Passengers stuck in airplanes on the tarmac over the past holidays for more than the three hours limited by federal law have to realize that it isn't just the snow and ice outside that have caused their suffering--it's the airlines themselves contributing to the mess. Under current law, airplanes leaving from and returning to domestic airports in the USA have to get clearance at their destinations before they take off, that is, they have to reserve a gate at the destination airport before they can even leave the departure airport. Those domestic airplanes stuck in the snow out on the arrival tarmac over the holidays were there mostly because they hadn't reserved gates for arrival.
Many believe that the problem was caused when domestic airlines just cancelled thousands of flights because they didn't want to risk having to pay the huge fine the law imposes on airlines that force their passengers to sit on tarmacs more than three hours. Better cancel than risk having to pay the $27,500 per passenger fine, critics believe.
And that was just the domestic flights. International flights are not subject to the three-hour tarmac delay rule, but they are supposed to reserve an arrival gate before they take off, too, and the ones who didn't were the ones stuck on the ground (a Cathay Pacific flight for about 11 hours, plus many more).
So it wasn't just the snow and ice and sleet that caused all the problems at the airports over the holidays at the end of 2010--it was the failure of airline pilots and crew to follow the rules, as well.
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance toTravellers, www.iamat.org.
Earlier this month, as part of a press trip sponsored by the region’s tourist board, I visited Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, two beachfront communities in Alabama near the Florida border. Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill struck in April of this year, tourism in this Gulf Coast area fell roughly 40% from last year. The press trip was therefore part of an effort to spread the word that the Alabama Gulf Coast beaches are on the path to recovery, and to encourage tourists to return to an area that’s justly nicknamed “pleasure island” for its many leisure attractions and relaxing vibe.
So what is the current state of the cleanup effort in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach? The recovery is now in “Stage III Cleanup,” which means workers are focused on removing any visible tar balls from the sand. During my trip, I witnessed cleanup crews digging into Orange Beach with machines nicknamed “sand sharks,” which can unearth oil buried many feet beneath the sand. Officials anticipate that this phase of the recovery process will be completed there in early January. Information on the cleanup effort can be found at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website; also check Greenpeace’s independent assessment of the oil spill, which includes criticism of some of the NOAA’s findings and discussions about the effectiveness of ongoing cleanup efforts.
Despite all the controversy surrounding recovery efforts throughout the Gulf Coast, I found that the people of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach remain fiercely protective and proud of what they call their “32 miles of sugar-white sand.” It also doesn’t hurt that Gulf Shores and Orange Beach have a lot more going for them than just beaches. First, this area of Alabama has some amazing food. One standout higher-end restaurant here is the waterfront Cobalt (tel. 251/923-5300; www.cobaltrestaurant.com), which offers upscale and locally-sourced cuisine like Gulf grouper served over sweet pea and asparagus risotto. If classic Southern food is what you’re after, the more casual Original Oyster House (tel. 251/948-2445; www.originaloysterhouse.com) delivers mountains of decadent deliciousness, from fried alligator bites to fried green tomatoes. LuLu’sat Homeport Marina (tel. 251/967-5858; www.lulusathomeport.com) serves up much of the same, but with live music vetted by the owner, LuLu Buffet -- Jimmy’s sister.
This part of the Alabama Gulf Coast is primarily known as a family-friendly destination, in part because of its ample accommodation options, its popular zoo, and amusements like the Southeast’s largest Ferris wheel. But outdoorsy types also have much to choose from, including both water- and land-based activities. The informative and passionate owner of Cetacean Cruises (tel. 251/550–8000; www.cetaceancruises.com) offers educational dolphin cruises and nature and eco tours on a 40-ft. pontoon boat. The maritime forests and beaches of Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (tel. 251/540-7720; www.fws.gov/bonsecour), named one of Alabama’s Ten Natural Wonders, beckon with 7,000 acres flush with wildlife. And at Weeks Bay Reserve (tel. 251/990-5004; www.weeksbay.org), visitors can enjoy 5,000 feet of elevated boardwalk that wind through different parts of the 6,000-acre estuary reserve.
