The highly anticipated WeHo Halloween Carnaval made its long-awaited return after a four-year hiatus on Tuesday night, with thousands dressing up and flocking to West Hollywood to attend one of the nation’s largest Halloween celebrations.
Now, the race is on to clean up after a night of nonstop partying and to reopen Santa Monica Boulevard, which closed between La Cienega Boulevard and Doheny Drive for the festivities.
Street sweepers were seen maneuvering from curb to curb on Santa Monica early Wednesday morning, and cleanup crews were also power washing sidewalks, picking up trash and removing portable toilets.
Sanitation officials told KTLA 5’s Carlos Herrera that this year’s mess is not as bad as previous years, despite festivalgoers partying extra hard for the first Halloween Carnaval since 2019.
Attendees believe that the festival lived up to the hype, emphasizing just how much they missed the celebration that was canceled for four years straight due to the pandemic.
According to law enforcement officials, the event – which was monitored by more than 100 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies – remained largely peaceful, with only two arrests occurring the entire night for suspicion of battery.
Both suspects were released hours later, authorities said.
Sanitation workers are making headway on the mess; they estimate that they could have Santa Monica Boulevard open as early as 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
City officials also remind residents that street parking restrictions that were temporarily lifted on Tuesday for the festival are back in place on Wednesday.
