Halloween: a time when ghosts and goblins (or more realistically sexy cats, angels and devils) roam the city that has been renowned for its indulgence in voodoo and vampires.

The Arcade presents a guide on how — and how not — to Halloween, for you to enjoy the many ways New Orleans throws down on this spooky celebration. 

Costumes

Most people will have two to three costumes ready for Halloween in New Orleans, since it’s usually celebrated for two to three nights, which is where Halloweekend comes into play.

This doesn’t mean you need to spend tons of money on multiple elaborate costumes. A good costume and some arrangement of already-owned clothes are fine. Will the latter option be lackluster and possibly pathetic? Maybe, but it’s better than jeans and a T-shirt with a sign claiming you’re some random famous person.

One final note for costumes: you’ll hear this everywhere, but please be aware of culturally inappropriate gear. It can ruin Halloweekend for both you and the people around you. Just say no to the Native American headdress. 

Frenchmen Street

This well-known street is usually considered the place to be on Halloween night. Frenchmen Street closes down and hoards of people — many of them Tulane students — flock to a single stretch of jazz clubs, bars and Dat Dog. 

The experience is similar to going to a music festival. The first time you go, everything about the festival is great. There are so many people to hang out with and the crowd is initially seen as a beautiful community gathering to share an experience together. Those bright virgin eyes are quickly sullied the more festivals you attend. You realize crowds suck and ultimately that’s all Frenchmen has to offer, especially if you can’t go into the 21 and up bars along the way. 

If you’re a freshman, go to Frenchmen. It’s an experience worth having. If you’re a sophomore, go if you have nothing else to do. It can be fun and there’s a good chance you’ll run into friends, or that special someone you’ve been methodically calculating to randomly see out.

For juniors and seniors, you know there are better things to do. These better things include house parties thrown by friends (seriously if you have a house there’s no excuse to not throw down,) or some cool adult event like the Prytania Bar’s Uptown Costume Crawl. Many 21-year olds will dress up in their best costumes and hop from bar to bar Uptown starting with the host’s venue and making the loop back.

Don’t stretch too thin 

This little piece of advice has to do with the previous statement of how much is available over the course of Halloweekend. We offer you these options to pick and choose which ones appeal most to you. They are not there for you to go to every single one. Excessive planning and attempting to attend every Facebook event you’re invited to will take away from your full enjoyment of a single party or concert. You will just be trying to coordinate the next trip and, aside from the sheer exhaustion, time and cost of getting from one place to another, it’s not worth the number of experiences you might have. Have one great time on Halloween instead of six mediocre times. 

Besides these tips, remember to be careful to plan how you’re getting home. 

Whether you’re trick-or-treating Uptown, going on a Halloween pub crawl or going to Voodoo or any other concert, have a great Halloween and don’t do anything too crazy. Save that for Mardi Gras.