New York City’s iconic Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is returning on Sunday, Oct. 19!

The annual event, now in its 35th year, sees a heated yet adorable costume competition between New York City’s most Halloween-obsessed dogs, along with other spooky fun, canine-friendly activities.

The 35th Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade will be no different, but there are some changes to the famous event this year. For 2025, the parade will be hosted and led by the New York Dog Paradea new nonprofit founded by author and canine columnist Fern Watt to ensure the beloved N.Y.C. parade continued and was joined by more canine-centered events.

Watt, in the final days of prep for the parade on Sunday, tells PEOPLE what it takes to make this event a tail-wagging success and why the Halloween tradition is important to her and so many other dog owners.

“I wrote about experiencing this parade with my dog. I used to live across from the park, and I watched it grow every year,” Watt says about her relationship with the parade.

After attending the parade in costume with her dog for several years, Watt started getting involved with the team that put together the event.

“I quickly realized that we needed to have more of a formal organizing team in place behind this event, just because it has grown so massively,” Watt explains. “And just to have that amount of people and dogs together requires a real team. So, I founded New York Dog Parade.”

The New York Dog Parade is a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating canines and the joy they bring to their owners and others through organized events like the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, sponsored by Stella & Chewy’s this year.

At the parade’s helm for the first time, Watt is focused on safety, fun, and authenticity for the 2025 event, and is making her vision possible with help from the community.

“We’ve had so many volunteers step up to support it. We’re working with the community boards to really make sure it maintains this East Village community feel that’s so important while also still being able to grow and maintain the amount of people that it attracts because so many people love it so much,” Watt says “We’re really excited to help make sure it can continue in a safe and joyful way, for a dog.”

Attendees can expect some changes at the parade this year, including the addition of four Grand Marshals. Adoptable dogs from Pup Starz, Social Teesand the ASPCA will fill these new roles.

“We also have an activation block this year that’s on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. And this is where spectators and attendees can go and get sample treats for their dogs, and they can see other fun surprises,” Watt says.

“Of course, the costume competition is back,” she adds, noting the event is “the Met Gala of the canine community.”

The parade’s signature costume contest will be hosted inside its original home, Tompkins Square Park, which contains New York City’s first official dog run. The competition will have a capped number of entries this year to prioritize the dogs’ comfort and safety. The costumed parade down Avenue B will be open to all who wish to participate.

Watt hopes to reach more dog lovers than ever this year through the Halloween dog parade, which will be livestreamed on YouTube, so all those who can’t visit N.Y.C. can still celebrate with the hundreds of dogs who do attend.

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“It’s such a celebration of dog-human friendship in a very silly way. I also think the world can really feel very divided right now, and it’s hard to find things to agree on. For me, dogs are such a global unifier. It’s something that we can all talk about and smile about and laugh about, and that is really important right now,” Watt says of what she wants people to take away from this year’s parade.