Theater For The New City's Village Halloween Costume Ball Returns This Month
The event is on Friday, October 31.
By: Stephi Wild Oct. 08, 2025
To celebrate the spookiest night of the year with art, music, and community spirit, Theater for the New City (TNC), 155 First Ave., will host its annual Village Halloween Costume Ball on Friday, October 31.
A large outdoor festivity will be held from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM outside the Theater on East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues (or if it rains, in a big tent), featuring performances and a costume competition for kids.
The celebration moves inside from 7:00 PM to midnight with nonstop performances, ballroom dancing (to Art Lillard's Heavenly Swing Band and MisterPablo, a Latin Dance band), an aerial dance concert (by Constellation Moving Company), and dining in a pop-up restaurant (The Witch's Cauldron) where for $4, guests can savor gourmet dishes donated by local restaurants.
The evening culminates in a costume judging with prizes from 11:00 PM to midnight. Admission is free for the outdoor program and $20 for the indoor festivities. Costumes or formal wear are requested.
On every Halloween since 1976, TNC has transformed its theater complex and surrounding streets into a carnival of the unexpected, where neighborhood families, artists, and revelers come together for an evening of spirited fun, live music, and avant-garde theater. This extravaganza has been a point of origin for many of the City's most original entertainers. Six full-length plays have grown out of playlets written for the fest and it is probable that the theatrical movement in Performance Art began there. It has been a launching pad for such formative artists as Paul Zaloom, Alice Farley, Bloolips, The Red Mole, Penny Arcade, Basil Twist, Alien Comic Tom Murrin, Zero Boy, Charles Busch, Eduardo Machado, Moises Kaufman, Maria Irene Fornes and Phoebe Legere. Each year, many acts, skits, sketches, and skadoodles go on to become the basis of larger theater works. It is also interesting to note that TNC originated the Village Halloween Parade as part of its annual Halloween Ball. The procession wound its way through the Village from TNC's second home at the corner of Jane and West Streets to Washington Square Park. In the festival's second year, TNC won an Obie for this parade.
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