The beach at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Originally posted by Jennifer Reilly
To read more about attractions in the Orange Beach and Gulf Shores area, from its golf courses to its charter fishing expeditions to its Civil War history, check out www.gulfshores.com. For information on environmental groups that are helping with the recovery effort and accepting donations, visit the websites of Gulf Shores and Charity Navigator.
With Christmas bearing swiftly down upon us, many of us will endure snow barricaded roads and delayed flights to make it back to our respective family bases. Travelling a little further than the daily commute is all part and parcel of the Christmas experience. What wouldn't we endure for several days of compulsory gluttony and home comforts with our loved ones?
Despite growing up in London, my Christmas has always been a bit different from that of my friends. Instead of looking forward to roast turkey and steaming Christmas puddings, my family cuts out all traces of meat and animal fats. We eat fried carp, beetroot soup, cabbage dumplings and poppyseed cake. And then there's all the other things associated with Christmas in Poland.
There's the pitch-black evenings lit up by colourful Christmas markets, and the steaming mugs of mulled wine and honey mead to help fend off the bitter cold. Restaurants emit a tempting aroma of pork knuckle and lard-smothered bread as you walk past. Churches heavy with incense keep their doors open late into the night for those seeking respite from the commercial grind of the high street.
For Poles, Christmas is a time for family, food, and spirituality. Regular trips to church are fitted around the focal point of Wigilia; a vast 13-dish Christmas Eve dinner requiring weeks of militaristic preparation. However, travellers to Poland can still find plenty to occupy themselves with without feeling left out on all the family fun. Warsaw, Kraków and Zakopane have an array of winter activities and events to make any die-hard scrooge catch the Christmas bug. Warsaw
Warsaw is sometimes unfairly accused of being the least aesthetic of Poland’s major cities. The spirited cosmopolitan capital bucks the stereotype with a Christmas Market (20 Nov 2010 – 9 Jan 2011) set against the fairytale backdrop of Warsaw’s beautifully restored Old Town Square. Rustic foods, handmade jewelry, and folk crafts make for inspired gift ideas. Watch out for amber from Gdansk, delicate Baltic ceramics, and oscypek, a smoked highlander’s cheese often served warm with cranberry sauce.
Poland’s cultural queen is famous for hosting the Kraków Nativity Cribs (2 Dec 2010 – 27 Feb 2011), a competition which sees centuries of crib-making tradition come alive. Participants gather in Kraków’s Main Square (Rynek Glówny) to show off their home-made szopki. Forget cotton-wool sheep and shoe-box stables; Jesus' nativity is reimagined with these brightly coloured scenes made of card and tin foil, and featuring elements of Kraków’s own ornate architecture. The szopki are then taken to the Kraków History Museum where they are submitted for judging. The lucky winners are kept on display in the museum for the rest of the year.
Zakopane is known for its rural traditions despite being one of Poland’s busiest winter tourism destinations. Set in the Tatra Mountains and a mere 2.5hr express train journey from Kraków, Zakopane's popularity has seen the revival of the kulig, a winter activity formerly popular with Polish noble classes. Imagine zipping along at night across the Podhale region’s vast snow-bound valleys in a horse-drawn open sleigh. Add bell-strung harnesses, blazing torches, a merry company, and you have the kulig experience in full. The evening is rounded up with mulled wine and sausages toasted over a campfire to the knee-slapping musical accompaniment of a traditional highland ensemble.
Photo Captions: Horses and sleigh (left), hegarty_david/Flickr.com. Violinist (right), iwona_kellie/Flickr.com
Driving huskies in Lapland? Turkey sandwiches on the beach in Oz? How far and wide are you prepared to travel to spend Christmas this year? Feel free to add your two cents to the comments thread below.
If you are contemplating flying on the new Boeing 787, already nearly three years behind schedule, you may want to read a new book out on the subject of the troubles embroiling the company and its new policies. The title of the tome is Turbulence: Boeing and the State of American Workersand Managers, published by Yale and written by four authors. As reviewed in The New York Times, it is "a cautionary tale for corporate America because the company suffered despite extraordinary advantages."
Some of the trouble concerned ethics at the top, other problems arose when the firm left its long-time headquarters in Seattle for Chicago, a few began with its merger with McDonnell Douglas and a bit were due to a big strike of engineers. In my opinion, the worst problem encountered was self imposed when the company decided to outsource most of the work on its new 787 Dreamliner, and at the same time to switch to an all-plastic airplane.
