NEW ORLEANS — Halloween weekend is one of the city's busiest weekends with thousands excepted to celebrate the spooky festivities. Local businesses say it's a boom for the city.
On Sunday, Bourbon Street was a sea of costumes and spooky festivities. Brianna Marie Alvis dressing up as a vampire this Halloween, she says she's actually planning to move to New Orleans.
“I live in Vegas and I am just visiting for my anniversary and for Halloween,” Alvis said. “Just the welcoming energy, it doesn’t even matter where we go we are just having fun.”
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Meanwhile, Voodoo stores attract dark magic addicts, and the Vampire Café is filled with blood-sucking enthusiasts.
“It has been so busy the last three days…we’re supposed to close at 10, and we’ve been getting out close to 11:30,” employee Mia Barnes said.
Lines down the sidewalk were a testament to how busy the store was.
On Canal Street, at one of the most haunted places in the city, the Mortuary, brave souls waited in line to walk through where the dead once laid.
“This year, all bets are off. I think that everybody has gotten out of the house and they’re looking to do something fun and unique," Christian Stokes told Eyewitness News.
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“Halloween is big business for New Orleans, we’ve strong hotel occupancy this weekend, a lot of interest in coming to the city," Kelly Schulz from Nola and Company said,
According to the agency as of Friday, 90% of hotels were at occupancy.
Halloween is second to Mardi Gras for one of the city’s biggest weekends.
"In addition to Halloween right now, we have the Saints came in town, we have the Pelicans game, we’ve had a resurgence of cultural festivals and a resurgence of major conventions,” Schulz said.