Come Sail Away, Sail Away with Me

 History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals  No Responses »
Nov 072015
 

Expect to see today a different Salem than you saw last month as we harken back to our “other” historical claim to fame as a maritime power. You are invited to join the Essex county sailing community as it marks the end of the sailing season with Salem’s second annual Downrigging Festival today beginning at 10am.

NPS downThe day-long event features four public sails, an assortment of maritime talks, live demonstrations, wooded boats, ship tours aboard FRIENDSHIP and more! Public sails require a reservation and fee, but all other activities are free to the public.

A better day could not have been selected. Visibility is expected to be 10 miles with one foot waves, good breezes and temperatures in comfortable low 60s.

All vessels will be docked at Salem Maritime National Historic Site (173 Derby Street) or Pickering Wharf Marina (23 Congress Street).

Participants include Schooner FAME, Schooner ARDELLE, Schooner ADVENTURE, Essex National Heritage Area, and Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

NPS2

Schedule of Events

  • 10am – Friendship opens for public visitation
  • 10:30am – A Presentation on Baker’s Island and Essex National Heritage Area with Greg Guckenburg and Mary Hillery and Captain Ed Wolfe. 160 Derby Street, 2nd Floor.
  • 11am – Open ship and demonstrations (each half hour) aboard FRIENDSHIP12:00PM – FAME Public Sail (90 minutes)
  • 12pm – An illustrated talk on the current downrigging of FRIENDSHIP
  • 12:30pm – A conversation with maritime photographer Leighton O’Conner. 160 Derby Street, 2nd Floor.
  • 1pm – ARDELLE Public Sail (90 minutes)
  • 2pm – FAME Public Sail (90 minutes)
  • 2pm – An illustrated talk on the current downrigging of FRIENDSHIP
  • 2:30pm – Steve and Jenny Sail for a Cancer Cure, a Conversation with S/V Ahava. 160 Derby Street, 2nd Floor.
  • 3pm – ARDELLE Public Sail (90 minutes)
  • 4:30pm – A Presentation by Captain Stefan Edick, Schooner ADVENTURE. 160 Derby Street, 2nd Floor.

To purchase tickets for public sails ($10 for adults, $5 for children 13 and under) aboard FAME or ARDELLE online go to www.zerve.com/SchoonerFame/Downrig or call the Schooner FAME at (978) 729-7600.

Visit www.nps.gov/sama for the complete schedule and updated information.

Come see the Salem of the sea!

Best Chef: Salem, We’re Cooking Up Another Must See Event

 Contests, Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Shopping  No Responses »
Nov 052015
 

Best Chef 1Blending food, competition and a fundraising event, the Salem YMCA and Creative Salem have partnered to host the 2nd annual Salem’s Best Chef competition, Nov. 7th from 6:30 – 9:30pm at Ames Hall within the Y building.

You are invited to be on hand to observe local Salem chefs facing off to see who reigns supreme.

“Salem is a force in the culinary scene,” explains John Andrews of Creative Salem. “The one constant we have all year long (through Haunted Happenings, the Maritime Festival, cultural happenings, growth in the city, etc.) is an ever growing and changing culinary scene.”

He continues “With those plethora of events throughout the year, the ever expanding culinary scene and the popularity of cooking competitions, it was a unique but logical choice to not only highlight some awesome local chefs but to give a little sample to people to try out some of the offerings in Salem.”

Adding to the local theme, each chef will create three dishes utilizing ingredients from local vendors that participate in the Salem Farmers Market!

Also included in the Best Chef event will be a “Taste of Salem” featuring local restaurants, brewers, and cider masters offering samples to attendees. These include:

Far From the Tree Cider
AMano Italian Kitchen
Ken Rothwell Catering
In A Pig’s Eye
The Lobster Shanty
Opus
The Cheese Shop of Salem
Deacon Giles Distillery
KOTO

This event supports the Salem YMCA and its Annual Campaign which helps fund community initiatives in the areas of the achievement gap, teens, aging population and childhood obesity. It also supports greater access to Y programs in health and wellness, aquatics, camp, child care and in the areas of arts and theater through scholarships and financial assistance.

