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by Anthony Morgano (profile)

Chicago, IL — On Wednesday, October 31, ghosts, ghouls and other things that go bump in the night (as well as some scantily clad athletes and drag queens, no doubt) will converge on Halsted Street in Boystown for the 16th Annual Halloween on Halsted Parade, presented by the Northalsted Business Alliance and Triangle Neighbors.

"Several new debuts happen this year, which are sure to elevate the event profile," Nirmalpal Sachdev, manager of Steamworks and chairperson for the Halloween Parade, told ChicagoPride.com. "A pre-party during the costume registration at Circuit gets things going early, the new route going south from Waveland and ending at Belmont means more space and our legendary costume contest has some star power this year... It is certainly a night not to be missed."

The parade will be starting at 7 p.m., later than in years past, with a pre-party and costume registration from 4 to 6 p.m. at Circuit Nightclub, located at 3641 N Halsted, just south of Waveland where the new parade route kicks off. For the first time since it's inception, the Parade route is lengthening and also flipping directions, traveling from Waveland in the north to Belmont in the south instead of the usual south to north route.

The incomparable Miss Foozie returns for yet another year to emcee as the costume contest participants strut their stuff down Halsted, competing for the thousands of dollars that will be awarded to the top costumes in categories like Most Original Costume, Scariest, Best Group, Best Drag and Best Pet Costume. The audience will help determine the winners along with guest judges MaCray Huff and Katrell Mendenhall from the Style Network's hit show "Chicagolicious."

The event culminates in a stage show at the Main Stage on Halsted and Belmont with performances by Miss Foozie, the Chicago Spirit Brigade, Environmental Encroachment and the Chicago Fire Tribe. With the impending end of the world predicted by the running out of the Mayans' ancient calendar, this year's parade theme is Apocalypse 2012.

"Together with Triangle Neighbors, we've put together an event that is sure to do justice to our apocalyptic theme," Sachdev said. "There will be no better place to spend Halloween than on Halsted."

CalendarQ: More information on the Northalsted Halloween Parade

More Halloween night happenings on CalendarQ from ChicagoPride.com and Windy City Times.

View photos from Halloween in Boystown 2011:
Gallery One | Gallery Two | Gallery Three | Gallery Four

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