As Summer Fades, Salem Activities Don’t Cool Down

 Salem Event, Salem Farmers Market, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping, SMS News  No Responses »
Aug 172017
 

Summer is almost over. Fun stuff done. No need to visit Salem until October. Right? WRONG!!! Here are just three things set for the next few days.

Farmers’ Market

Our successfully diverse Farmers’ Market continues its 2017 run (every Thursday now through Oct 12) with a host of regular vendors and a rotating batch as well.

For 8/17/17 come check out:

Cauldron Fermented Foods
Pour Man’s Coffee
1634 Meadery
Bare Cheek Beauty

Who is providing entertainment this week? From 5-7pm, Radio Scotvoid will be spinning vinyl jams. So, bring your dancing shoes. Or just a chair to set a spell and tap your toes!

Also, as an FYI… The Salem Farmers’ Market accepts the SNAP/EBT card. Just head for the Farmers’ Market table, located off Front St, on the Lobster Shanty side, and ask for the Market Manager. Use your SNAP/EBT card to “purchase” $1, $2, and $5 tokens. For more info on this program, go to http://salemfarmersmarket.org/ebt-info/

Salem Farmers’ Market operates Thursdays from 3-7pm in Derby Sq.

End of Summer Blues at PEM/PM

Does the thought of days getting shorter and darker earlier, and temperatures dipping bring out the end of summer blues in you? Put aside your trepidations. The Peabody Essex Museum has a festive alternative. This month’s PEM/PM late night party (also on 8/17/17) from 6-9pm will indeed be a party.

Enjoy local blues bands, lawn games and backyard BBQ food while enjoying a selection of beer. Be a part of the music with instrument making and blue jean art workshops to end the summer with a bash.

All that at a Museum? Yes, if it is the world-famous Peabody Essex Museum, located at East India Square, 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA. For more info on this month’s PEM/PM event, please call 978-745-9500.

The Salem Flea

Regional and local artisans/vendors will again be on hand from 10am-5pm on Aug. 19  to showcase and sell their work this third Saturday of the month as they have all season (May-September) in historic downtown Salem at Derby Square on Front Street. This area of the city was originally built as a market place and continues to be an important public plaza and pedestrian walkway.

The Salem Flea features a juried selection of vendors of vintage and up-cycled furniture, vintage clothing, collectibles, antiques, architectural salvage as well as a select number of jewelry, art, and handmade goods by local artisans.

Just three events with more than enough activity to keep you busy as the days of summer gently breeze away.

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National Farmers’ Market Week, Aug. 6-12

 Salem Event, Salem Farmers Market, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping  No Responses »
Aug 082017
 

When you walk across Derby Square on Thursdays from 3-7pm you think you are at the local Salem Ma Farmers’ Market. And you are. But you are also participating in a shared national experience. To that end, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has proclaimed Aug. 6-12 to be National Farmers’ Market Week

This is the 18th year in which the United States Department of Agriculture has put its stamp of approval on Farmers’ Markets; it has supported local producers by encouraging families to meet, and buy from, the farmers and other vendors at their local Farmers’ Market.

The proclamation points out that Farmers’ Markets and other agricultural direct marketing outlets contribute approximately $9 billion each year to the U.S. economy and “serve as significant outlets by which small-to-medium, new and beginning, and veteran agricultural producers market agricultural products, generating revenue that supports the sustainability of family farms and the revitalization of rural communities nationwide.”

There will be accompanying celebrations as thousands of U.S. Farmers’ Markets will highlight the range of produce, fruit, meat, dairy and specialty products available from their local and regional farmers.

As we have said in previous blogs, buying directly from farmers and ag-entrepreneurs has a significant regional impact by helping to diversify farm incomes while at same time supporting neighborhood businesses by keeping more money in the local economy.

In addition to being good for the farmers and convenient for consumers, Farmers’ Markets prove every week to be a gathering place that helps build a sense of community.

When you walk across Derby Sq. this Thursday at the Salem Farmers’ Market, besides looking at the fruit, veggies, breads, lobster, etc. also look at the people. You and they are enjoying the afternoon doing the same thing that other people are doing across the USA: having fun, looking for bargains, buying healthy food alternatives, and talking to each other.

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Ice Scream Bowl in Salem Ma, You Can’t Lick It for a Good Time

 Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping, SMS News  No Responses »
Aug 062017
 

Come Tuesday, August 8th the Salem Common will see “children of all ages” lining up for a taste of ice cream. And we mean “line up” as the Ice Scream Bowl annually draws overflow crowds of kids, teens, parents and grandparents.

Rain or shine, from 6pm to 7:30pm, it’s time to sample some of the best ice cream in the North Shore from some of the many ice cream shops the area has to offer. Are you looking for a classic, or something new or a mix of combinations?

A few of the homegrown local businesses serving samples at the event will include Captain Dusty’s, Maria’s Sweet Somethings, and Melt Ice Cream. Salem’s Ice Scream Bowl is a fun event for both children and adults to cool down from the heat and enjoy tasty ice cream. North Shore 104.9 will be in attendance with fun games and takeaways

This Heritage Days favorite is a fund-raiser for Salem Main Streets. Because we do this during Heritage days which draws tourists from all over the region, the USA and the world, we have seen people from many countries stepping up for a sample.

And, we thought, is the USA the top ice cream consuming nation? If not, who is? Can you guess before reading further?

