West Hollywood scrapping Halloween ‘Carnaval’ again; will it ever return?

West Hollywood’s famous Halloween Carnaval is being scrubbed again this year, with city officials quietly voting to skip the wildly popular event that was canceled for the past two years due to the COVID- 19 pandemic.

According to Los Angeles Magazine, city leaders decided in late June to cancel the event, but no formal public announcement was ever made. Instead, a notice was posted on the city’s website announcing the cancellation.

While COVID-19 was specifically cited for the cancellations over the past two years, no specific reasoning was given in the city’s latest announcement, which simply says the Carnaval “will not take place in 2022.”

“The city encourages the community to creatively and safely celebrate Halloween this year,” according to the notice. “As in 2021, the city encourages businesses to celebrate with patrons by producing small-scale events at stores, restaurants, and more, such as costume events or contests; Halloween- themed meals or drinks at restaurants and bars; Halloween-themed trivia or bingo nights; dressing-up locations with Halloween-themed decorations, and the like.”

The notice makes no mention of COVID-19 or of the growing monkeypox outbreak that is affecting primarily gay men and has elevated case numbers in and around West Hollywood.

West Hollywood Councilman John D’Amico told Los Angeles Magazine that the Carnaval — billed as one of the largest Halloween celebrations in the world — may never return, citing issues with public safety, difficulties planning the event and the security costs for the city.

“We canceled it two years in a row. So it sort of doesn’t exist anymore, in some way,” D’Amico said. “Many of us experienced, in some way, a kind of a sense of relief. As much fun as it was, it was incredibly nerve-wracking to make it happen.”

He also suggested that the event — while still attracting thousands of revelers — had been scaled back in recent years, losing its large stages and celebrity participants.

In June, however, the city hosted a return of the WeHo Pride event, which featured three days of activities and a parade with singers Janelle Monae, JoJo Siwa and Cardi B. West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister told LA Magazine that the Pride event, while popular, is small in comparison to the Carnaval.

“The crowd on Halloween in much, much larger and packed shoulder to shoulder on that one night than it is on any given night of Pride,” Meister said.

More from Entertainment