Central Park's Halloween Pumpkin Flotilla floated carved jack-o'-lanterns across the Harlem Meer at dusk.
The Central Park Conservancy is not holding the Halloween Pumpkin Flotilla in 2026, and no replacement event has been scheduled. The Conservancy has said the flotilla grew larger than its Harlem Meer setup could safely handle, and it is exploring a new Halloween event for the north end of the park.
The Halloween Pumpkin Flotilla was a free Central Park Conservancy event held each October on the Harlem Meer, the lake at the park's northeast corner. Families carved pumpkins at home and dropped them off near the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center in the afternoon. At twilight the jack-o'-lanterns went out onto the water in two long rows, each one lit with a waterproof LED and towed behind a kayak steered by a costumed paddler.
Before the launch, kids filled the afternoon with a costume parade, spooky storytelling, and live music along the shore.
How the Tradition Began
The Conservancy has run the event since the early 1990s. For its first several years it took place at the Pool, and each pumpkin drifted across the water on its own.
In 1993 the Conservancy moved it to the Harlem Meer to mark the opening of the Dana Discovery Center, and linking the pumpkins together gave the crowd along the shore one continuous glowing line to follow.
The event started out as the Pumpkin Sail and was renamed because people kept assuming it involved a pumpkin sale, which it never did.
Halloween Season in Central Park
Halloween programs in the park are posted on the Central Park event calendar as they're announced.
Follow the season's color across the park through the fall with a guided tour. Our guided bike tour and walking tour each run 2 hours in groups of up to 15, and a pedicab tour seats up to 3 passengers for 1 or 2 hours while a guide does all the pedaling.