- September 29, 2024
- All things Paris
- Amanda Mehtala & Angela Spidahl
13 Ways to Celebrate Halloween in Paris 2024
If you're in Paris for October 31st and are looking for a North American style celebration, you may be disappointed to hear that France doesn't quite celebrate this spooky holiday as much as you might hope. But when you really need a scary fix, there are a myriad of options and events for all ages to ensure that you have a proper Halloween in the City of Light. From haunted mansions and underground tours to scary movie marathons, if you know where to look, celebrating Halloween in Paris can be spooktacular!
1. A Macabre(t) Experience: Parisian Cabaret acts to die for this Halloween!
If you have a deadly passion for costumes, comedy and all things completely outrageous, check out the cabaret performances on offer for some freaky fun! Swap your shrieks of fear with peals of laughter, and step out from your skeleton-filled closet into a gender-bending underworld of extravagant entertainment!
Crazy Horse Cabaret at The Crazy Horse Paris
Book your tickets now for this wild ride Crazy Horse Cabaret! Hold your horses - The Crazy Horse Cabaret has returned and promises a dazzling and distorted extravaganza this October! Combining sexy and spooky, the show boasts a variety of colourful costumes and technical wizardry from both lights and projections. With exquisite choreography and glamorous guest stars including James Fenwick and Laurie Hagen, saddle up and gallop on down for a night of raunchy revelry!
When: All year long!
Where: Crazy Horse, 12 avenue George V, 75008 Paris
Price: From 115€
Click here and book your tickets for Crazy Horse Cabaret!
Madame Arthur - Cabaret Drag Queen in Paris!
Wickedly funny drag cabaret! Madame Arthur - Cabaret Drag Queen, If you’re seeking mystery and magic this Halloween, there’s no better place than Madame Arthur for an evening of illusion, opulence and drop-dead gorgeous drag cabaret! In the blood-red Madame Arthur Club Salle Paris, give yourself over to the absolute pleasure of a live musical show with piano, vocal and accordion accompaniments. Rocky Horror meets Rupaul in this glittering array of talented artists such as Charly Voodoo, la Vénus de Mille Hommes and Patchouille. This eclectic, hair-raising repertoire will push you head first into a seductively hilarious performance with presentations in French.
When: All year long!
Where: Madame Arthur Club Salle, 75 rue des Martyrs, 75018 Paris
Price: From 32€
Click here and book your tickets for Madame Arthur - Cabaret Drag Queen!
2. Head to Disneyland Paris for a magical Halloween special
1st October to the 3rd November, 2024
This spooky season, Mickey and his friends have something a little more sinister planned… the villains are taking over! Head over to Disneyland Paris to explore the spine-tingling ghost rides, visit your favourite friends, and, when the sun goes down, witness the villainous light display. It'll be mwah-ha-hagical!
What: Halloween Party at Disneyland Paris
When: 1st October — 3rd November
Where: Disneyland Paris, Bd de Parc, 77700 Coupvray
Price: From 57€ per adult
More details here…
3. Dare to enter a haunted house…
5th October to the 11th November, 2024
This year, le Parc Astérix will get your blood pumping with four haunted houses in its Gaul-themed amusement park, based on the popular French comic. Brand new this year is the Tomb of the Gods, a gateway into the terrifying underworld of Ancient Egypt and the 9 trials of hell. With monsters, live actors, and eerie sets, will you be able to make it to the end? Enter ye who dare...
What: Haunted house experience in Paris for Halloween
When: 5th October - 11th November, 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Where: Parc Astérix, 60128 Plailly
Price: From 49€ per adult
Additional info: The Tomb of the Gods is only for guests aged 16 and above.
More details here…
4. Let a candlelight concert cast a spell on you at Saint-Ephrem Church
The 31st of October 2024
Hidden among the cobblestone streets of Paris’ Latin quarter, there resides a curious-looking church dedicated to Saint-Ephrem, otherwise known as the “The Harp of the Holy Spirit”. If you venture to sit beneath its glimmering candles and frescoed alcoves, you’ll be enchanted by a night of classical concert, performed by students of Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. What better way to spend All Hallow’s Eve than under the spell of music in one of the most picturesque settings in Paris?
What: Candlelight concert for classical music lovers in a secluded Parisian church
When: All year long!
Where: Saint-Ephrem Church - 17 rue des Carmes - 75005 Paris
Price: From 26€ per adult
More details here…
5. A verified vampire ball in a venue with a touch of Gustave Eiffel himself
October 31, 2024
Every Halloween, the place to be is the Bal des Vampires. The 2024 Paris Vampire Ball will be held near the bustling Bastille district at Pachamama, a completely unique venue with coiling ironworks throughout, that will transport you to a skeletal underworld. With a deathly strict dress code, make sure to prepare your most ghoulish glamour for a Parisian Halloween night to remember.
What: The Vampire Ball
When: 31st October
Where:46 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine 75012
Price: 35€ per person
More details here…
6. Make your own jack-o-lantern… if you can find the pumpkin that is!
In France, jack-o-lanterns are a thing only seen in American movies, and anyone heading to the supermarket to pick up the annual pumpkins will be quickly disappointed. Remember: in France, pumpkins are usually for eating, not for decorating. That being said, you may be in for a surprise when you see the huge variety of pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and colours! But where to find them?
