This Halloween 2025, the charming city of Carmel, California will celebrate its 109th birthday in style with a lively community Halloween parade and trick-or-treating!
This is a great opportunity to celebrate one of California’s most iconic small towns at its very best and make the most of the fall season.
109th City Birthday Party and Halloween Parade
Carmel’s 109th City Birthday Party and Halloween Parade will take place at 4pm on Halloween, October 31st, 2025. All are welcome to participate or spectate at the spooky celebration, which features city dignitaries, VIPs, costumed dogs, elaborate floats, and epic Halloween costumes.
Following the parade, guests can go trick-or-treating at Carmel’s charming shops and boutiques, or join the birthday bash in Davendorf Park from 5-7pm. The celebration will include live music from Shannon and the Night Divers as well as free food and drinks.
More about Carmel, California
The city of Carmel-by-the-Sea was incorporated in California on October 31st, 1916, meaning that Halloween is its official city birthday.
At the time, Carmel was a popular arts hub with only 450 residents, among them numerous literary luminaries such as Sinclair Lewis, Mary Austin, George Sterling, Jack London, and Robinson Jeffers. Much like its first founders, Carmel’s residents continue to embrace an old-world feel, rejecting modern-day furnishings such as traffic lights and parking meters.
Builder and designer Hugh Comstock began constructing Carmel’s characteristic fairytale cottages in the 1920s, and twenty-one of them remain dotted around the community to this day. While these quaint cottages are a treat to see all year long, they are especially charming with some extra Halloween and holiday decor.
Actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood is Carmel’s most notable resident, having served as mayor of the city from 1986 to 1988. He continues to own the historic Mission Ranch hotel and restaurant, located a short distance south of Carmel’s downtown area.
If you haven’t made the trip down the coast to see Carmel for yourself, consider planning an outing for Halloween this year — or otherwise, save your trip for the holiday season when the town is decked out in glittering lights and Christmas decor.