The outsourcing was to get foreign orders and to lower costs of labor, and both plans worked to some extent. What didn't work was the plan to just snap together the plastic parts when they arrived in Seattle and make an airplane. Too often, the parts were not manufactured properly, and they didn't just snap together. The result? Delay and more delay. The question is, will other companies learn from this?
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance toTravellers, www.iamat.org.
The new law allowing the Department of Transportation to levy huge fines against airlines that allow passengers to sit in planes more than three hours on the tarmac has so far not resulted in such fines actually being imposed. In fact, there have been very few cases of planes sitting on the tarmac over three hours -- one in May, three each in June and July, one in August and four in September -- but only two small fines ($10,000 and $12,000) have been imposed for these infractions.
The DOT says they are investigating several cases, however, so maybe big fines can be imposed later. The new law calls for fines up to $27,500 per person per incident, so the total sum could be horrific for the airlines. But now there are so few cases, the moral of the story seems to be that when threatened by such big fines, the airlines try harder to take better care of their passengers.
It seems the same throughout history: if there is a law against something, people try harder not to do the wrong thing.
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers, www.iamat.org.
Alright, all you Charlie Buckets out there, it's that time of year again: When I act as your chocolate ambassador and kindly ask the organizers and some of my favorite participants of the New York Chocolate Show (http://newyork.salon-du-chocolat.com) coming up this Thursday to Sunday, November 11 to 14, if they'll throw a few flashy discounts our way -- as we could all use more chocolate for our paper route money -- so that I may stitch together your grand and glorious Golden Ticket.
To get these discounts you'll need to print out this article and use it as a coupon at specified booths at the show. One printout per person (or per groups of up to 4 people when buying tickets), and some booths may mark your coupon as you use it.
Ticket Discount
Adults: $28 (now $22 for the Friday 11/12 show only) Children under 5: Free Children, 5 to 12: Free* *Limit: 2 children per adult. Each additional child (5-12): $8 The catch this year is that there are only 100 tickets available at the Friday discounted price, first come first served -- but that's still 95 more tickets than Wonka hid! You can try flashing this coupon at the front desk, but you may need to take advantage of the code the organizers have set up for us on Ticketmaster.com: FROMMERS10. Click here to order.
Show Details
When: Thursday, November 11 to Saturday, November 13: 10am to 7pm. Sunday, November 14: 10am to 6pm.
Where: Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th St., between 6th and 7th Aves. Map here.
What: The show is the American outpost of Paris' Salon du Chocolat and features 50+ booths of local and international brands with chocolate (for sample and for purchase) in all its luscious forms and flavors: milk, white, dark, almond, macadamia nut, rum, champagne, fig, wasabi, curry -- if it's delicious and you can stuff it into a truffle, it's there, plus cooking demos in two stage areas, a Kids Corner with chocolate arts and crafts (watch them bounce off the walls while you sip from a chocolate cocktail from the Chocolate Cafe), usually a few chocolate paintings and chocolate sculptures, Project Runway-style chocolate fashion from the Wednesday night fashion show displayed on mannequins, and chocolate facials at the Beauty Pavilion. How (a few tips): Go on Sunday afternoon when the booths are trying to get rid of overstock and willing to bargain; sit near the front at the demos if you want to ensure you'll get a sample plate; if you're on a slow food kick, ask local brands whether they use imported chocolate; watch for booths such as Michel Cluizel that label their samples by cacao percentages if you want to taste the differences; and pace yourself so you don't get a stomach ache as I do every other year.
Why: Did I mention this is a festival dedicated to chocolate?
Recommended Booths -- With Exclusive Discounts
How I compiled the coupon: I first made a list of my favorite brands attending the show and then contacted them about a discount, not vice versa. I told them their participation in this "coupon" does not affect their write-up or inclusion in this article. In the past I've tested samples of new vendors from the show's organizers (because someone had to). Only a few of those products made the cut.