Head to the fresh produce markets, and get there early because supplies are limited! Many neighbourhoods in Paris have outdoor produce markets certain days of the week, and you can also find permanent installations in covered market halls throughout the city. The Marché Aligre or the Marché Quentin are great places to start.
Happy carving!
7. Get your costumes and dancing shoes ready for a Parisian Halloween nightclub adventure
For the night owls, the hunt for Halloween won’t be too hard, as many Parisian nightclubs hold a special evening to celebrate in spooky style. Often, arriving with a full Halloween costume will get you free entry or drink specials, and if you’re lucky enough to win a costume contest you might just end up the Parisian king or queen of trick-or-treating! Many nightclubs and bars have a Halloween special. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
What: Halloween party at a nightclub in Paris
When: Halloween night
Where: Project X Halloween Big Paris Party, Halloween Boat Party or The Big Manor of Halloween Horror Story Big Party
8. Head to the land of the dead in the Paris Catacombs
Nothing screams Halloween more than an underground journey into the domain of the dead, and luckily for the living, Paris has its very own ossuary! How did these bones end up in these deep, dark catacombs, under the bright City of Lights? That’s for you to discover as you walk through the winding tunnels of the spookiest place below Paris.
What: A museum visit in Paris to celebrate Halloween with history and skeletons
When: All year long
Where: Catacombs of Paris, 1 Av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris
Price: 29€ per adult, 10€ per child
More details here…
9. To do all these things, you’ll have to know about the Paris costume stores
Just because Paris doesn’t do trick-or-treating as you know it doesn’t mean they don’t do costumes! Sprinkled throughout the city, usually in corners where you’d least expect them, are costume shops abounding with hidden treasures (or skeletons in the closet!) available to purchase or rent. Most are open year-round, too, if ever you need a costume in a pinch. Here are some suggestions to get you started – we’re sure you’ll be the best dressed this Halloween!
• Au Fou Rire: Costume store in the 9th district in Paris at 22 bis Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre
• Aux Feux de la Fête: Costume store in the 6th district in Paris at 135 bis Bd du Montparnasse
• Au Clown de Paris: Costume store with 3 locations in Paris: the 8th district at 110 Rue de Miromesnil, the 9th district at 85 Rue de La Fayette and the 11th district at 160 Av. Ledru Rollin.
10. Discover the mysteries of Paris Ghosts, Legends, & Mysteries tour
If you want something to truly send a shiver up your spine, then discover the gruesome secrets of Paris on a guided walking tour! Perfect for the horrible histories lovers, this guide is 100% in English and shows you the darker side of many well-known Parisian sights. As you walk among the ghosts of the Black Death and the French Revolution, you will uncover a murky history of blood and mystery...
What: An eerie evening guided walking tour in Paris
When: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
Where: Pl. du Pont Neuf, 75001
Price: 15€ per person
More details here…
11. Experience eerie waxworks at the Musée Grevin
It may have occurred to you that the name “Madame Tussaud” sounds more than a little French, but do you know the history of the real woman? During the French Revolution, she was tasked with preserving in wax the likeness of the aristocrats who wound up at the wrong end of the guillotine…gulp! Look out for some spookily famous faces like Alfred Hitchcock, acclaimed director of gripping horror films Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963), or François Ravaillac, the notorious assassin of King Henry IV of France. With such a gruesome history so innately linked to Paris, there’s no better way to discover the true spooky season than with a trip to the Musée Grevin, Paris’s premier waxwork museum!
What: A museum visit in Paris to celebrate Halloween with eerie waxwork celebrities and characters
When: All year long
Where: Musée Grévin Paris, 10 Boulevard Montmartre, 75009 Paris
Price: From 19.50€ per adult
More details here…
12. Commune with the ghosts at one of Paris’s cemeteries
Oscar Wilde was a known dabbler in the occult and author of gothic classic the Picture of Dorian Gray. Fittingly, after his death, the sculptor Jacob Epstein received a mysterious commission to create a great memorial in his honour from an anonymous donor. Over the last century, this sphinx-topped monument in the Père Lachaise Cemetery has gained cult status — in fact, Wilde’s fans paid their respects by planting lipstick kisses on his grave to such an extent that it is now protected by a barrier.
This Halloween, perhaps you might make a similar pilgrimage, and see if you can spot a scribe-wielding spectre or another ghostly resident such as Edith Piaf or Jim Morrison during a guided tour of this infamous cemetery.
What: Celebrating Halloween with a guided visit to a famous cemetery in Paris
Where: Père Lachaise Cemetery, Bd. de Ménilmontant, 75020
Price: From 21€ per person for the guided tour
More details here…
13. Escape from the labyrinth! Before time runs out…
Thrill seekers among you who might be looking for their next adrenaline fix this Halloween need look no further than The Dark Dreams, a terrifying location which lives up to its name by plunging visitors into darkness for 80% of the experience. Will you be among the wily few who can escape the nightmares lurking in the shadows? This haunting, immersive escape room is sure to have your blood pumping as you race against the clock, lest you wind up trapped in the labyrinthine shadows… best of luck!
What: Halloween themed escape room in Paris
When: All year long, 7 days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Where: Dark Dreams Paris, 63 rue de la Fraternité, 93100 Montreuil, Ile-De-France
Price: From 55€ per person
Additional Info: Not suitable for children under 9. Children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult. Accessible version available.
More details here…
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