Derby Square: Plenty of History & a Flea Market There

 Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Farmers Market, Salem Shopping  No Responses »
Jul 162016
 

History surrounds us in Salem Ma. You really can’t walk around much without bumping into it. It’s in the walls. It’s on the streets. For example, this month’s edition of the Derby Square Flea Salvage Art Market Saturday, July 16 (10am to 5pm), which normally features eclectic vendors of vintage, salvage, fashion, art & up-cycled objects, will also celebrate Derby Square’s 200th anniversary.

  • 10:30am Ribbon Cutting with Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll
  • 2pm Birthday Cake courtesy of CoffeeTime Bakery
  • 3:30pm Drawing of vintage limited-edition signed print of Old Town Hall by Eleanor Meadowcroft
  • 5pm Happy Hour around the Square

Yes, that little patch of land where farmers’ markets,  flea markets, summer concerts, Salem Arts Festival and other events take place, has a history.

Flea Market Derby SqAccording to historian Dona Seger, in a very informative piece she wrote recently for the Streets of Salem website, “John Derby III and Benjamin Pickman, Jr., scions of wealthy Salem families, business partners and brothers-in-law, offered the land on which the majestic and short-lived Derby Mansion formerly stood to the town of Salem in 1816 with the provision that a suitable civic building be built–civic in this context clearly implying both public and commercial functions. The city accepted the offer, and so the new Derby Square was developed over 1816-1817 with the new Town Hall/Market House at its center.”

She goes on to tell an interesting tale of how it developed, changed, flowed with the times, buckled a little, but still kept to tradition.

In keeping with that tradition of Derby Square housing a marketplace, the Derby Square Flea Salvage Art Market came into existence.

Becky Putnam, Carol Hedstrom and Stacia Kraft took their shared passion for “history, architecture and all things vintage” to create a one time pop up market in September 2015. So successful was it that they formed CDP Productions and proposed a full season of outdoor vintage and art markets to the City. A May-September schedule was established.

At this month’s edition of the Derby Square Flea Salvage Art market, you will find both local Salem and traveling vendors, presented with a backdrop of vintage music and interactive vendors.

For additional info, go to derbysquarefleasalvageart.com.

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8th Annual Salem Arts Festival To Feature Over 80 Artists & Performers

 History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping, SMS News  No Responses »
Jun 022016
 

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As Arts Festivals go, we think ours is a big deal. So much so that the Salem Arts Festival is not a one day experience but a 3-day extravaganza of culture, June 3-5th. What else would you call the intersection of over 80 artists and performers with a variety of art, music, dance, and theatre performances. The family-friendly festival also includes art-making for all ages, artisan vendors selling their creations, and a temporary public art installation.

And yes, something this big can’t be housed in one spot.

The Salem Arts Festival is spread out at a variety of venues in downtown Salem, with the primary focus on Old Town Hall, Derby Square, Front Street, and Artists’ Row. A Juried Art Show will be held in Old Town Hall throughout the festival, with an artisan street fair in the area around the building on Saturday and Sunday. Live performances this year will mostly be held outside (weather permitting) on Derby Square and Artists’ Row. The event is rain or shine, with a rain location for performances held upstairs at Old Town Hall and at 217 Essex Street (formerly “The Gathering”).

Full schedule and programs will be available on site during the festival, as well as the Festival website.

“I’m probably prouder of this event than any other Salem Main Streets initiative, because there’s been such tremendous collaboration between so many local groups and individuals to continue to improve and expand the festival every year.  I can’t wait to share the phenomenal energy and talent that will be on display this year,” says Kylie Sullivan, Executive Director of Salem Main Streets (SMS), the community non-profit organization which started the Festival.

The Salem Arts Festival kicks off with an opening reception at Salem’s Old Town Hall on Friday, June 3rd at 6pm.  The free event allows visitors to enjoy beautiful art work while being entertained by renowned local and regional performers North Shore Chamber Music, Gretchen and the Pickpockets, Siren of the Circle, and headliners Picante Soul.

In addition this year, Friday night will also serve as the grant reception for the Salem Cultural Council’s FY16 grantees.

One of the most anticipated events this year is “Move With Me”, a collaborative public art project led by artist and architect Claudia Paraschiv, featuring an installation of pinwheels over Front Street. During the past few months, community groups and locals of all ages and abilities have decorated several hundred individual pinwheels made of reclaimed sailcloth, drawing their own interpretations of traditional textile patterns from different cultures around the world.

This year, the Salem Arts Festival also celebrates the very first “Mural Slam” on Artists’ Row, organized by the City of Salem’s Public Art Commission and Public Art Planner Deborah Greel. Murals will be painted throughout the weekend by 12 selected artists and will be completed by the end of the festival. In addition, the Festival marks the return of vendors to Artists’ Row, with both new and returning tenants for the 2016 season.

The goal of the Salem Arts Festival is to promote all the arts in Salem and to provide the entire North Shore arts community with an opportunity to showcase their talents. The Festival is run in collaboration with Salem Main Streets by a team of dedicated volunteers, including representatives from Creative Salem, Salem State University, the Peabody Essex Museum, and many more.

Visitors interested in attending the Salem Arts Festival can find easy access to the downtown by public transportation or parking at one of the many downtown lots in the City. For more information, please visit www.salemartsfestival.com

SALEM303 Salem_Arts_Fest_Logo_Final

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Soul, Blues and Funk Mix at Salem Jazz & Soul Festival’s 10th Year

 History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Volunteer Opportunities  No Responses »
May 082016
 

Ten years of down beats, up beats, rhythm and horns will be celebrated this year as the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival kicks off its Berklee Summer Series May 14th in Salem’s Derby Square.