Best Fountain Fix: Lily O'Briens (www.lilyscafenyc.com) is an Irish company with an outpost in Bryant Park. Their uniquely shaped truffles are like mini cups filled with crème brulée, tiramisu, and other classic desserts (box of 16 for $16). They'll also have one of those 40" chocolate fountains that occasionally occupy my daydreams. (Pictured: What I think about during editorial meetings.) Swipe various fruits and treats under the fountain for $1 or $2. Discount!Present this coupon and get all fountain goodies for $1 each.
Photos by S. Bassman.
Best For Activists with Dietary Restrictions: It would be tough to find something to protest about sweetriot (www.sweetriot.com) out of New York, which is all natural, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, kosher, uses recyclable packaging, benefits non-profits, is only 45-50 calories per "mega peace" -- and actually tastes good, too. An editor here gives a kosher thumbs up to the YumBar, dark chocolate with raisin and crunchy cacao pieces. Discount!Buy a single case (12 units) of the sweetriot original "peaces" or sweetriot YumBar and get a free single tin of sweetriot.
Best Newcomer That Delivered: I featured 2 Chicks With Chocolate (www.2chickswithchocolate.com) last year as a "booth to watch" solely because I liked their story and the name; I'm pleased to say the chicks' chocolate rocks. New truffle flavors include pumpkin, cranberry, and blood orange caramel ($7.95 for 4 pieces, $24.95 for 12). They'll have Rock-n-Pop for $9.95 (chocolate covered popcorn with toffee crunch and Pop Rocks), plus Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Bark for $7.95. Discount! Present this coupon and get 20% off all purchases (so $7.95 items will be $6.36; $9.95 items will be $7.96, etc. Calculator not included).
Best By Any Name: Previously packaged by Gold Star or sold as Truffles Fantasie, No Chewing Allowed (www.nochewingallowed.com) offers a good price (it's increased over the years, but it's still good) on one of the show's best truffles, imported from France: $10 for an 8.8oz tin of 25 Truffles Mon Ami. Two tins for $18. These are rich, buttery chocolates coated in cocoa powder. The packaging looks like the truffles you see at Whole Foods, but tastewise these are in another realm. Discount! With this coupon, one tin is $9, two tins $16.
Best Bulk Deal: E. Guittard (www.guittard.com), started by a Frenchman in California in 1868, offers single origen chocolate that is fantastic for baking. Watch the cooking demos for a preview -- most chefs tend to use their 61% cacao or 72% cacao chips. The giant 5kg (11 lb.) box fuels my dessert making for the year; you really have to work to use up that supply. See their website for some great cooking and tempering techniques. Normally $115, it's a steal here for $60. Discount!The organizers have kindly agreed to sell the 11 lb. boxes for $50 with this coupon. Jump on it.
Best Chocolate in a Tube: François Payard, who now has a cafe on Houston Street (www.fpbnyc.com), is one of the French heavyweights at the show. Les chocolats include vanilla rum truffles (30 for $25, normally $28 at the store), givrettes ($10, normally $15), and a PB&J macaron dipped in chocolate ($3). The Brigadeiro tubes of chocolate come in flavors such as Milk Chocolate Cinnamon Sichuan ($8) and look like they would easily fit in my Christmas stocking. Discount! Spend $40 or more, and you'll get a free PB&J macaron.
More Recommendations -- No Discounts
Best Elegant Return: After a hiatus last year, chocolate show mainstay Mary's Chocolates of Japan returns, making their wasabi, black sesame, gianduja nut, and other immaculately presented truffles on site, sometimes adding a dusting of vibrant green tea powder (pricing unavailable).
Left photo by Flickr.com/yummyinthetummyblog. Right photo by Flickr.com/PhotoJeff.
Best Breakfast Substitute: The franchise of pastry chef Jacques Torres (www.mrchocolate.com) is selling many treats for under $6, including chocolate-covered graham crackers ($4.50), a Wicked Bar with ancho and chipotle chile ($4.50), and bars of chocolate-covered Cheerios and Corn Flakes ($5).
Best Argument For CPB&J: Peanut Butter & Co. (www.ilovepeanutbutter.com) started as a Greenwich Village sandwich shop in 1998 and now retail their peanut butters in over 10,000 food stores nationwide. Chocolate flavors include White Chocolate Wonderful and Dark Chocolate Dreams, or try newer flavors the Bee's Knees (with honey) or Mighty Maple. All jars $5.