Guest judges include: the 2014 winner Antonio Bettencourt; 2014 Businesswoman of the year Brandi Dion, owner of B&S Fitness; and the creator of Nosh Northshore and Dinner Dealer Jessica Brand Alves.

Best chef 2Andrews points out that last year’s event revealed that “Putting the focus on the chefs in a city where we don’t really do the ‘celebrity chef’ thing didn’t involve some of the ego that can usually go into these events.”

In fact, it was just the opposite, providing a chance for the locals to really see who is cooking for them in their favorite local restaurants.

Andrews, a former chef himself reveals, “One of the wonderful things about the culinary scene in this city is that a lot of the staff that work in these places frequent each others establishments so there is a real wonderful sense of camaraderie at events like this.”

Best chef 3Additional entertainment at Best Chef  will be provided by DJ Noel Snow and a fun-filled photo booth.

Andrews adds, “With Mayoral visions of a shared kitchen incubator space.. An exciting artisanal beer, cider and spirit scene… A vibrant and thriving Farmers Market…The potential turning of the page on the possibility of food trucks… and some really wonderful new options for people to dine… we need residents & visitors to support all these initiatives and new businesses; hopefully events like this and the upcoming Salem Restaurant week will encourage people all over the region to start seeing Salem as the culinary destination that it is.”

Tickets are $35 or $50 for VIP access! (VIP access includes a drink ticket and balcony seating!)
Call 978-740-9622 for more info.

(Photos courtesy of Social Palates Photography)

Hamlet, Contemporary As Ever, To Be Staged in Salem

 History, Salem Event  No Responses »
Nov 042015
 

HamletMurder, betrayal, grief, political intrigue, revenge. Sounds like any number of series currently on TV. In fact these are the powerful elements of William Shakespeare’s tragic piece Hamlet, being staged by the Salem Theatre, Nov. 5-21 – the final performance in the black box theatre at 90 Lafayette Street before the company moves to a shiny new space in February.

Directed by Caroline Watson-Felt, Salem Theatre describes Hamlet as  “one of Shakespeare’s most beautiful, thoughtful, and sad tragedies. It is the story of a young man who discovers and loses himself all at the same time. We are our own worst enemies when we cannot reconcile loss, love, anger, and the dark corners of our own mind.”

Hamlet as a play is also interesting in that the obsession that will darken Hamlet’s life when we meet him actually takes place before the play even starts. His father the King of Denmark has passed away, his mother has rather quickly remarried to his father’s brother, and as you can well guess “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

This plot line is furthered along by the appearance of a ghost claiming to be the father, further claiming that his brother did indeed kill him. A ghost? Perfect for post-Halloween Salem MA audiences.

Speaking of audiences, this will be the last production mounted for audiences at the 90 Lafayette Street locale.  Salem Theatre will be setting up stage at a new space in Shetland Park in 2016.

Hamlet STBut for now performances will take place on Nov. 5-7, 12-14, and 19-21 at 7:30pm, with additional shows at 3pm on Nov 8 and 15.

Student Night performance of Hamlet will be Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3pm, with all student tickets reduced down to $5 with student ID.

LGBT Night will be Tuesday Nov. 20 at 7:30pm. Get $5 off the price of tickets for that performance by using the discount code LGBTHAMLET.

Tickets are otherwise $12-25 online and $15-30 at the door. Purchase online through www.salemtheatre.com.

To be or not to be… obsessed with revenge — if you were in Hamlet’s shoes, would you make the same choices?

(Hamlet Artwork /Photo courtesy of Dan DeRosato)

Salem, MA All Year Round – and This Week

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Nov 012015
 
2015-10-31 14.26.15

Less than 24 hours ago…

The day after.  The streets have been swept, the barriers are being moved away, and sooner or later, the portapotties will roll out of town.  Halloween is over for another year. All the fun is over, too, right?  WRONG!  Salem, MA is truly alive and well all year round, and next week alone is a perfect example of how much there is to do and enjoy every day in this great city.

