festival – Page 6 – Salem Main Streets

Santa’s Almost Here To Kick Off Our Holiday Season

History, Salem Event, SMS News No Responses »

Nov 252016

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night will keep hundreds of Salem kids from waiting at the foot of the Hawthorne Hotel tonight for the Arrival of Santa. A much-beloved tradition to kick off the Holiday season in our community, it takes place rain or shine with the assistance of the Salem Fire Dept.

Santa Claus will arrive at the top of the Hawthorne Hotel at 18 Washington Square promptly at 6pm but we recommend getting there by 5:45pm at the latest. It is always a crowd filled with “kids of all ages!”

A procession will then continue down the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall for the Holiday Tree Lighting at Lappin Park. This is also a great gathering of community members and merchants.

Participants are encouraged to bring lanterns (store-bought or homemade) to carry in the procession. Safety first, though – electric candles, please!

Lights and decorations for the Holiday Tree were made possible by individual contributions and donations from a number of local businesses, including significant donations from Salem’s October visitors.

Salem Main Streets would also like to thank the City of Salem, the Hawthorne Hotel, MeetingHouse Church, North Shore Marine, All Star Collision & Towing, Gigi Gill, and the many other community partners who make these special events possible.

Now, c’mon down and join us if you can.

No Trick, Salem Treats You to a Halloween PARTY!

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 272016

Halloween is no longer just for kids and adults with kids. October 31st in Salem Ma has had a tradition of proving just that. This year, even being on a Monday night, we expect record crowds of adults to converge on Washington Street like a horde of zombies for completion of our month-long Haunted Happenings celebration.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) “Millennial consumers (ages 18-34) are now the most likely of all adult generations to participate in Halloween. They’re also one of the top spenders on Halloween costumes, spending an average $42.39 compared with $31.03 for all adults.”

This youthful population segment has big plans for those costumes too: their intent to attend parties is up 10.9% from 2006, reports the NRF.

Winifred Sanderson: Sisters, All Hallow’s Eve has become a night of frolic, where children wear costumes and run amok!

Sarah: Amok! [dances around] Amok, amok, amok, amok, amok.

And… that brings us back to Salem Ma. We are having a party. Millennials and every other older generation are invited but we want this night of fun and frolic to be a safe one.

This is a link to Halloween Night’s Be Smart, Be Safe, Have Fun suggestions flyer that we urge you to read and make use of. Simple advice is offered, such as if you have to drive here, park someplace else, like Beverly or Danvers. Don’t bring liquor. Don’t bring real swords. Don’t bring fake swords or anything that looks like a weapon. They WILL BE confiscated.

The second part of the flyer has the day & evening festivities schedule, from Shock Top Beer Garden, ( 21+) on Federal St. at Washington Street, to all the different bands at various locations in the Downtown District, to the 10:15pm Halloween Finale Fireworks at Washington Street & Bridge Street.

After the closing fireworks show, please be respectful as you leave town. You may not know this but many parts of the Downtown District are residential. There are people trying to get some sleep because they ARE going to work Tuesday. That brick structure you are leaning up against may look like an empty office building, but it is really a refurbished apartment complex.

And if you are using social media to share with all your friends not lucky enough to be here, consider using the tags #SalemMA and @hauntdhappnings in your pictures & tweets.

Have a great time, we made this party for you!

Come to Salem, But Don’t Drive

Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping No Responses »

Oct 132016

We mentioned this on our Facebook page, as probably other community organizations have commented in posts on their Facebook or Twitter accounts, but we think it really merits repeating: avoid driving to Salem this weekend.

We don’t have any hard statistics, just real time observations which lead us to believe that there are a lot more people checking out and enjoying all that Salem Ma has to offer this year. Parking is hard to find. Streets are getting backed up with traffic.

The idea is to spend a day in Salem Ma and have fun. We want that to be what you take away when you leave.

So, leave the car at home. Take the train. Or ride in on any number of MBTA buses that pass through the Witch City. Or travel aboard the Boston Harbor Cruise ferry. There is a lot going on. As a perfect example, here is an advisory from the Salem Police Department in reference to this weekend:

Saturday, October 15: Salem YMCA Witch City 5K road race starts at 9am at the Salem Willows. No road closures are planned, however anticipate traffic delays along the following roadways: Memorial Dr, Essex St, Rte 1A, Rte 114 including Hawthorne Blvd, Derby St, and Fort Ave, ending at Restaurant Row.
Sunday, October 16: Witch Ride Motorcycle Ride has been rescheduled for Sunday October 16. Rte 114 and Rte 1A will be impacted, but not closed to traffic, from Marblehead to New Derby St. Rte 1A, including Derby St, will be closed to traffic between Lafayette St and Congress St. Congress St will also be closed to traffic. Anticipate road closures and traffic delays from noon to 3pm. There will be a no parking tow zone on Derby St between Lafayette and Congress St from 11am to 3pm.
Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16: There will be no on-street parking on Essex St from Hawthorne Blvd to New Liberty St from 6am to 10pm. This section of Essex St will also be closed to through traffic from 9am to 10pm. Access to Museum Place garage will be via Brown St only.

Although every effort to keep roads open will be made, please be aware that any roads necessary to maintain public safety will be closed without notice. Officers will be posted in key intersections at peak times to assist with traffic when possible.

Many businesses and organizations in Salem go to great effort to provide entertaining & informative diversions for you, we just want to make sure you have an easy way to get to them all!

