SALEM – Destination Salem Executive Director Kate Fox with information and tips on how to navigate “Haunted Happenings” this weekend:
The City of Salem welcomed a total of 185,300 visitors downtown last weekend (Friday October 21 – Sunday October 23): 41,240 on Friday, 99,720 on Saturday, and 44,340 on Sunday. This was 1,600 more downtown visitors than the same Friday-Sunday weekend last October, a 1% increase over the same time period last year.
This weekend’s counts bringing the total number of visitors to downtown Salem this October thus far to 699,500 people, which is 9% (57,100 people) more than the 642,400 visitors the City welcomed downtown over the same time period last year.
With one weekend remaining in October, the City continues to urge visitors to take public transportation to get to Salem and to plan ahead for their visit.
Do not drive to Salem this coming weekend or on Halloween. Use public transportation, such as the MBTA commuter rail (www.mbta.com/salem) or the Salem Ferry (www.salemferry.com). The MBTA has added additional trains for October weekends and the Salem Ferry has also increased capacity. If you must drive, plan your parking strategy ahead of time. Downtown garages and lots fill up early. Use satellite parking, MBTA garage parking, or the MBTA garage in Beverly and take the Commuter Rail one stop to Salem (a 4-minute train ride). Visitors should not anticipate finding parking downtown in Salem this coming weekend or on Halloween.
Salem Police will periodically close certain downtown roads due to pedestrian volumes. For information about planned road closures, please visit www.salemma.gov/home/news/city-salem-announces-planned-road-closures-october-2.
Commuters who might normally drive through downtown Salem as part of their commute should plan alternative routes around the area.
Stay informed and plan ahead:
For road closure updates and parking capacity information:
- www.parksalem.com
- Download the My Salem MA and Destination Salem apps and turn on notifications.
- Follow @CityofSalemMA on Twitter
For event information and tickets:
- www.hauntedhappenings.org
- Download the Destination Salem app and turn on notifications
As a reminder, Salem increases parking violations fines in October and Salem Police and civilian parking enforcement officers are working in partnership with the State Police to conduct aggressive parking enforcement throughout the month.
