New York 42 A Basil Twist puppet will lead the Halloween parade up Sixth Avenue
Since we published
- The Grand Marshal has been named: Joey Arias, the cabaret singer, jazz vocalist and drag performer. The details are on the parade's own entry.
A parade that anyone in costume can join has to decide one thing in advance: what goes at the front. For the 53rd Village Halloween Parade it is a Firehorse — a puppet commissioned for the Year of the Horse from Basil Twist, the puppeteer whose work carried a MacArthur Fellowship.
The details that are fixed
Saturday 31 October 2026, stepping off at 7:00pm up Sixth Avenue, under the theme Body & Soul. Spectrum News NY1 carries it live from 8:00pm, which is the hour the middle of the parade is passing rather than the hour it begins.
Who is behind the front of it
The Firehorse is choreographed by Julie Atlas Muz and the parade is produced by Barbara Busackino of Tandem Otter Productions. A lead puppet is not decoration: it sets the pace the first half-mile walks at, and in a procession with no auditions it is the only part of the line-up anyone can plan.
The rest is still open
No Grand Marshal has been announced. Watching is free, and joining in is free to anyone in costume — the full timing and the route are on the parade's own entry.
Broadcast coverage starting an hour after the step-off tells you something useful about where to stand. The front of the parade is the part with the commissioned work in it, and it passes the lower blocks first; by the time a camera is live the head of the procession is well uptown. Anyone who wants to see the Firehorse rather than the crowd behind it should be south and early.
A Basil Twist puppet will lead the Halloween parade up Sixth Avenue: questions
What is the theme of the 2026 Village Halloween Parade?
Body & Soul, with a Firehorse puppet by Basil Twist leading the parade for the Year of the Horse.
Can I watch the Halloween parade on television?
Yes — Spectrum News NY1 broadcasts it live from 8:00pm on 31 October.
Source: NYC Village Halloween Parade checked against the source
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