Let’s get the sad news out of the way first.  Today, Sunday 11/1, is the last official day at Artists’ Row.  We’ve had some amazing tenants this year – as you may have seen from our profiles of  Nikky Bergman Jewelry,  Boston Woodturning, Diane Hoffman Textiles,  and Witch City Wicks.  But don’t be too sad – Boston Woodturning and Ceramics by Sibel are going to continue working in their spaces as long as they can stand the cold, and all tenants will be returning for a special event on Nov. 22 (more details to come).

November 1st also signals the start of sales all over town – and not just on Halloween merchandise!  For example, fashion boutique J. Mode is offering 30% off any single apparel item of your choice, SUNDAY ONLY, NOV. 1, open 12-5pm.

We’re also entering the season of giving, and The House of the Gables is kicking off a major Thanksgiving Drive to help It Starts With Me to provide 150 Thanksgiving dinners to families on the North Shore.  Right next door to the Gables, the new Zephyr Gallery is celebrating the opening of their next show, “Giving Thanks”, on Friday, Nov. 6 starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Salem Theatre opens the curtain on their final production in their old space at 90 Lafayette this week, before preparing for a big new move in 2016.  Shakespeare’s Hamlet opens on Thursday, Nov. 5 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 21. Tickets can be purchased at http://salemtheatre.ticketleap.com/hamlet/.

The fun continues well into the weekend, with the National Park Service’s second annual Downrigging Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7 – a fantastic way to celebrate both our maritime heritage and the passing of the seasons. Later that evening, don’t miss the much-anticipated “Best Chef” competition at the Salem YMCA.

After you’ve gotten a taste at Best Chef Salem, the Salem Chamber’s fall Salem Restaurant Week kicks off on Sunday night.  Running Nov 8-12 and 15-19, take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the amazing culinary scene is Salem as our restaurants take a chance to say “welcome back” to the locals.

And last but not least, we get to VOTE!!!  On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Salem residents will get to make their voices heard, specifically regarding Ward City Councillors, City Councillors At-Large, and School Committee. Not sure where to go?  Check this handy “Where Do I Vote?” tool.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to turn your clocks back today for Daylight Savings Time,  so you get an extra hour to enjoy all that Salem has to offer!

 

 

Live From Salem MA- – – It’s Halloween!!!

 History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, SMS News  No Responses »
Oct 312015
 

October 13 070Walking around Salem a few minutes ago, it was the quiet before the storm, but shortly the expected 70,000 revelers (plus the media) will begin to trickle, then ooze, then just flat out pour into the Witch City for Halloween 2015.

We hope you brought comfortable walking shoes. The big finale to Haunted Happenings is much more than a 3-ring circus, as you walk to all the events.

First stop we suggest is our Information Booth at the corner of Washington & Essex Streets. Our volunteers will guide you to where you want to go, so you spend less time trying to get there and more time enjoying what you wish to see.

There are a number of kid friendly events if you’re bringing the little ones for the early part of the day.

  • Salem Children’s Day, 10am-3pm on the Salem Common
  • Ask a Witch, Make a Wand, 10am-5pm, Artemisia Botanicals
  • Professor Wunders’ School of Magic, 10am, Gallows Hill Museum Theatre
  • Face Painting, noon-6pm, Gallows Hill Museum Theatre

There are also zones of music spaced around the downtown district for you to relax and recharge if you’re spending the entire day.

  • Music at Fountain Stage, noon – 1pm, Essex Street Pedestrian Mall
  • Shock Top Beer Garden, 2pm-10pm, Federal Street at Washington Street
  • Radio 92.9 Concert Stage, 2pm-10pm, Washington Street at Federal Street
  • Concert Stage, 7pm-10pm, Front Street
  • Concert Stage, 7pm-10pm, Hawthorne Blvd.
  • Gazebo Stage, 7pm-10pm, Salem Common

Remember the rules, and have fun. Salem will put a spell on you….

(And in case later tonight you and your friends want— for whatever reason— to sing the version from the movie Hocus Pocus, here are the lyrics….)

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