Hark! We Hear Haunted Harmonies This Weekend

Contests, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 062016

Part performance, part competition, part learning experience and a whole lot of musical entertainment, this Saturday, Salem residents and visitors will be treated to the first annual Haunted Harmonies A Cappella Festival.

Haunted Harmonies is a NEW one-day a cappella festival in Salem, MA built to educate high school and collegiate students on various elements of contemporary a cappella (group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment) and enhance Salem’s Haunted Happenings celebration.

Through workshops and exposure to professional musicians, students will gain skills to improve their musicality and knowledge of a cappella. Students will also provide family-friendly entertainment to the community while experiencing high-level performance opportunities in competition and exhibition on the streets of Salem during the Haunted Harmonies festival and throughout the month of October.

Inspired by the growing enthusiasm for a cappella performance, Haunted Harmonies was created by Alex Grover, Music Director of Danvers High School & former director of Salem High School’s a cappella group WitchPitch?, and Tina Jordan, Director of the Salem Witch Museum.

Jordan explains, “The audience is in for a wonderful musical experience. Whether watching the competition at the Fountain Stage, hearing the Scholastic and Non-Scholastic groups perform at the four other stages on Essex Street, or attending the Professional Showcase in the acoustically amazing Murray Hall at the Bridge at 211 featuring Vox One, the award-winning a cappella jazz quintet that combines elements of blues, funk, gospel, and folk into their own brand of vocal music, the audience will have an opportunity to participate in something special.”

The Scholastic Competition will include:

S#arp Attitude from UMass Amherst,
Fermata Nowhere from UMass Lowell,
Unisons from Northeastern University,
Tonal Recall from Colleges of the Fenway,
4Gotten Suitcase from Ramapo College,
Upper Structure from Berklee College of Music,
the ArgoNotes from Maspeth High School, and
Acapocalypse from Emmanuel College in Boston,
Saugus Sachimes from Saugus High School, and
Ingrid Sound from Danvers High School.

The competition will be opened and hosted by Phoenix, a Boston-based, all female a cappella group.

Jordan continues, “What I love about the design of the festival is that the groups will learn from experts in the a cappella world, Phoenix A Cappella and Berklee College of Music & Women’s A Cappella Association, and will be able to take those lessons and apply them as they perform on the streets of Salem with a Haunted Happenings twist!

Because this festival happens so early in the school year, I think it will also help the individual a cappella groups become more connected, as some have incoming freshmen as new members of their groups and this experience will help them build their relationship with each other.”

The Scholastic Competition will be held on the Fountain Stage on Essex Street from 10am – 12pm and is free to the public. Each of the ten groups will perform and be adjudicated by a panel of professional a cappella performers and professors from Berklee College of Music and the Women’s A Cappella Association.

In the afternoon there will be street singing by non-scholastic performance groups from 1-4pm. A cappella fans can see their favorite scholastic performers again during their Street Singing showcase from 4-5:30pm. There will be five performance locations on Essex Street between Liberty Street and Washington Street.

The Pro Showcase featuring Vox One and the winners of the scholastic competition will be held in Murray Hall at 211 Bridge at 7pm. Advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended; tickets are $8.00 in advance, $10.00 at the door.

For complete information on Haunted Harmonies, visit HauntedHarmonies.com.

The a cappella festival is part of a month of musical programming on the Fountain Stage organized by Salem Gathering, and will coincide with this weekend’s Haunted Biz Baz Street Fair, which is produced by the Salem Chamber of Commerce. For complete information on the month-long Salem Haunted Happenings festival, visit HauntedHappenings.org.

Jordan concludes, “I think this festival will be a wonderful experience for the high school and colleges that will participate, but the real winners will be the visitors and residents who come out to enjoy the music and talent of these wonderful scholastic and non-scholastic performers.”

Parade To Set Tone of Haunted Happenings

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Volunteer Opportunities No Responses »

Oct 032016

While October 1st technically starts Salem’s month-long celebration of Halloween, the real kick-off has been the Annual Salem Chamber of Commerce Haunted Happenings Grand Parade. This year, the 21st annual parade will be held Thursday, Oct. 6th from 6:30pm-8pm.

The Salem Chamber of Commerce cordially invites you to participate as a walker, to become a volunteer, or just attend this year’s event, which will feature the theme “100 Years of Parks and Play.”

The term “children of all ages” could not better describe the participants as thousands of Salem’s students from kindergarten to college and our local business owners will be ready to march from Shetland Park to the Salem Common.

Along the way you will see colors, lights, sounds and faces of kids basking in the limelight that for that given moment they are the center of attention. They represent all that is fun about Salem.

The Annual Salem Chamber of Commerce Haunted Happenings Grand Parade will be starting from Shetland Properties on Congress Street then turning left onto Derby Street, right onto Central Street, left onto Front Street, right onto Washington Street, right onto the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall and ending at the Common.

This will necessitate certain road closings from 6pm until 9:30pm.

Congress Street will be closed from Harbor Street to Derby Street.
Derby Street will be closed from Congress Street to Central Street.
Commuters will not be able to use Route 1A between Dodge St. and Brown Street which includes Derby Street, Hawthorne Boulevard and Washington Square at the Common entrance.
Front Street and Washington Street between New Derby Street and Church Street will be closed.
Essex Street will be closed at Washington Street.

When it all stops at the Common, it does not end as there will be a continuing celebration with local favorite DJ Doug entertaining the crowd.

For the latest developments, please check the Salem Chamber of Commerce Haunted Happenings Grand Parade Facebook page

It is a parade, it is a party, it is a traveling brochure of things to come during Haunted Happenings in Salem Ma. this month. And by attending, you will be a part of it!

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