Los Angeles From Halloween to New Year’s: The Season’s Dates, From Olvera Street to Zoo Lights and the Rose Parade

Darlings, Halloween is the opening number, not the show. Between tonight and New Year’s Day, Los Angeles stages a full season: candlelit processions, a car show, three of the region’s best light walks, a parade down Hollywood Boulevard and a parade the whole country watches from bed. Every date below comes from the organizer’s own page. Save it, share it, and book the ticketed ones before your friends do.

This weekend

Saturday, Oct. 31: Halloween, rain or shine. The National Weather Service expects Los Angeles’s first wet Halloween since 2014, according to LAist, with the best chance of rain Saturday night into Sunday morning. West Hollywood’s Halloween Carnaval runs 6 to 11 p.m. on Santa Monica Boulevard regardless, per The Pride LA. Our full read on both coasts is in today’s Pulse.

Sunday, Nov. 1: clocks fall back. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m., so you gain an hour of sleep after the party and lose an hour of evening light all season.

Through Monday, Nov. 2: Día de los Muertos on Olvera Street. The historic street’s celebration runs Oct. 25 through Nov. 2, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a nightly Novenario procession at 7 p.m. that concludes on Nov. 2, according to Olvera Street’s events page. It is one of the city’s most moving traditions; go respectfully, and go hungry.

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November

Nov. 4 to 12: the Taurid meteors. The American Meteor Society lists the Southern Taurids’ fireball peak around the night of Nov. 4–5 and the Northern Taurids on Nov. 11–12, under a very thin Moon. Our space column has the details; any dark spot outside the city glow will do.

Nov. 20 to 29: the Los Angeles Auto Show. The show returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center for ten days, according to its official visitor guide. Weekday daytimes are the calm window; weekends are for people-watching.

Nov. 20 to Jan. 10: L.A. Zoo Lights. The zoo’s evening light walk runs on select nights, with free parking and tickets starting at 19 dollars, according to the L.A. Zoo. It is dark on Nov. 26 and 30; Dec. 1, 7, 14 to 16, 24, 25 and 31; and Jan. 4 to 7. Two special nights are worth noting: a Sensory-Inclusive Night on Dec. 8 and Pride Night on Dec. 17.

Nov. 22 to Jan. 9: Enchanted Forest of Light at Descanso Gardens. The La Cañada Flintridge garden’s illuminated trail runs nightly from 5:30 to 10 p.m., closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, according to the garden’s FAQ. It is the most romantic walk on this list; book a weeknight.

Sunday, Nov. 29: the Hollywood Christmas Parade. The parade returns to Hollywood Boulevard the Sunday after Thanksgiving, according to its official site. Arrive early for a curb; leave late to let the crowd clear.

New Year’s Day

Friday, Jan. 1, 2027: the 138th Rose Parade. The parade steps off at 8 a.m. at Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevards in Pasadena and runs about two hours, with the theme “Welcome,” according to the Tournament of Roses. If you are out late on New Year’s Eve, the television broadcast is a perfectly respectable way to attend.

New Year’s Eve itself: the city’s big public countdowns had not posted 2026 details when we checked. We will update this calendar as official plans are announced.

How to use this list

“Models are a business,” Eileen Ford told the Toronto Star in 1988, “and they have to treat themselves as a business.” A social season is no different. Book the ticketed light walks now, keep the free nights loose, and leave one weekend in December entirely unplanned. Somebody interesting always calls.

Sources

1. LAist: Halloween rain forecast for Southern California (Oct. 29, 2026)
2. The Pride LA: West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval set for Saturday, rain or shine (Oct. 30, 2026)
3. Olvera Street: Day of the Dead
4. American Meteor Society: meteor shower calendar
5. Los Angeles Auto Show: Know before you go
6. Los Angeles Zoo: L.A. Zoo Lights
7. Descanso Gardens: Enchanted Forest of Light FAQs
8. The Hollywood Christmas Parade: official site
9. Tournament of Roses: Rose Parade
10. The Globe and Mail (Associated Press): Agency founder Eileen Ford set standard for modelling industry

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