Have you ever wondered where the best places to spend Halloween Eve are? The 5 (+1) best cities to celebrate Halloween
Probably not.
There are five cities you should definitely check out for their Halloween celebration if you happen to live there. Even if you’ve been an expat for some years now, or if you’ve just started your professional journey abroad, you want to celebrate Halloween there.
You are probably aware of the benefits of travelling from time to time:
- Getting to know different cultures
- Meeting new people
- Learning new languages
- Growing as a professional
These are the most obvious advantages of living abroad. But now, let’s be real and add an underestimated benefit of living and working overseas: their celebrations and holidays. And that brings us to our subject today… What city celebrates Halloween the best?
So, let’s check the ranking, and if you’re currently in one of them: finish reading our article and then head out to the streets to enjoy Halloween.
Halloween City #1- Halloween in New York city… and State (The 5 (+1) best cities to celebrate Halloween.)
Is there any ranking in the world where New York doesn’t make it to the top? Well, as for Halloween, it has one of the biggest Halloween parades you can ever imagine.
More than 2 million people visit and watch the parade, and around 60k take part in it, dressed in costumes and around their Halloween floats.
You also have to visit neighbourhoods that make the best out of their houses on Halloween, such as the Upper West Side or the West Village.
You’ll get to see their huge spiders, mummies, witches and cobwebs all over the façades.
If you have the opportunity to visit New York surroundings, Sleepy Hollow is another Halloween must, in Westchester County. It is about 30 miles north, and you probably know it because of the tale of the Headless Horseman. In fact, you can now visit Horseman’s Hollow attraction, which opens some evenings during October.
Halloween City #2- Halloween in Mexico…or to be real, Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca
Mexico is well known for its culture (or even cult) around death. You’ll see costumes, skeletons and skulls, yes. But that is not exactly Halloween.
In Oaxaca, the Day of Dead (Día de los Muertos) honours the deceased through altars decorated with colourful skulls, family photos, and foods and drinks. If you can be there at night, you should not miss the pantheon of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán.
Halloween City #3- Celtic Halloween in Derry, Northern Ireland
Halloween is known to be American, but… Their true roots are Celtic. You can learn more about the origins of Halloween in this other blog post.
But the truth is that the actual Irish Halloween is rooted in the “American” vision of it. In Northern Ireland, you can find Halloween events throughout the whole month of October, but the most famous one is on October 31st, a huge Carnival with costumes, light shows and circus shows. Then, they top it with an amazing fireworks show.
Halloween City #4- Las Vegas on Halloween… and all year round
Las Vegas is a great destination all year, but Halloween is pretty amazing in a city full of lights, and known as the Entertaining Capital of the World.
You can also look for special shows in the most popular hotels and casinos, such as a Zombie Burlesque Show, or visit some haunted houses to make the most of your “horrific” stay.
The 5 (+1) best cities to celebrate Halloween.
Halloween City #5- “Witchy” Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts
You probably know Massachusetts as the Witch City, as it became worldwide famous because of the Salem Witch Trials, back in the seventeenth century.
You can even visit a museum dedicated to witches, but on Halloween, there are lots of special shows, called “Salem Haunted Happenings”, and they take place during the whole month of October.
Salem Ghost Tours are also an attraction you can enjoy if you’re looking for some horrific Halloween activities, and you must definitely visit the Old Burying Point Cemetery, where some of the judges of the Salem Witch Trials are buried.
And now, a bonus. We promised you the 5 best cities to spend Halloween in, but… what if there’s a sixth one?
You’re probably not going to be working as expat in Transylvania, but… can you think of a more suitable place to be on Halloween than Dracula’s home?
Halloween City #(5+1) Halloween in Bran Castle, in Transylvania
If you ask us if working in Transylvania is easy as an expat, we would probably be in trouble to give you some tips and tricks… But what if you only take a trip to visit the place in Halloween?
There’s the possibility to visit Dracula’s castle on Halloween, both during the day and at night (only suitable for adults). Can you think of a cooler way to celebrate Halloween?
Be aware that, due to covid restrictions, the usual party held at Dracula’s castle has been cancelled (as of 2021), but it’ll probably come back in future editions. The Halloween visits are still available, even though they ask for covid passport or faith that you have already had covid.
Now that you have some (very international) plans for Halloween, tell us: where’s the place you’ve enjoyed the most as an expat?
Is there any other city we shouldn’t miss as expats on Halloween?
Stay tuned for more such exciting discoveries. Get your priority access to Xpats here.
The 5 (+1) best cities to celebrate Halloween.
