BOYSTOWN — This year's Halloween on Halsted Parade, "Apocalypse 2012," is about to get the Style treatment as a pair of reality stars from "Chicagolicious" are slated to judge the over-the-top costume contest.
Katrell and MaCray from the Style Network's Chicagolicious will be guest judges for the costume competition, according to Nirmalpal Sachdev, the parade committee's chairman. The pair will also host a registration pre-party from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Circuit Nightclub.
"We wanted to make registration itself an event," said Sachdev. "There's an open dance space. The press can take pictures. And Katrell and MaCray will do some preliminary judging."
The parade steps off at 7 p.m. Oct. 31, but a new direction for the route may leave some long-time parade-watchers a bit confused.
This year's parade will wind southbound on Halsted from Waveland to Belmont. For the first 15 years, the parade marched north on Halsted.
The redirected route is designed to free up Addison Street more quickly, organizers said.
"That's something we heard from the alderman (that Addison was closed too long), so we're really trying to get Addison open to traffic more quickly," said Sachdev, who said the parade typically attracted nearly 40,000 people.
Jay Lyons, of the Northalsted Business Alliance, said another reason for moving the parade south was to get people closer to the new venue for the after-parade show.
"The main stage is now going to be at the Belmont/Halsted CTA turnaround," said Lyons, "It's really about traffic. We can get Halsted opened up more quickly now too because the stage won't be in the street."
Costume winners will be announced from the main stage following the parade. This year's stage show performers include Miss Foozie, the Chicago Spirit Brigade, Environmental Encroachment, and the Chicago Fire Tribe.
For details on the parade, check out Northalsted's website.