According to IceCream.com the Top 5 Ice Cream consuming countries world-wide (per capita., gallons per year):

  1. New Zealand 7.5
  2. USA 5.5
  3. Australia 4.8
  4. Finland 3.8
  5. Sweden 3.8

The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children. Tickets are purchased on site on the day of the event.  A spoon and napkins will be supplied with the purchase of a ticket.

The Ice Scream Bowl is going green this year! All of our materials are recyclable or compostable to reduce the impact of this popular event. Special thanks to SalemRecycles for helping to cover the increased costs of materials, as well as their expert advice in making this a more environmentally-friendly event.

Proceeds go to support Salem Main Streets, a nonprofit organization focusing on the continued revitalization of downtown Salem as a vibrant year-round retail, dining, and cultural destination.

Salem Main Streets organizes the Salem Farmers’ Market, Salem Arts Festival, and many other events in downtown Salem, as well as offering direct business support to downtown businesses.

The Ice Scream Bowl is coordinated in partnership between Salem Main Streets and the City of Salem as part of Salem Heritage Days.

For any other questions or comments regarding this event, please contact Kylie Sullivan at Salem Main Streets at (978) 744-0004 x15 or email at kylie@salemmainstreets.org.

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August Delivers Not One, But Two Festivals in Salem

 History, Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping  No Responses »
Aug 022017
 

While most communities have a festival honoring their past, Salem actually has two running concurrently. Our Salem Heritage Days Festival runs from Aug. 1-13, celebrating our past and present, while within it, you can also attend the Salem Maritime Festival, Aug. 4-6!

Salem Maritime Festival

A Re-enactor at Salem Maritime FestivalIf you wished to learn some of what passed for life in the days when Salem was a heavily trafficked trading seaport, the Salem Maritime Festival is the place to be. Knot tying, sign making, and boat building demonstrations await you

Hosted by Salem Maritime National Historic Site in cooperation with the Essex National Heritage Commission and Eastern National, the 29th annual Festival also features live music, historical reenactors, demonstrations, interactive programs, arts, crafts, and more!

Plus, there will be lotteries to earn a coveted spot on deck of either the Schooner Fame, the Schooner Ardelle or the motorized Catamaran Endeavour as they take passengers on a delightful tour of the Salem Harbor.

For the full list of scheduled events for the Salem Maritime Festival click on this link.

Heritage Days Festival

There is so much to do and see during the Salem Heritage Days Festival, organizers very smartly planned this event over several days. There are in fact so many things happening (including the a fore-mentioned Maritime Festival) that we are printing the entire scheduled calendar of events.

From ice cream to pizza tasting events, from clowns to firemen, from a street fair to a concert, from a car meet to a truck tour, you will be entertained, educated and excited about the option to do so many things at various locations within walking distance in the Downtown District.

August 4
Salem Maritime Festival Kick-Off Concert

August 5
Salem Maritime Festival
Salem Willows Clown Day
Wild Fish Open Water Swim Festival
Salem Willows Firemen’s Muster
6th Annual Bridgin’ G.A.P.S. Festival

August 6
5th Annual Bridge & Back 10K Road Race
Salem Maritime Festival
Tour-A-Truck
6th Annual Bridgin’ G.A.P.S. Festival
Salsa Sundays at Peabody St. Park

August 7
Salem Pizza Tasting
Salem Community Concert Band & Community Jazz Band
The Paul Madore Chorale Summersing

August 8
Shelter to Showpiece House Tour
Story Time at the Witch House
Ice Scream Bowl

August 11
Kids Night at Salem Common

August 12
Essex Street Fair
Ice Cream Social with Woman’s Friend Society
Berklee Summer Series Concert

August 13
Essex Street Fair
16th Annual Phillips House Car Meet
S.C.E.N.E.’S Sunset Hang
Salsa Sundays at Peabody Street Park

Bring a family member. Bring a friend. Bring yourself. A great day of fun and food (did we forget to mention there will be food everywhere?) await you.

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Downtown Spotlight: Pedestrian Mall, Round 2

 Business Spotlight, Salem Shopping, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 252017
 

We’re wrapping up our spotlight on the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall businesses today, and we have learned SO MUCH!  For Round 2, we featured Tibet Arts and Healing, The Magic Parlor, The Peabody Essex Museum, The Coven’s Cottage, Flying Monkey, Coon’s Cards and Gift Shop and Penelope’s Pet Boutique, the Witch History Museum, Fountain Place Restaurant, Witch Tee’s, History Alive’s Cry Innocent, Angelica of the Angels, Witch City Ink, Witch Pix, and the Salem Trolley.

Over the past 10 days, we managed to highlight 28 storefront businesses currently operating on Pedestrian Mall – that’s still only 84%! Shout outs must go to Cabot Wealth Management, Dragonfly, For Kids Only Afterschool, Mass Bay Dental, and the Witch Mansion; the only locally-owned storefronts we didn’t manage to capture with an image that we thought did them justice. Not to mention the businesses in the Museum Place Mall that don’t externally face the Pedestrian Mall (your time will come!), or all the tour companies that operate on the Pedestrian Mall, or the second floor businesses, or Salem Five’s multiple offices , or all the offices surrounding Old Town Hall, or….PHEW!  The moral of the story is that the Pedestrian Mall is more than open for business.

See everything we hit in Round 1 here.  Have we missed your favorite “best kept secret” on the Pedestrian Mall? Let us know!

Here’s what we’ve learned during Round 2 of our #pedmallspotlight:

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