The Broadway Halloween Parade is Saturday, October 17, 2026, 6 to 9 PM, on South Broadway. It is free, it is all ages, and on a good year about 30,000 people line the curb. This page has the date, the route, how to get in and out without a car, and what to do after. It also covers the two Halloween Saturdays that follow, because the parade is the opening act of a three-Saturday October in Denver, and we produce the closer: Paranormal Palace, the 21+ hotel takeover on Halloween night itself.

Updated October 11, 2026. We will re-check closure times and the route the week of the parade.

A mile of South Broadway closes to traffic and fills with hearses, hot rods, horses, giant skeletons, dance troupes, zombies, and neighborhood floats throwing candy. It started in 2017 as a Broadway Merchants Association project and grew from about 5,000 people to roughly 30,000 by 2023. It nearly died in 2024 when Denver Police required about $26,000 in pedestrian barricades; the neighborhood raised the money in weeks. In 2025 the Campos Foundation signed on as presenting sponsor for ten years, the route stretched south to Virginia Avenue, and the float count hit 80. Production now runs close to $100,000 a year.

For 2026 the parade moved under the new Broadway General Improvement District, the business district Denver voters approved in November 2025. Same street, same formula, more money behind it.

Bring a candy bucket for the kids. Wear a costume; the crowd does. There is no spectator registration and no walk-in option. If you are not on a float, you are on the curb, which is where the fun is.

Light rail is the move. Alameda Station sits three blocks west of Broadway on the C, E, and temporary T lines, and I-25 and Broadway Station is at the south end of the corridor on the same lines. RTD suspended the D, H, and L lines in September 2026 for the downtown rail rebuild, so older articles listing those lines are out of date. Check rtd-denver.com the week of.

Buses: routes 0, 0L, 1, 3, 52, and P all serve the parade area.

Driving: parking near the route is scarce and the organizers say so. In 2024 lanes on Broadway started closing around 2 PM, the full closure ran through cleanup at about 10 PM, and metered spots on the route were unusable the whole time. In 2025 the barricades extended south to Virginia. Plan on side streets several blocks out, or a rideshare drop near 6th and Broadway.

Weather: the average high for October 17 is 65 and the average low is 36. The parade runs after sunset, so expect the 40s dropping into the 30s by the end. Layers, a blanket, and a lawn chair. Arrive by 5 PM for a curb spot; both sides of the street are open for viewing the full length of the route.

The parade ends at 9 on a Saturday and the route is lined with bars. The closest Halloween-specific stop is Adrift at 218 S Broadway, which runs its Nightmare in Paradise tiki pop-up through October 31. Hi-Dive, Sputnik, Historian’s Ale House, Punch Bowl Social, and Badgers Pub are all on or steps from the route. Expect every one of them to be packed by 9:15; the parade crowd does not go home.

The full list of Halloween pop-up bars around the city, with dates and reservation links, is here: Denver Halloween pop-up bars 2026. If a haunted house is more your speed than a bar, here is every Denver haunted house open this season.

October 2026 lines up unusually well in Denver. Halloween itself lands on a Saturday for the first time since 2020, and the next one is not until 2037. The parade kicks off a three-Saturday run:

The bar crawl is run by the Broadway GID Foundation and is the official companion to the parade. The first one in 2025 drew 500 people and raised $15,000 toward the parade’s costs. Tickets are on Humanitix.

Halloween night is ours. Paranormal Palace takes over the entire DoubleTree DTC: an 8,000 square foot haunted forest ballroom, a multi-level atrium dance floor, three DJs, 20-plus performers, four private VIP areas with drinks included, and hotel rooms upstairs from $145 so nobody drives home. The clocks fall back at 2 AM, so it is a 25-hour Halloween night. Here is everything open in Denver on Halloween night if you want the whole picture before you pick.

If you searched for a Denver Halloween parade and meant something else, here is what exists:

• Longmont Halloween Parade and Trick or Treat Street: Saturday, October 31, 10 AM, down Main Street. Free, no registration, 45-plus years running. The only true suburban Halloween parade we could confirm for 2026.
• BOOnion Station: Thursday, October 29, 4 to 7 PM at Union Station. Free and kid-focused.
• Denver Zombie Crawl: the free downtown street crawl last ran October 19, 2024 at Larimer Square. No 2026 date has been announced as of this update. The ticketed Denver Zombie Crawl Halloween Bar Crawl on October 30 and 31 is a separate commercial bar crawl that borrowed the name.
• Golden Howl-o-ween: Sunday, October 18, noon to 3 PM at The Golden Mill. A dog costume event, not a parade.
• Littleton Goblin Giveout: Sunday, October 25, noon to 4 PM, downtown Littleton. Trick-or-treating, not a parade.
• Boulder Munchkin Masquerade: October 31 on the Pearl Street Mall, ages 12 and under.