The spacious, open air ambiance of Derby Square lends itself so well to the diverse live funk, soul, blues and jazz music performances scheduled this year.

By offering this series of annual free concerts, concluding with the main festival at the Willows (the third weekend in August), The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival is “recreating and renewing the vibrant jazz scene that began in the early 20th century, when Duke Ellington and other musicians from the Big Band era played at the seaside park.”

May 14th Performers

MIXCLA, a trio consisting of students from the Berklee College of Music, will play at the first SJSF/Berklee Summer Series concert.

MIXCLA is a play on words between mezcla (which means mixture) and mix.

MIXLASJSF describes it in this way “It is a merging of cultures hailed from the mountains of Chile, to the traditions of Japan, which driven by the fires of Cuba achieve a truly unique Latin jazz experience.”

Sounds interesting.

MIXCLA is led by composer/pianist and singer Zahili Gonzalez Zamora, with Gerson Esteban Lazo Quiroga on bass and backing vocals, and Takafumi Nikaido on percussion. You would expect that this mixture of cultural spices to cook up the perfect recipe for one of a kind musical experience.

Zahili Gonzalez Zamora, explains, “We are truly excited to be a part of the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival Berklee Summer Series; it is another opportunity to share our love and passion for music.

We are three individuals from three different parts of the world, yet, we found each other at Berklee and came together as a musical family with one common thing in mind, we love Cuban music.

I am bias of course. But Gerson? All the way from Chile, he pretty much self taught himself music and ended up avidly listening and falling in love with Cuban music. He began transcribing his favorite bass players, especially Alain Perez, a bass virtuoso from Cuba. Then Taka? He has already been to Cuba twice, studied with the Masters of Percussion and actually won a prize in Cuba’s most important Festival Del Tambor.

When I found them, I said to myself, these are my brothers. I cannot let them go. I feel at home when we are playing, and their faces tell me they feel the same, and it gets better and better. So now, I’m just really happy that we get to share what we have with the crowd of the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival.

Plus, we get to represent our school, which is also an honor.”

Three more SJSF/Berklee Summer Series concerts will take place this year: Maddie Jay & the pH Collective on June 11; Selah Poitier on July 9; and RickExpress on Aug. 13.

The 10th-annual Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will follow at The Willows during the weekend of Aug. 20-21, featuring 10 bands, a kids’ tent, music-education tent, artisan fair and 21-plus beer pavilion. The two-day concert is free.

The festival is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that produces free concerts and raises money for music education causes on the North Shore.

For up-to-date information, check out the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival Facebook page.

 

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Who’s Ready for Halloween? Haunted Happenings Guide Deadline Moved Up

 Salem Event, Salem Festivals  No Responses »
May 052016
 

Haunted HappeningsWhile the calendar says it is only May and summer is not far away, for many businesses in our Downtown District it signals that Halloween in the form of Haunted Happenings is less than six months away! Believe it or not, phone calls are beginning to come in to hotels and attractions seeking information.

In response, D2015_Coverestination Salem has wisely decided to move their deadline for the Salem Haunted Happenings Guide WAY UP this year. The deadline for submissions is THIS FRIDAY!

If you operate a business in Salem that participates in the Haunted Happenings extravaganza and are planning an October event or want to advertise to these inquiring visitors, do not miss out!!!

To find out more about Destination Salem’s integrated Haunted Happenings print and digital marketing campaign go to their website. Questions? Call 978-741-3252. Fax 978-741-7539. Email scooper@salem.org

 

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Poetry in Motion Being Showcased in Salem

 Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping  No Responses »
Apr 292016
 

MPF16+BannerWe understand, you worked on Friday and missed the first day of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. But fear not, ’tis more than one day in length. It will be shared among attendees on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend!

Here are a couple of links you might want to keep handy when you arrive. There is a lot going on, so be prepared to make some choices.

Not only are there many, many speakers. But they are also quite a diverse group.

Another interesting twist on a poetry festival is The Small Press and Literary Fair which takes place outside of the Peabody Essex Museum on Saturday. You will most likely find materials from literary journals, library organizations, university libraries and academic programs. Venues

And just where does this grand festival take place in Salem? Perhaps ask where it is not. Seriously…

  • Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St.
  • Salem Five Community Room, 210 Essex St.
  • Hawthorne Hotel, 18 Washington Square, W.
  • Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square
  • New Liberty Charter School, Museum Place Mall, 1 E. India Square Mall
  • The Bridge at 211, 211 Bridge St.
  • Howling Wolf, 76 Lafayette St.

For a larger version of map go to  www.masspoetry.org/venues-2016.

According to the Festival website “We encourage those who have the means, to add a donation to their button purchase to help us continue to offer the festival experience at a low price.”

It is a worthy cause.

Roger Housden, author and public speaker, has said in an edition of the Huffington Post “Poetry at its best calls forth our deep being. It dares us to break free from the safe strategies of the cautious mind; it calls to us, like the wild geese, as Mary Oliver would say, from an open sky. It is a magical art, and always has been — a making of language spells designed to open our eyes, open our doors and welcome us into a bigger world, one of possibilities we may never have dared to dream of.”

But this weekend you may dare dream and experience. Visit Salem and you will hear and see poetry come alive at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

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