TripOut Gay Travel:
Vamps, Tramps & Naked People: Halloween Parties from Coast to Coast by Selena Watkins

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Attention Gays: As if you didn’t know (we know you’re assembling your Lady Gaga “Paparazzi” ensemble at this very moment) Halloween is practically upon us. Got plans? Need ideas?

We’ve assembled a list of big events across the U.S. to help you sort it out. From naked parties in Key West to street parades (and dog parades in NYC) to haunted bashes in the Rockies, it’s all here.

Granted, every gay bar in the U.S. will be hosting its own costume contest and Halloween bash. But we’ve picked a few more of the big events to help you open yourself up a bit.

Many of these shindigs have an LGBT bent. Some are just raucous and mixed! But why not branch out this year and do something you’ve never done, go somewhere you’ve never gone. Take a risk. Go nuts.

You might even scare yourself!

The week leading up to Halloween may be the most raucous time of the year in party-hearty Key West (and that’s saying something.) So if you find yourself vacationing in the Keys mid-fall, and you really should , you’re set to have an awesome Halloween.

The week-long event is called FantasyFest. This year it takes place from Friday October 23rd to Sunday November 1st and every day is lined up with a steamy affair.

First and foremost, a Clothing Optional Garden of Eden Rooftop Party happens every night of Fantasy Fest. Yes, clothing is optional and yes, every night.

The premier gay event of Fantasy Fest is the Headdress Ball. The 27th Annual Headdress Ball happens on Tuesday evening, October 27th, at the Southernmost Hotel and this year’s theme is “Vexing Villains and Hedonistic Heroes.” The first place winner receives $1,000! Wow.

Friday the 30th is set to be a wild night. You can hang with some tres femme fatales at the “Venus Vixens and Vamps” Party for women only, or surround yourself with sexy blokes at the “Fetish and Fantasy Party” at the Island House for men.

On Halloween Day, The Key West Business Build celebrates with a major Parade. And then that night dress up and hit the town!

Of Course New Orleans is on this list. Halloween is a gay circuit weekend in New Orleans attracting lesbians and gays from around the country. The only other events to attract more queer visitors to the gulf are Southern Decadence and Mardi Gras. So yes, this is the real deal.

The Bourbon Pub Parade will celebrate Halloween in New Orleans from Thursday until Sunday with consecutive club parties. The Bourbon Pub and Parade is New Orleans’s largest gay bar and nightclub, and apparently the longest continuously-operating gay nightclub in the country. The video bar and dance club will host some great DJ’s including Susan Morabito, Lydia Prim and Jayskee.

Halloween in New Orleans will also be celebrated with a roster of parties thrown byHalloween 26 – a non-profit organization benefiting Project Lazarus, a home in New Orleans for men and women with AIDS. They’re hosting four nights of major events all dedicated to the cause.

This year’s theme is “Twisted Seasons” and the weekend celebrations include “An Autumn Indulgence,” “Wicked Winter Wonderland,” “A Midsummer Night’s Scream,” and “Spring Rejuvenation.”

“A Midsummer Night’s Scream” happens on Halloween day and it is a costume-mandatory dance party. When you enter the venue, you will enter through hundreds of floats from [drum roll please] Mr. Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World.

New York, New York!

This year is the 36th annual New York City Village Parade and the theme is “Terra Incognita,” which is Latin for Unknown Land.

This massive outdoor party is one of the nation’s largest public Halloween celebrations and it is listed in, 100 Things to Do before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can’t Miss. It’s such an honor.

The parade has also been picked by Festivals International as the “Best Event in the World.” That is a bold statement but hey, you never know—you never know until you go. And to attend as a bystander is worthless–and dangerous. It gets so crowded you can almost get crushed by the mobs. So, your best bet is to actually march down 6th Avenue and be deep in the middle of all the fun.

And in NYC’s East Village this coming Saturday, Oct. 24th (Sunday if it rains) is the 19th Annual Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade. Get there at noon to see a zillion amazing pooches prancing about in fantastic costumes. Cute, cute, cute!

The High Heel Drag Queen Race is a DC Halloween tradition. The Tuesday before Halloween (this year October 27th) men and women flock to see drag queens in the most elaborate garments racing down 17th street.

The diverse crowd gathers in DuPont Circle as early as 6pm, and the race doesn’t even begin until 9pm (Hello! It’s drag time!). So get there early.




