Approximately 500,000 people, many wildly dressed, are expected Friday night for West Hollywood’s Halloween Carnaval, billed by organizers as the world’s largest Halloween festivity.
The carnaval will run from 6 to 11 p.m. on Santa Monica Boulevard between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard. Children and pets are discouraged from attending because of dense crowds.
“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast member Lisa Vanderpump will be crowned as queen of the carnaval at 9:30 p.m. at the San Vicente Stage located at intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards.
The carnaval will celebrate the Greek mythological figure Medusa, known for her charms and whose long flowing hair was changed into serpents.
For the first time, a live-stream broadcast of the carnaval will be provided. It can be seen on YouTube.com/WehoTV, on Channel 99 for all AT&T U-verse customers in Southern California and on Channel 10 in West Hollywood for Time Warner Cable customers.
Another new element are the “Eventstigrammer” stations on the carnaval route to capture photos for display at instragram.com/wehocarnaval
Carnaval-goers are invited to upload photographs of their costumes to social media sites with the hashtags #wehohalloween and #wehocarnaval.
There will be six stages featuring performance artists, DJs, musical performers, dancers, contortionists and aerialists.
The Almont Stage, dubbed “The Garden of Evil,” will feature dance, spooky songs and aerialist acts and performances by the band Jessi Jae and The Ruckus.
The La Peer Stage, will feature DJ Skruffeh, one of the founders of the Southern California hardstyle scene, and DJ Lady Killer and DJ Kitsch.
The San Vicente Stage, will include performances by the band The Toledo Show, the Femme Fatale Dancers, Ricky Rebel, former lead singer of No Authority, and the acid/soul-singer/songwriter Marley Monroe.
The comedic Latina drag queens Chico’s Angels will emcee the Palm Stage, and Michelle Pesce will DJ and mix hip-hop with rock, funk, and pop.
The Westbourne Stage, will be emceed by the comedian Ant with DJ Tekki Traxx spinning tracks.
Peter Vogt will be the emcee of the Westknoll Stage, where Noah and the MegaFauna and the recording artist Dario Black will perform.
City officials are encouraging carnaval-goers to leave cars at home and instead to carpool or use public transportation.
West Hollywood will suspend permit parking restrictions from 11 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. on Saturday. Parking meters will be enforced. All parking restrictions must be observed in neighboring Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
Parking will be available in various West Hollywood city-operated structures and lots.
The PickUp shuttle bus service will have a special route and schedule for the carnaval. It will run approximately every 15 minutes on Santa Monica Boulevard, stopping at all Metro stops between Sweetzer Avenue and Plummer Park.
PickUp service will run from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. The trolley will travel in a loop until 11 p.m., then will only travel eastbound from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Street closures will include:
— San Vicente Boulevard between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue from 12:01 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday;
— Santa Monica Boulevard between Doheny Drive and Croft Avenue and Holloway Drive from noon Friday through 6 a.m. Saturday.
Additional street closure information is available on West Hollywood’s website, weho.org.
More information on the carnaval is available online at weho.org/halloween or by calling (323) 848-6503
