"This citywide event attracts over 6,000 residents and visitors from Southern California."
That line comes from the City of Norwalk's street closure letter for the 41st Annual Arturo Sanchez Sr. Halloween Parade, dated September 12, 2026. The parade is this Saturday, October 17, and it starts at 11 a.m. The letter promises local high school marching bands, classic cars, floats, equestrian units, military units and dance groups. That covers most of what a hometown parade can offer.
This year the parade runs down a Norwalk Boulevard with a construction site on it. At Imperial Highway, the Civic Center's front lawn and surface parking are being rebuilt as The Walk, a mixed-use project the city expects to finish in winter 2027–28. So for this fall and the holiday season after it, Norwalk's traditions are working without the civic lawn. They lean on two places that never needed it, Norwalk Boulevard and Norwalk Park. The Civic Center's main job for now is to hold the cars.
Saturday morning, hour by hour
The parade starts at the corner of Norwalk Boulevard and Excelsior Drive and ends at Sanchez Elementary, 11960 162nd St. The city's parade page says viewers can set up chairs on the sidewalk along Norwalk Boulevard, Alondra Boulevard and Horst Avenue.
Here is how the day runs, based on the city's published schedule:
- 5 a.m. Street closures begin.
- 9:15 a.m. Costume contest check-in opens at Norwalk Boulevard and Excelsior Drive. It's free, and you don't need to register ahead of time.
- 11 a.m. The parade steps off from the same corner.
- 3 p.m. The closures are scheduled to lift.
For anyone who parks on the street along the route, the closure list matters most:
- Norwalk Boulevard, from south of Mapledale Street to south of Alondra Boulevard
- Alondra Boulevard, from east of Norwalk Boulevard to Pioneer Boulevard
- Horst Avenue, from north of Alondra Boulevard to south of 163rd Street
- 162nd Street and 163rd Street, from east of Horst Avenue to Sanchez Elementary School
A separate notice covers the "North Formation" area, where parade units line up. It closes Dartmoor Avenue, Norwalk Boulevard between Mapledale and Excelsior, and Excelsior Drive between Bloomfield and Ibex. If you live north of the start, your morning may be shaped as much by the staging area as by the route.
The parade page labels the costume contest spot "New Location!" but doesn't say why. Every entrant who registers gets a medal and can ride in the parade, and the top finisher in each category wins a prize.
The corner at Imperial, mid-build
The parade's closed stretch of Norwalk Boulevard goes through the Imperial Highway intersection, where The Walk is going up. Urbanize LA reported on September 2 that Primestor's project covers about 13 acres there. It replaces surface parking and a large part of the Civic Center's front lawn with 374 homes, 56 of them affordable, plus 94,000 square feet of commercial space and a new parking garage. The same report said the shared parking structure had reached its fifth and sixth floors, and that work had started on the retail and residential buildings.
The plan puts low-rise retail along Imperial Highway and Norwalk Boulevard and seven-story residential buildings toward the east side of the site. DLR Group is designing the project, and it is expected to be built with modular construction. So the low retail buildings will face the parade route, and the tall buildings will sit back from it.
Dates for the project vary depending on who's talking. A May 2026 leasing brochure for The Walk says "Delivering in Q1 2027." The city's project page gives winter 2027–28 for completion. The city's estimate is the one to plan around. Either way, this Halloween and the holiday season after it will take place next to an active construction site.
Where the rest of the season gathers
After Saturday, most of Norwalk's season moves to Norwalk Park and the historic house on Mapledale Street. The schedule below comes from the city calendar and the Fall 2026 recreation brochure:
- Monday, October 19, 8 a.m. The city calendar lists a Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead altar. The listing doesn't give a location, so check with Recreation before you go.
- Friday, October 23, 6 p.m. Pumpkin Float. The brochure illustration shows it at the Norwalk Aquatic Pavilion, with pumpkins floating in the pool, carving, games and music.
- Friday, October 30, 6 to 9 p.m. The Halloween Festival at Norwalk Park, 13000 Clarkdale Ave., with game booths, candy, costume contests, music, food trucks, and arts and crafts.
- Saturday, November 21, 1 to 4 p.m. A free, all-ages tour of the D.D. Johnston-Hargitt House Museum, 12426 Mapledale St.
- Saturday, December 5, 6 to 9 p.m. The Holiday Festival & Tree Lighting at Norwalk Park.
- Saturday, December 19. One more free Hargitt House tour from 1 to 4 p.m., then "Holidays at the Hargitt House" from 5 to 8 p.m., with open-house tours, seasonal decor, entertainment, refreshments and Santa.
The brochure notes that Hargitt House tours may be canceled in bad weather. The city's historic sites page gives a broader standing schedule, with tours from 1 to 4 p.m. on the first and third Saturday of every month. The brochure lists fewer dates than that, so check with the city before planning around a Saturday that isn't on the brochure. That same page historic sites page also says the Gilbert Sproul Museum at Norwalk Park is closed for renovations and gives no reopening date. If you're planning a December afternoon around history, Hargitt House is the one that's open.
In December, the Civic Center is mostly parking
The Holiday Festival & Tree Lighting is at Norwalk Park, but the city's page sends visitors to park at the Civic Center parking structure, with a shuttle running every 20 minutes. The shuttle schedule lists its stop as "Norwalk Sports Complex," not Norwalk Park, so check the drop-off point before you go if anyone in your group shouldn't walk far.
To reach that structure during construction, the city says to use Avenida Manuel Salinas from Imperial Highway or Civic Center Drive. The city also says City Hall and the courthouse stay open and accessible, with temporary changes possible as work goes on.
So the Civic Center still has a role this season. You'll leave your car there, walk past the fencing, and catch a shuttle to the park where the tree is lit.
What the city says is coming back
The city's FAQ says the first responders monument, the Veterans Garden, the Patriots Concourse, the Freedom Memorial and other public art will be preserved on-site. It also says they'll be returned to The Walk and stay open to the public.
The city describes the project as turning "a single-type use lawn into a year-round community space." It says the design includes public gathering spaces meant for community activities and special events, and that programming details will come as the project moves forward. The design also nods to the peacocks at Paddison Farm, the historic ranch at 11951 Imperial Highway.
No tenants have been announced, and no events have been scheduled for The Walk yet.
If you're mapping out parade morning around a house on the route, or you have family coming to town for the Holiday Festival and need a hand with the logistics, the Emma Perez team is happy to help in English or Spanish. Contact Us, and we'll see you on Norwalk Boulevard Saturday.