Since this event happens well before Halloween, you can spend the remainder of the week in the DC area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) in haunted houses, spooky museums and corn mazes, on haunted trails and ghost tours or pumpkin picking. There are also community parades and plenty of costume parties.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, any day, any year. So for Halloween weekend, surely the rule applies. All of the clubs and famous hotels on the Strip will continue to overflow with people having a scary good time.

For those of you with flesh on the brain, the 14th Annual Fetish and Fantasy Halloween Ball in Vegas is ranked as one of the “Five Events to Attend before You Die” by Maxim Magazine. And since it’s Maxim expect a certain amount of hetero-cheese and excess. But this is Vegas, after all…

It’ll take place at the New Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel.

Expect plenty of sexy costumes, erotic stage performances, fire, laser, lights, stilt walkers, freaks, monsters and a whole lot of naughty at a whopping $82. That actually ain’t bad for Vegas.

The Bar at Union Station (BUS) is reserved for the 21st Annual Big Ass Halloween Bash and Costume Party.

This Halloween bash is hosted by a small group of friends. It began in the apartment they lived in at College Station, and then moved to a beach house in Galveston. It grew in size drastically over the years and they’ve moved from venue to venue in search of a place that will house all of the ghoulish party goers.

The Big Ass Halloween bash is known for its standard 25 kegs, ‘witches brew,’ and over two thousand Jell-O shots. And we’re not sure how super-gay this event may or may not be, but after enough Jell-O shots it may not even matter.

The Jell-O shot tradition, also known as Gary’s Famous Flamin’ Jell-O Shots, is advertised as XXX flammable concoctions, “not recommended for people who have been or will be smoking, people with ulcers, heart or liver conditions.” That’s a bit serious…and very tempting.

Spooky Bear Weekend is the annual celebration of Halloween in PTown. The Spooky Bear Party and Costume Contest, happening on Halloween night, will feature music from DJ Chris Racine and cash prizes for best group costumes, sexiest costumes and scariest costumes.

For those of you who have been to Provincetown, you know the Atlantic House. This legendary Ptown haunt hosts weekly themed parties on Friday nights, and the night before Halloween the theme is Friday Fetish. I’m not sure what that means other than a good time. And probably pervy Ptown men getting busy.

Space City Mixer, Seattle’s largest social organization will throw the Ultimate Halloween Bash in Downtown Seattle. It is the 8th year for the anticipated event and it will happen at the Showbox Theater at 8pm.

The most unique part of the party will be tarot card readers, crystal ball interpreters and astrologers.

That’s genius.

Seattle’s high energy party band, Cool-Ade will provide the entertainment for the night and there will be $4,000 worth of prizes for the costume contest.

One would probably attend particularly for the psychic reading. I would.

There are over sixty Halloween parties going down in clubs all over Dallas, Texas all weekend long so whatever you do down there, you shouldn’t be bored, eating all of the candy you bought for trick-or-treaters.

There’s a great event taking place at the NYLO Plano Hotel on Halloween night. It goes along with the world’s current obsession with vampires. The event is called, NYLOVamp – A Vampire’s Ball.

The costume contest is probably the number one reason to truck it to Plano. Third prize wins a $50 gift certificate to the Loft at NYLO Plano,second prize wins a weekend stay at the hotel, and first prize wins a getaway for two to New Orleans.

Admission is $20 but those who pay a couple extra bucks can extend the partayy past hours.

A $129 special package offers two tickets to the party, one night in the hotel’s King Loft, and breakfast for two.

There’s nothing better than a romantic and haunted bloodsucking weekend!

This year at the 22nd Annual West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval, Los Angeles is expecting a crowd of ½ million. That may because it is a free event. It is one of L.A.’s largest events, coming in second to the New Year’s Day Rose Parade in Pasadena.

It was solely a gay and lesbian affair in past years but it has grown to attract a diverse crowd celebrating all different lifestyles.

A week’s worth of events lead up to the fiesta, including a youth carnival, a pet costume contest, pumpkin carving contests and Drag Races. Dress up in your best drag and your most comfortable killer stiletto heels for intense relay races to participate.

The Carnaval takes place on Halloween from 6pm to midnight between La Cienega Boulevard and La Peer Drive on Santa Monica Boulevard, “Route 66,” in West Hollywood.

If you’re the one just looking for a SCARY good time, without the added fabulousity, you’ll find it in Denver. They’ve got a website dedicated to the surplus number of haunted houses open in this one city.

I’m not so sure why there are so many, but I guess living in the chilly Rockies calls for creativity. Check out this guy below. He’s not playing. Boo, already!