Best For Rubbing All Over Yourself: Can I choose the chocolate fountain, above? Runner up:Palmer's (www.palmers.com)Cocoa Butter Body Butter did wonders for my dry skin when I tested it. They say they'll have sample packets and display jars but nothing for sale (normally $10 for 7.25 oz.) unless you can persuade them otherwise.
Chocolate Talk
Have a favorite booth at the show? Find the recipe for the Everlasting Gobstopper? Feel free to weigh in below.
Giving Frommer's tips to Bombay Bicycle Club over a beer, wigging out to Bloodgroup, and stopping traffic in the name of music. All in our Iceland author Lisa Shannen's Iceland Airwaves festival diary, as she becomes a slave to the rhythm.
I simply love Iceland Airwaves (13-17 October 2010). I have to say that this year's festival was the best yet. I saw so many fantastic bands and met some great people from all over the world, all here to share this same passion for music and culture. Of course, the location is amazing and Airwaves does also include in its programme a visit to one of Iceland's hottest attractions with its annual 'Blue Lagoon Chill'; this is where festival goers can restore their energy needed for the final night of Airwaves.
Already by the first day the streets of Reykjavik were buzzing with people, myself amongst them getting easily distracted by live music issuing from the most unlikely of places, such as coffee shops, bookstores or even clothing shops. While the official venues can be just as engaging, at these smaller makeshift venues, you are more likely to experience the acoustic sound of both known and unknown talent.
First on my 'must-see' list of bands was Bloodgroup, who showcased at Nasa on the opening night of Airwaves along with Agent Fresco, Mammut, Dikta, and Lara. Bloodgroup are without a doubt the most engaging performers on the scene in Iceland today. Their powerful fusion of electronic music and onstage intensity infects and excites the audience into a bouncing mass of wild exhiliration every time they perform. For 45 minutes I was completely transfixed and willingly under the control of their electronic beats and melodic chants. Though I was dancing like crazy and should have been exhausted, I somehow felt recharged. Straight after Bloodgroup, Agent Fresco performed. This is definitely another Icelandic band to look out for, they have a dynamic stage presence and original sound, which is a blend of jazz, metal and grunge punctuated with unexpected rhythm changes. On the second night of Airwaves I was invited to go to Faktory, where I discovered two new, surprisingly good, bands: Film from Greece and Yunioshi an electro-pop/rock band from the UK with some funky hooks, catchy loops and a front man with a great sense of style and humour. I was especially captivated by Film, who radiated mystery on stage with their combination of hard-hitting bass-lines, electronic elements and a charasmatic female singer with a distinct and powerful voice.
The legendary gig of Friday night at Airwaves took place at The Reykjavik Downtown Hostel, which is one of the off-venue Airwaves locations. The performers for this show managed to attract so many people that the streets ended up closed to traffic as the crowds formed outside hoping to catch a glimpse of performances through the large windows. The set opened with one of Iceland's newest acts The Esoteric Gender followed by acoustic performances from Daniel Agust (of Gus Gus), Lockerbie, Olafur Arnalds, Hafdis Huld, and Joanne Kearney (from Ireland). The night was topped off with an intimate performance by Bombay Bicycle Club, at which point the venue was so crowded two band members had to sit on the floor of the tiny performance area with the audience literally within arms reach. With hardly room to move they played a half-hour set of their most popular songs with the crowds, inside and out, singing along! After the concert I found myself sharing a beer with Ed (the bass player from Bombay Bicycle Club) and of course I gave him some tips on the best places to eat in Reykjavik. Later on I braved the queue for Nasa and arrived inside the packed venue just in time to see Think About Life, who were very entertaining, the singer is clearly a fan of culture and travel or maybe he just loves flags, since he was waving a dozen or so of them around during the performance.
Saturday night was the climax of the Airwaves festival with Robyn, the biggest international act scheduled. I had intended on going to see Sweden's electro-pop princess at Listasafn, but the queue was just far too long and the music coming from The Venue across the road sounded too good to miss, and no queue! Inside The Venue, the walls, floor to ceiling were vibrating with earth shattering bass lines coming from what looked like a pair of crazy DJs twisting and bobbing with a violent passion to the music. This Icelandic duo, who call themselves Quadruplos, had me devoted to the dance floor and lost in the light fantastic for the duration of their set. I ended up staying all night at The Venue to watch the Icelandic band Sometime, and impressive international artists they had lined up such as Diamond Rings, Neon Indian, and the insanely superb Reptile and Retard from Denmark.
