Carroll Gardens, NYC, Held Its First Howl-O-Ween Dog Red Carpet Parade on Smith Street

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, staged its first Howl-O-Ween Dog Red Carpet Parade on Saturday, October 17, from 3 to 5pm. The event took place around the corner of Smith and Union Streets. This is a record of what happened, now that the afternoon has passed.

The organizers were the neighborhood group MOSS Merchants and the gift shop Exit9 Gift Emporium, both named as hosts on the official Eventbrite listing. The concept was straightforward and seasonal: dogs in Halloween costumes walking a red carpet in the run-up to October 31. Joining in was free.

Freddie Fox and Trixie Rose served as emcees. Gift bags were part of the afternoon, and a rescue group was on site. That presence tied the costume show to local animal welfare rather than leaving it as pure spectacle.

Smith Street is one of Brooklyn's best-known strips for dining and shopping, and the parade used a corner of it as its venue; the address given for the location is 294 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11231. For one afternoon, a street that neighbors already share became a gathering spot for dogs and their owners.

The parade also sat within a busy day for dog-friendly Halloween events in the city. The RoamRecs guide to NYC Halloween dog events lists the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in the East Village and a Washington Square Park event in Greenwich Village on the same date, October 17, and describes the Carroll Gardens parade as a neighborhood dog parade. Other entries in that guide include Carl Schurz Park's Halloween Howl on October 18 and DUMBO's Howl-O-Ween costume contest on October 31. Against those larger, longer-running names, Carroll Gardens added a smaller event aimed at people who live nearby.

The first edition has now taken place. For readers following New York's dog culture and the way local merchants organize community events, it is a new entry in the neighborhood's autumn calendar, run by shops on the street itself.