The three masked individuals who terrorized an Alexandria woman this month were teenage members of her family involved in a prank, the Alexandria Police Department announced today (Monday).
The victim from the Oct. 14 incident will not press charges against the four teens and three adult family members who participated in the prank, APD Chief Tarrick McGuire said during a press conference.
Thousands of superheroes, witches, princesses, and other costumed revelers attended the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade along Mount Vernon Avenue Sunday afternoon.
The grand marshal of the parade was Mount Vernon Community School 5th grader Linci Campos Cifuentes, who rode with her principal along the parade route. The event is one of the best Halloween parades in the country, according to USA Today.
Halloween will not be interrupted by repaving on S. Lee Street in Old Town.
Residents of Lee Street received a letter from the city today (Oct. 23) advising that all of S. Lee Street would be repaved from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3. Despite a plan for work crews to wrap up daily by 3 p.m., the repaving work would have coincided with the annual Halloween celebration on the roadway, which is attended by thousands of people every year. Now, the city has confirmed to ALXnow that the repaving will be rescheduled to the following week.
The Alexandria Police Department and its public safety partners are getting into the spirit of the season.
Next Wednesday (Oct. 29), APD is hosting a trunk-or-treat event in the parking lot at police headquarters (3600 Wheeler Avenue), and residents are encouraged to wear costumes and get candy from the trunks of Alexandria public safety vehicles.
Fright and fun is returning to Del Ray, as the James M. Duncan Branch Library (2501 Commonwealth Avenue) has been transformed into a haunted house.
On Oct. 24 (Friday) and 25 (Saturday), the annual Duncan Haunted Library will feature spooky tours, spine-tingling ghost stories and more. Tickets cost $10 and proceeds go toward new books, community programs and other special library events.
Alexandria residents will have access to free rides during Halloween weekend as part of a regional effort to combat drunk driving during a holiday when more than one-third of U.S. traffic deaths involve impaired drivers.
The Washington Regional Alcohol Program announced Monday that its 2025 Halloween SoberRide program will operate from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. on both Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1, throughout the Washington metropolitan area, including Alexandria.
Get your Halloween costumes ready, because an Alexandria tradition is returning on Sunday, Oct. 26.
Thousands of participants are expected at the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade. Every year, Ghostbusters, superheroes, fairies, princesses, and many more costumed Alexandrians march along Mount Vernon Avenue at the intersection with E. Bellefonte Avenue to the fields at Mount Vernon Recreation Center (2701 Commonwealth Avenue). The festivities start at 2 p.m., and always end with the Del Ray Business Association (DRBA) awarding the winners of the best decorated house and business in Del Ray, as well as the best-dressed group, pet costume, and stroller.
From boutique trick-or-treating to drag brunches and poison tours, Alexandria is pulling out all the stops for Halloween 2025. Whether you’re looking for family-friendly activities, pet parades, or adults-only thrills, the city’s packed calendar offers something for every ghoul and goblin.
Here’s your guide to the best Halloween happenings around the city.
The deadline to nominate a home and business in Del Ray’s annual Best Decorated Halloween House and Business Contest is Sunday, Oct. 19.
The winners of the contest will be announced at the conclusion of the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade on Sunday, Oct. 26. Visit Del Ray will also present awards for the best pet costume and best stroller/group. “For over 30 years, local residents and businesses have gone all out decorating for Halloween, competing for bragging rights for best decorated house and business,” Visit Del Ray said. “A map of the finalists will be available the week before Halloween.”
Alexandria’s Clerk of Court Greg Parks will officiate “Halloweddings” on Friday, Oct. 31, in Old Town.
For the first time, Parks and his staff will perform the weddings in 18th-century costumes in the ballroom of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (138 N. Royal Street). He wants the happy couples to dress up however they want — as Lydia Deets and Beetlejuice, Gomez and Morticia Addams, even Ken and Barbie. The ceremonies take about 20 minutes to perform, and reservations are available between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The annual Nightmare on the Avenue Halloween pop-up bar will soon be reopening at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray.
With new spooky interior decorations, food and drink menus, owner Bill Blackburn of the Homegrown Restaurant Group is aiming to reopen sometime next weekend — between Friday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept. 14.
