“What do you think he’s dressing up as tonight?”
For two nights straight, that was probably one of the most frequently asked questions outside of Madison Square Garden.
Harry Styles was back with Harryween, marking the Halloween concert’s return to New York City for the first time since its 2021 debut. Known for elaborate costumes and surprise performances, this year’s shows also served as the grand finale to the pop star’s 30-night residency at the iconic venue.
Over 18,000 fans arrived as Dorothys, American Girl dolls, and…people from The Lorax. The Garden’s exterior was colorful and full of whimsy, with fans admiring each other’s creativity and cameras snapping in every direction. Honestly, you could have spent hours people-watching without ever stepping inside.
Breanne, who attended night two dressed as Fran from The Nanny, came to the show alone. She’d dreamed of attending Harryween since 2021, when Styles famously dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
For fans like Breanne, the anticipation was years in the making. Preparing for Harryween is often an event in itself. Many handmake their costumes, documenting the process on TikTok months before the show. But while fans put plenty of time into their own looks, there was just as much excitement surrounding what Styles would wear.
One of the biggest surprises of night one came from Styles’ own costume choices. When his band and dancers took the stage dressed as different versions of him throughout his career, it seemed only fitting that Styles would follow suit.
Instead, he emerged as Elvis Presley, wearing a white sequined jumpsuit, cape and gold sunglasses. Very 1970s Las Vegas residency.
“The theme on this stage was your favorite sequined king,” Styles joked, seemingly accounting for the mismatch. But it turned out he had a little more up his sleeve.
Halfway through the show, Styles returned to the stage dressed as his 16-year-old self, recreating the outfit he wore when he auditioned for The X Factor in 2010. He even performed Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” the same song he sang during the audition that eventually led him to One Direction.
For fans who have followed Styles since the beginning, the surprise meant a lot more than the average Halloween costume. Carla, who attended both nights of Harryween, said she was overwhelmed with emotion when Styles appeared in the familiar outfit.
“I felt like Raven from That’s So Raven having a vision of every memory I’ve made with Harry over the last 16 years,” she said. “I cried hard I felt so proud and maternal #parasocial.”
That wave of nostalgia carried into the following night, as fans prepared to celebrate not only the end of the residency, but the years of memories that brought them there.
For Breanne, the final show carried a reminder of just how much had changed since she first saw One Direction perform at Madison Square Garden in 2013.
“It was like a slideshow was playing in my head of the past 16 years,” she said, recalling the moment Styles stood crying onstage. “All of the memories that I had being a fan of 1D. I saw them back in 2013 at MSG and now I’m at Harry’s 30th consecutive night at the same venue.”
The final night was a celebration of that journey. On Halloween night, Styles appeared as New York City’s infamous pizza rat, running onto the stage with an oversized slice of pizza.
The celebration also included a surprise appearance from New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, who dressed as Styles and helped unveil a commemorative banner honoring the 30-night residency.
As for Carla, the final show was the perfect ending to the weekend.
“I was laughing literally the entire time,” she said of Styles’ rat costume. “Enough to the point where I was thankful he took it off early because I was folded over in tears as he scurried around on stage.”
But amid the laughter and the celebration was the reality that, after 30 nights, this chapter was coming to a close.
Styles clearly felt the weight of the moment, too. In an emotional eight-minute speech, he thanked the people who helped bring the residency to life and reminded fans that the shows were about more than the performances themselves.
“Putting your phone down for the night and dancing with strangers can change your life, and it has certainly changed mine,” Styles told the crowd.
That sentiment rang true both inside and outside of the arena.
Carla, who camped out ahead of both Harryween shows in hopes of securing a coveted spot along the barricade, found herself bonding with the fans waiting alongside her.
“It’s crazy what sitting on the ground for hours together can do to a group of girls,” she said. “We learned a lot about each others’ lives outside of Harry as well so I truly believe friendships were built, which made the show itself so much more fun.”
Meanwhile, Breanne had arrived at Harryween nervous about attending her first concert alone.
“I was a bit nervous but come to find out that I would know sooo many people in the audience. Friends that I met since the start of the KISSCO era,” she said. “The girl that I went to the very first show with was actually only a few rows behind me.”
While the concerts brought fans together inside Madison Square Garden, the opportunities to connect extended well beyond the arena.
The fans who kept the party going
As the crowds dispersed on 34th Street, many fans had somewhere else to go.
Stan Society, which hosted several afterparties throughout the course of Styles’ residency, had announced just two weeks before Harryween that it would be throwing another dance party, featuring craft stations and a costume contest. It quickly sold out.
Makayla Stokes, who DJ’d multiple Stan Society afterparties throughout the residency, described the nights as “electric and euphoric,” explaining that the events gave fans an opportunity to connect in ways they might not have been able to during the concerts themselves.
“It’s cool to make friends at a concert but then there’s 2 hours of show where you are so locked in on the artist but then walking over to the after party and sitting at the craft table or crying to your favorite song is really where you solidify those connections,” she said.
Stokes said she watched those connections happen throughout the residency, as fans exchanged friendship bracelets, shared travel stories and bonded over their favorite songs.
“I watch it happen all the time,” she said. “The love of the artist and the music immediately make this room full of strangers, your new best friends even if it’s just for the night.”
The events can offer a welcome change from the negativity that can sometimes dominate online fan spaces.
“It was really nice going from watching all of the discourse online that can sometimes feel negative and toxic in a fandom dissipate when you walk into our space,” she said. “It’s intimate and safe and really special.”
For Stokes, the friendships that come out of these events are something she’s experienced herself. Four years ago, Stan Society founder Michael Weber introduced her to someone who would become her best friend at a One Direction-themed party.
“We’ve been inseparable ever since,” she said.
While Stan Society kept fans dancing, irl. fans for friends took the celebration across New York City. Their sold-out Harryween Bar Crawl brought together over 100 fans for a night of enjoying music, drinks and dancing with each other at bars throughout the city.
“An afters seemed like the perfect way to keep the night going for the final nights of the residency,” irl. fans for friends said. “In a way, we’re trying to delay the inevitable end by keeping everyone together for as long as possible and create a space where people can meet new friends in the process.”
The night even included an unexpected celebrity encounter. While traveling between stops on the subway, fans ran into actress Rachel Zegler, who joined in on the excitement.
But beyond the surprise encounters and dancing, the bar crawl gave fans another opportunity to spend time with people who shared their excitement about the weekend.
“It’s very rare we’re all collectively in one spot,” irl. fans for friends said. “Events like these give us more opportunity to be with a community that just ‘gets it.’”
After 30 sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden, the excitement that filled New York City for months has finally come to an end.
For fans who spent the residency planning outfits, traveling across the country, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, moving on from this chapter may be easier said than done. But the concerts were never the only thing bringing fans together. From the friendships formed while waiting outside The Garden to the parties that kept the celebration going long after the shows ended, fans created plenty of experiences and memories of their own to last a lifetime.
That was probably the most important reminder Styles left fans with during his final speech on Halloween night.
“This community you put together over the years is truly special,” he said. “I hope you remember it is yours, it does not belong to me.”
Harryween may be over, and the Together, Together residency may have ended, but the fans still have each other.
