Central Park Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Sail
Date: Thursday October 30, 2025, 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Celebrate Halloween in Central Park with a family-friendly event full of magic, entertainment, and music, featuring the Central Park Conservancy’s signature Pumpkin Flotilla. Enjoy live music, spooky stories, pumpkin carving demonstrations, a costume parade, and the flotilla, which sets sail across the Harlem Meer at twilight! This year’s event will also include live bat encounter presentations by the Organization for Bat Conservation.
Get a pumpkin: Bring a pumpkin that weighs about 8 pounds after it’s carved – that’s approximately the size of a soccer ball. Mini or extra-large pumpkins cannot be accepted for the flotilla.
Drop off your pumpkin: We will have a designated drop-off area near the Dana Discovery Center between 4:00 pm and 5:45 pm. Space in the flotilla is limited to 50 pumpkins and is first come, first served. Please make sure your creation meets all the requirements.
Wear your costume and bring a carved jack-o’-lantern before 5:30 pm for spooky music, crafts, live entertainment, a parade, and New York City’s largest pumpkin sail parade. Before the main event at dusk, kids are invited to show off their most creative costumes in a parade, dance to the Monster Mash and other Halloween songs by live musicians or work on creepy crafts. The event is free, with no registration required, but keep in mind, it is weather permitting.
There are no tickets, but please RSVP to let us know you’re coming. Please visit Central Park’s Halloween on the Harlem Meer page to RSVP and for more information about dropping off your pumpkin.
Schedule of Events
| 4:00 pm – 5:45 pm | Pumpkin Drop Off* Pumpkin Carving by Hugh McMahon Halloween Crafts Spooky Stories Festive Pumpkin Patch* |
| 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm | Halloween Costume Parade |
| 6:30 pm | Pumpkin Flotilla Launch |
| 7:00 pm | Event Ends |
