinner by 8pm, because Marigny kitchens get swamped later. Arrive on Frenchmen Street around 9:30pm, walk the 500 and 600 blocks first, then drift toward Washington Square Park on the Elysian Fields end if the crowd gets too tight. Carry small bills for covers and bar tabs.