The last day of the festival I took off, but I heard that when venues closed down on Sunday 17th October that the party was continued outside, with performers singing in the streets and drumming on the lampposts. This year's Airwaves festival was indeed intense and its impact is still being felt, especially because of the post-festival attention generated by the international press with their coverage and positive reviews. The festival organisers are also busy keeping it alive with Airwaves related events planned abroad. To keep up with all things Airwaves you can follow the news here and in case you're planning to join the party next year, do check out the 'insider tips' on the official website.
This past Saturday, while Jon Stewart rallied for sanity and warmed American hearts, I spent the day in Asbury Park rallying for brains. Not the figurative brain of our government -- insert your own election joke here -- but actual BRAINS. For eating, mostly. It was the Third Annual Asbury Park Zombie Walk (www.njzombiewalk.com), which drew over 4,000 participants and may have broken a Guinness World Record.
Zombies are not unique to New Jersey -- insert Jersey Shore/RHONJ joke here! -- and you can view Flickr photos from Zombie Walks in Helsinki, Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol, and elsewhere here. Discuss or help plan an event (not always held in October) at www.zombiewalk.com.
What is a Zombie Walk Like?
It starts with some epic costume preparation. Overheard conversation includes "Who has the blood spray?" and "Dude, I just shaved off patches of my hair. Can you make it look like someone started eating my brains?"
Once at the Asbury Park boardwalk, we saw some incredible costumes:
Zombies and babies. Yes, some attendees "went there."
Left photo: I can't decide if this Lara Croft should be applauded for her commitment or if she should heed Jon Stewart's advice to "take it down a notch." Center photo: "Damnit, Jessie! You got blood on my dress."
Zombies in their down time. Remember, "Zombies Were People, Too," as a few signs noted.
The crowd was funnelled from the boardwalk onto the beach, and we were photographed and counted for the World Record attempt. A game of brain volleyball was already in progress.
Did we break the World Record? Organizer Jason Meehan (read an interview with him here) says the count may not be finalized and approved by the folks at Guinness for another week. If the numbers come up short, it may only be because some in the crowd left the beach to avoid a lengthy second head count and hit the boardwalk bars instead. For beer. BEER.
Update: It's a new World Record! The walk's website now notes: "The number to beat was 4,026 to break the record set in Ledbury, UK...Thanks to everyone's perseverence we were able to physically count 4,093 corpses!"
Today is Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday in which family members honor their deceased loved ones by visiting their graves, building altars (ofrendas) to honor them, and bringing them gifts, like flowers, candy—sugar skulls are ubiquitous throughout the country— and even tequila. Although this holiday may sound morbid, it is actually a very festive celebration, with brightly-colored decorations, music, and lots of skulls and skeletons—the unofficial symbols of the holiday.
Although Día de los Muertos is celebrated throughout Mexico, the liveliest festivities will probably take place in the states of Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Perhaps the most famous celebration is on Janitzio, an island on Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacán, west of Mexico City. In Oaxaca, there are both solemn vigils and Carnaval-like processions; there are also colorful markets brimming with marigolds, which are believed to be the flower of the underworld.
Billed as the most outrageous Halloween event in the world, the Village Halloween Parade is one of New York's most colourful parties. Towering papier-mâché puppets are a regular feature, as are stilt-walkers, jugglers, breakdancers and around two million onlookers.
With more than 50,000 scarily-clad participants, the celebration of spooks and ghouls takes place in Greenwich Village along 6th Ave from Spring Street to 22nd Street. Every year it conjures up an obscure theme which dictates the style of dress and participants go to town on creating the most outrageous and eccentric costumes that they can possibly dream up. This is a time to let your imagination run wild through the streets of New York.
When: Oct. 31 Where: New York City Cost: Free Opening Hours: 7pm; marchers should assemble south of Spring Street 6pm-7pm More Info: Village Halloween Parade website
