"We had planned to have a later night Ball for adults... so that when the little ones slept, the adults could go dancing and partying in an indoor, more sophisticated set up. The ball has endured."

Crystal Field wrote those words in 2001 in New York Theatre Wire. Theater for the New City still reprints them on its Halloween page. The ball she describes takes place this year on Saturday, October 31, at TNC's four-theater complex at 155 First Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets. The theater counts it as the 50th. The crowds on Sixth Avenue that night will be at a parade that started as a Theater for the New City production.

The parade left, the ball stayed

The Village Halloween Parade began in 1974 as a TNC production, staged with West Village block associations. TNC's account says the procession went from the theater's second home, at Jane and West Streets, to Washington Square Park, and it won an Obie in its second year. The local block association formally took over the parade in 1976. TNC's history describes how Halloween then "forked into two parts." One part was an informal puppet parade for Greenwich Village children. The other was a late-night dress-up ball for grownups, and TNC kept that one.

Those two parts have counted their years differently. The parade's organizers list this year's march as the 53rd. It starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, and runs up Sixth Avenue from the Spring Street area to West 15th Street. Costumed marchers line up from 6:30 p.m. between Spring and Broome Streets. TNC's count is lower because the theater treats 2020 as "a year uncounted." That year the ball was held entirely online. In 2021 it moved fully outdoors, and in 2022 it went back inside.

This year Halloween falls on a Saturday. So the ball, the open streets on Avenue B and East 3rd Street, free music in Tompkins Square, and two film programs on Second Avenue all land on one weekend day. Here is the schedule.

Saturday, October 31, from afternoon to midnight

2:30 p.m. NYC DOT's Trick-or-Streets program closes two East Village blocks to traffic from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.:

• Avenue B from 7th Street down to 3rd Street, organized by the Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition
• East 3rd Street between Avenue B and Avenue A, listed under wild project

The two closures meet at the corner of 3rd Street and Avenue B, which makes them one continuous L-shaped route for kids in costume.

Afternoon, time to be announced. Show Brain has spent the past few years putting on free live music in public spaces around the city, including Tompkins Square Park. It is scheduled to be back in the park on Halloween afternoon. EV Grieve reported the plan on October 1 but gave no start time or lineup. Tompkins Square is three blocks north of the Avenue B closure, so the two fit easily into the same afternoon.

3:00 p.m. The free outdoor part of TNC's Village Halloween Costume Ball starts on East 10th Street between First and Second Avenues. TNC says it will move into a big tent if it rains. The theater's schedule, posted as of October 1, includes:

• Variety performances by Carol Tandava, Arley Trice, George Belleci, Joe Bendik and the musical group Star '69, with T. Scott Lilly as emcee
• A children's costume contest judged by Crystal Field, T. Scott Lilly and Terry Lee King, with prizes for the winners

6:45 p.m. Anthology Film Archives shows Def by Temptation.

7:00 p.m. On 10th Street, the outdoor program ends with the Red and Black Masque. TNC calls it an annual medieval ritual piece for an ensemble, performed by torchlight with the audience taking part. The party then moves indoors, where admission is $20 and a costume or formal wear is required. Inside, TNC lists:

• Nonstop performances by Austin Pendleton and more than 40 others
• Ballroom dancing to Art Lillard's Heavenly Swing Band and the Latin dance band MisterPablo
• An aerial dance concert by Caytha Jentis
• A pop-up restaurant called The Witch's Cauldron, where $5 gets a complete dinner donated by local restaurants

The Sixth Avenue parade starts at the same hour. Most people will have to choose one or the other.

Evening. At the Village East by Angelika, on Second Avenue at 12th Street, the annual Hitchcocktober series ends with Psycho on Halloween night. Select screenings, including the Halloween Psycho shows, are in the theater's Jaffe Art Theatre. EV Grieve recommends buying tickets ahead of time, especially for Psycho on Halloween night.

9:15 p.m. Anthology closes its Halloween night with Cannibal! The Musical.

Midnight. Back at TNC, the night ends with a costume judging. Each winner gets a bottle of Moët & Chandon Champagne and a free pass to TNC for a year.

TNC says the ball has drawn between 1,000 and 2,000 people across its four theaters. According to the theater, six full-length plays have grown out of short pieces first written for the festival. It also names performers who got early starts there, including Penny Arcade, Basil Twist and Charles Busch.

The week before Halloween

Halloween has the biggest lineup, but the week leading up to it uses the same streets and venues.

Saturday, October 24. 6&B Garden holds free pumpkin carving from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Pumpkin artist Tom Sebazco will demonstrate advanced carving. The garden supplies the tools, and children get first pick of the pumpkins. The event is put on by the garden's Events Committee. The garden is at 6th Street and Avenue B. On the 31st, the Avenue B open street will close the stretch just below it.

October 23 through 30. Anthology's late-October calendar is mostly Troma films and cult horror:

Anthology's posted admission is $14 general, $10 for students and seniors, and $8 for members and children 12 and under.

Wednesday, October 28. Hitchcocktober shows Vertigo at the Village East by Angelika. It is the last Wednesday screening before Psycho on Saturday.

Friday, October 30. Just south of Houston Street, the Stanton Street Open Street closes Stanton between Essex and Norfolk Streets from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is listed with More Gardens Fund as the partner.

Places to eat between stops

Several places that opened this fall sit right along the Halloween route.

Table Mercato, 214 E. 10th St. It is on the same street as TNC's outdoor stage. This is the first location outside Massachusetts for the chicken-cutlet sandwich shop, which opened September 26. It is counter service only, with no seating, so plan to eat on the street.

Barryville General, 70 Avenue A. The new market and café between Fourth and Fifth Streets is two blocks from the Avenue B closure. It took over the storefront next to the original Barryville General shop. After a soft opening, the official debut was set for October 16, with regular hours expected to run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Espressos are $3, and the coffee comes from Café Aroma. The menu includes a sweet plantain latte made with house plantain syrup. Baked goods come from Party Bus, and dairy-free soft serve from Lavender and Truffles has been available on Fridays. EV Grieve reports that the owners plan occasional late hours for soft serve, and possibly a late-night sourdough grilled cheese.

Thone, 501 E. Sixth St. This Georgian bakery-café and natural-wine bar opened in early October, around the corner from Avenue B. It is a short walk from both the pumpkin carving on the 24th and the open street on the 31st.

There are other options nearby. The Sixth Avenue parade is at 7 p.m., and for children, NYU and Community Board 2 run a Children's Halloween Parade on West 3rd Street, between Mercer Street and LaGuardia Place, from 1 to 4 p.m. But the costume ball the Halloween parade grew out of starts at 3 p.m. on East 10th Street, runs until midnight, and is free outdoors.

Gregory Cohen follows the East Village at the level of a single block, from which street becomes an open street on Halloween to which storefront just reopened as a market. If you're weighing a move to, from or within the neighborhood, request a personalized market valuation and consultation, and we'll go through the market with the same block-by-block detail.