What Carnaval is
The city describes it as a one-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard, Historic Route 66, between N. Doheny Drive and N. La Cienega Boulevard, with a stage at Santa Monica and N. San Vicente Boulevard carrying a live DJ set, food trucks, and thousands of costumed revelers. Bars, restaurants and venues across the city run their own Halloween events, and the city has encouraged businesses to host celebrations from October 23 through November 1.
The city sends SMS updates during the week: text "halloween" to (323) 848-5000. The hashtag for costume photos is #wehohalloween.
Free entry, and the rules at the barricades
Carnaval is free and open to all; there is nothing to buy and nothing Lux4Rides sells for it. The city and the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station publish the rules: no alcohol or public drinking; no backpacks, camera cases or tote bags (clear plastic bags are allowed); no weapons, fireworks or drones. The city says twice that children and pets are strongly discouraged because of the crowd density. Plan the costume around the bag rule: whatever does not fit in a clear bag stays in the car.
Getting there: the closures, and where a car can actually stop
The closure list below is taken from the city's page. Read it as a map of where a car cannot go on October 31. Santa Monica Boulevard between La Cienega Boulevard and N. Doheny Drive, including the alleys between Robertson and Palm, closes from 10 a.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Sunday and must be fully closed to vehicles by noon. The same hours apply to Santa Monica Boulevard between Croft Avenue/Holloway Drive and La Cienega, to La Cienega between Holloway Drive and Melrose Avenue, and to the Sunset Boulevard turn lanes onto southbound La Cienega. From 7 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday: N. San Vicente between Santa Monica and Cynthia Street, Robertson between Santa Monica and Melrose, and La Peer Drive and Almont Drive at Santa Monica (local access to La Peer and Almont stays open from Melrose). N. San Vicente between Santa Monica and Melrose, including alleys, closes from midnight Saturday until no later than 7 a.m. Sunday. Barricades on side streets go up before 10 a.m.
So the pickup point sits outside that ring, on a street a car can reach and leave again, with a landmark you can name in a text. Your chauffeur agrees it with you before you go in and confirms it by text on the day; dispatch may move it if the Sheriff's deployment on the night changes access. The chauffeur cannot enter a closed street, stop at a barricade, or hold a curb on the approaches. On an hourly booking the chauffeur stages where waiting is permitted and meets you at the agreed point when you message.
- Parking the city has taken out of play: the West Hollywood Park five-story structure is closed all day October 31, reopening 7 a.m. Sunday; the Library Garage is closed from 5 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday; the Crescent Heights Lot is closed October 26 to November 4. Residential permit parking is lifted citywide from 11 a.m. Saturday to noon Sunday, which means the side streets fill early.
- The city's own transit: the PickUp and Cityline suspend their schedules and run a free WeHo Halloween Ride along Santa Monica Boulevard from N. La Brea Avenue to N. Kings Road, 6 p.m. to 3 a.m., with select vehicles to the Hollywood/Highland Metro B Line station from 6 p.m. to midnight. Metro bus lines 4, 10, 30/330, 105, 212/312, 217 and 218 serve the city, with detours posted at metro.net.
- From Beverly Hills, Calabasas, Pasadena or elsewhere in Los Angeles: enter your address in the booking form; the fare is set by the mapped distance. From Orange County, Irvine, Newport Beach or Long Beach, the drive makes an hourly block or two transfers both worth comparing.
Timing: the morning closures, the 6 p.m. start, the midnight exit
The streets close hours before the party. Dinner in West Hollywood before Carnaval means arriving into a neighborhood that is already barricaded, so give the chauffeur the restaurant address and expect a short walk. The event runs 6 to 11 p.m.; the closures stay until 6 a.m., so a midnight pickup is still outside the ring. Bars and venues carry on after 11.
Because the end of the night is the part nobody can predict, hourly is the booking that fits: one car reserved for the evening, a known meeting point, and extra time billed at the same hourly rate if the night runs long. For a group with a fixed finish, two transfers to and from the agreed point work and save 5% when booked together.