Salem 400+ Heritage Days to Have a good time Summer time Enjoyable, August 1-9 • Salem, MA

Mayor Dominick Pangallo introduced that Salem’s Heritage Days pageant will happen August 1^st by way of August 9^th, 2026, with a line-up of continuous enjoyable and particular occasions.  

“This year, as Salem celebrates our 400+ anniversary, our annual Heritage Days festivities take on special significance. I’m especially thrilled that, in response to feedback and fond nostalgia from across our community, we are kicking off Heritage Days this year with the return to a beloved tradition after a pause of more than 30 years – I encourage everyone to come out for the Salem 400+ Heritage Days Parade and Festival on August 1^st,” stated Mayor Pangallo. “I want to thank all of the City staff, organizations and volunteers who have worked incredibly hard to revive the parade, and to enhance it with an exciting festival throughout the day.  Be sure to mark your calendars for Heritage Days this year, and especially for this momentous kickoff to help us all celebrate Salem 400+ together. You won’t want to miss it!”

The week kicks off on Saturday, August 1^st with the Salem 400+ Heritage Days Parade and Festival.  The parade begins on the O’Keefe Center car parking zone, travels down Lafayette and Derby Streets and ends on the Salem Maritime National Historical Park with an all-day pageant together with a go to from visiting vessels together with the Pride of Baltimore II tall ship, and the annual Salem favourite – the Cardboard Boat Regatta.  The day additionally contains meals, a beer backyard, household actions, a DJ, stay music and leisure, and extra!  

Sunday, August 2^nd options Fusion Fest on the Gables!  This is the fourth annual celebration of the number of cultures in Salem and the way they’ve contributed to the expansion of such a various and colourful metropolis.  Come by for stay music, meals vans, dancing, artwork, dominoes and children’ actions.

Monday night, August 3^rd, the Salem Community Concert Band and Community Jazz Band, beneath the course of Cynthia Napierkowski, will carry out its 17^th annual live performance, which can happen at Salem State University (71 Loring Avenue, Salem). Depending on the climate, the live performance will occur both exterior, close to the Marsh Dining Hall, or indoors within the recital corridor.

The night of Tuesday, August 4^th will characteristic a live performance on the Salem Willows Shell by the North Shore Concert Band, led by conductor David Benjamin and a full orchestra.

On Wednesday, August 5^th, residents are invited to the Salem Common for the very fashionable Ice Scream Bowl.  Proceeds will profit Salem Main Streets.  Wednesday night following the Ice Scream Bowl, the Salem Common Neighborhood Association invitations all to convey a blanket or a chair to the Common to take pleasure in a screening of the beloved family-friendly movie, Casper. 

Thursday, August 7^th is an excellent likelihood to go to Salem’s weekly Farmers Market on Front Street, together with musical leisure and demonstrations, in addition to a narrative time for children hosted by the Salem Public Library on the market.

The week contains a number of occasions solely for older adults, together with an ice cream social, a particular occasion designed round getting MBTA Charlie Cards, and a BBQ at Winter Island honoring distinctive older residents for his or her service to the group.

We head into the weekend on Saturday, August 8^th with three thrilling alternatives.  Salem State University presents Mapping a Century of Salem at Old Town Hall; a family-friendly Free Music Festival all through the day on the Salem Willows; and the favored Latin Dance program with Greg Coles Dance and Drum will return to Charlotte Forten Park within the night.

Heritage Days involves an in depth on Sunday, August 9^th with 5 thrilling occasions:  The 24^rd Annual Phillips House Car Meet on Chestnut Street, the S.C.E.N.E.’s Sunset Hang on the Willows, the Salem 400+ Tour-A-Truck occasion, the City of Salem’s Mack Park Farm Fest, and model new this yr – Salem Porchfest!  

During Heritage Days we’d additionally like to spotlight the entire alternatives for Salem residents to go to lots of our downtown museums and sights at no cost and obtain reductions on the Salem Ferry.  So, whether or not or not it’s having fun with a free group meal, tasting some ice cream, dancing, and having fun with quite a lot of music, or climbing an enormous dump truck, Heritage Days presents one thing for everybody.  

For an entire schedule, extra particulars concerning the Salem Heritage Days Festival, and about every of its many occasions, please visit the City of Salem website.