NEW HAVEN, CT — New Haven will not grant juice bar event permits for Halloween weekend, Friday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 1, after the police chief found the department would not have the officers to support those events, the city says on its events planning page.
Juice bars are events at bars and nightclubs where minors can buy nonalcoholic drinks. The city has passed two ordinances to rein them in, WFSB reported Wednesday, and the city said the Halloween pause is meant to protect teenagers.
What the New Rules Do
One ordinance stops new juice bars from opening. The other sets up a permit process for events at businesses that already hold them, which WFSB reported is meant to make those events safer and to hold businesses that keep breaking the rules to account. Violations can bring fines from $2,500 to $10,000.
City records list ordinance OR-2026-0025, which amends Chapter 14, Section 14-6 of the city code to update the juice bar event process, as enacted after its passage on Oct. 19.
Why the City Is Acting
The city said the under-21 events usually run in separate areas of bars and nightclubs, but some open alongside events where alcohol is served. City officials tied past events to fights, assaults and underage drinking, and police said they have been called to juice bars hundreds of times this year.
Last Halloween, crowds of young people headed to downtown juice bars, and police added patrols after a fatal downtown shooting in which, police said, a bystander who was out celebrating was killed, WFSB reported.