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Warm weather may mean record crowds for Halloween in Salem, officials say
"Pack your patience."
More on Halloween in Salem:
Known for its history, the Salem Witch Trials, and its elaborate Halloween celebrations during the month-long Haunted Happenings, Salem has been attracting more visitors each year.
And with Halloween temperatures expected to soar into the high 70s, the city is gearing up for record-breaking crowds this Thursday.
Mayor Dominick Pangallo said to those yet to come, “Pack your patience and remember we are not in a theme park or movie set. This is a city.”
According to Ashley Judge, the executive director of Destination Salem, the city’s destination marketing organization, visitor traffic is on an upward trend this year.
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The 1.2 million visitors last year were concentrated within the peak period of mid-September through Halloween, Judge wrote in an email to Boston.com. In the “incredibly dense 50 days,” the city sees around half its annual visitors.
The tourist office still doesn’t have a complete picture for this year, but current indications suggest a 5 to 7% increase in visits compared to last year.
“All signs point to another record-setting season,” wrote Judge.
Jeff Swartz, the assistant director of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, says that with colder temperatures expected this weekend, he believes many might instead visit this Thursday.
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With over 150,000 tourists estimated to have visited the city this past weekend, Swartz was not surprised that people were venturing beyond the crowded streets of downtown.
“It was a busy one in Salem,” Swartz said.
There have been no major incidents so far, making it a “fun one, successful one,” he said.
Businesses are already staffed for the season but may bring on additional people to staff front doors and the lines of guests waiting to enter.
The chamber encourages visitors to devise a plan, ideally taking public transit, pre-purchasing tickets, and being patient on “what is likely to be a record-setting Halloween,” Swartz said.
Lucas Miller, the chief of police for Salem, estimates that crowds will be greater than last year.
“The crowds all have been very good-natured, and it looks like people have been having good fun,” he said. “So far, it’s been a very successful Halloween season.”
Minus the pandemic years, Salem has seen a steady increase in tourists over the past 10 to 15 years, Miller said.
Miller said that the police have learned to manage crowds better each year. The department creates a separate downtown command center while maintaining service for the rest of the city. They also receive help from neighboring police departments, the sheriff’s office, and State Police.
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This year, crowds have been more spread out, with more visitors coming during the week than in the past, which presents its challenges, he said. The police usually deploy extra officers on the weekends, but now they’ve also had to send additional officers during the week.
Last year, there were also significant issues with drunk driving on the weekends surrounding Halloween and on Halloween, Miller said. Police have stepped up drunk driving enforcement as well.
The crowds and traffic are an “imposition on the residents,” he said. But, most realize the benefits it brings to local businesses.
“I think Salemites, in general, are very tolerant and good sports,” Miller said.
Pangallo said that over a million people visit Salem in a month, which is a lot for a city with only about 44,000 residents.
So, for those who aren’t interested in being in crowds, Pangallo says Salem is still there the 11 other months of the year, offering most of the same attractions.
“We even have people in costumes year-round here, too,” he said.
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