Join us on October 18, 2025!
We can’t wait to celebrate the 11th Annual Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade! Don’t miss your chance to see the artists and cultural organizations that make Chicago the incredible city that it is. See you on October 18th!
To see photos from the 2024 parade, click HERE.
A statement from LUMA8 regarding safety at the 2025 parade:
We are more than excited for the 11th annual Arts in the Dark Parade. Over 90 cultural organizations, guilds, and artists’ collectives will process on State Street, bringing delight to an audience that may exceed 100,000. This will be a singular moment to celebrate Chicago’s amazing cultural landscape.
We also recognize that this is a challenging and tumultuous moment for our city. With the unwelcome threat of ICE and the National Guard, our city is on edge. That being said, we are confident that our parade will be a safe event. Arts in the Dark is presented in partnership with the Chicago Mayor’s Office, and we have the full support and involvement of City officials and the Chicago Police Department. They are bringing the full weight of their city operations and security protocols to this event. They will have a Command Center at the parade, and our staff is in constant communication with them.
The City is not asking public-facing events to cancel. We continue to monitor the situation and will follow the City’s directives going forward. All that being said, we also believe we mustn’t let outside influences dictate the life of our city.
In our ten years of parades, we have never had a major incident despite crowds which have exceeded 100,000. Two years ago, there was a major downtown demonstration prior to our event with no problems. We welcome the No Kings rally earlier in the day, and we are confident that the CPD will secure this event in a professional manner. Please be aware that traffic will be challenging.
We are also working closely with our parade groups to make sure that they only participate if they are comfortable. We don’t want to put anyone at risk. A handful of groups have dropped out for this reason and we applaud their decision.
The 11th annual Arts in the Dark will be a magical moment. We thank you for joining us to celebrate the creativity and inspiration that animates our incredible city.
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