The annual Salem Arts Festival is back again this year from June 7th – 9th with a robust schedule of activities and an eclectic list of vendors. The Salem Arts Festival is a free festival for all participants to explore downtown Salem, MA and engage with local artists and creators. The Salem Arts Festival, which is now in its 16th year, celebrates the arts in all its forms: painting, photography, sculpture, installation, dance, music, writing, film, new media, performance, theater, poetry, culinary, visual art, and more. This vibrant, free event is co-produced by Salem Main Streets and the Creative Collective and features a juried gallery at Old Town Hall, multiple performance stages, an artisan street fair, pop-up performances, and a Mural Slam.
With support from partners including the Peabody Essex Museum and Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry, the festival showcases the North Shore arts community’s talents, supports local economic development, enhances community engagement, and provides compensation to all participants. www.SalemArtsFestival.com
Important Dates & Events
Salem Arts Festival and PEM Prize Opening Day on June 8.
Stop into the Peabody Essex Museum for free admission and to check out their newest installation Jingle which is this year’s PEM Prize Community Art Project. The piece has been collaborated on by the community stretching back to May 11th. In Marie Watt’s newest series of works, thousands of jingles (tin cones) are sewn onto a mesh netting to make abstract, cloud-like forms that hang from the ceiling. The jingles that form these sculptures were historically made by rolling up the circular lids of tobacco containers into tiny bells. They adorn regalia worn when performing the Jingle Dance, which originated in an Ojibwe community during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918–1919. When a dancer moves, they activate the tinkling sound of the jingles, setting their medicinal properties in motion. Through these jingle sculptures, Watt reminds us that each of our actions has the potential to influence healing.
Salem Arts Fest 2024 Street Fair
For the 2024 season, vendors will be located on the Pedestrian Mall, Essex Street, around Old Town Hall and on Front Street. There will be a variety of art and good vendors that will be out to greet you all weekend long. Each vendor brings their own unique offering with paintings, clay goods, jewelry, clothing, glass work and so much more! To see a full list of this year’s participating vendors click HERE.
2024 Community Art Project – Heart and Scroll
Heart and Scroll is the community art project for the 2024 Salem Arts Festival, led by student artist Jessica Valatka and public artists Linda Mullen and Claudia Paraschiv. This piece will be on display June 7th through June 9th for the publics enjoyment.
Cardboard is primarily used today to deliver products to our doors instantly and at unseen cost to the environment. Amazon and UPS trucks are a daily sight on our streets, with their cargo of goods destined for almost every home, all packaged in cardboard boxes. This packaging symbolizes productivity, profit, and the money we spend to keep these wheels in motion. Cardboard boxes hold so much that we need in our daily lives, both real and perceived.
There is a cost, however, to this convenience and consumerism. We are running out of places to put the cardboard – recycling facilities can’t keep up with the demand, and the trickle-down effects of this are that retail shops are overflowing with cardboard, as are our homes and residential recycling bins.
Cardboard holds physical items we wish to live with. Are there non-physical items it might also hold? What is important to us? What really matters? What can’t cardboard hold?
This art project invites people to deconstruct these boxes, rip them up, peel back the layers, get up close, and consider this ubiquitous material. To learn more about the project click HERE.
2024 Mural Slam 2024
The City of Salem’s Public Art Commission and the Salem Arts Festival are teaming up to present the 8th annual SAF Mural Slam. This dynamic live painting event engages the public with creative producers and contributes to downtown Salem’s cultural vitality. Do you want to watch real art being created in our local community? Stroll through Artists’ Row and Downtown Salem to watch artists at work creating their new pieces. To see a full list of this year’s mural artists click HERE.
Salem Arts Fest 2024 Full Schedule of Events
Fri. June 7
5:00 – 9:00 pm, Old Town Hall
Juried Art Gallery
5:00 – 6:00 pm, Derby Square
ChagallPAC and Gloucester Student Band
Student music recital
6:15 – 7:30 pm, Derby Square
Aidan Scrimgeour
Jazz/Folk
7:15 – 7:30 pm, Derby Square
Cultura Latina Dance Academy
[Salsa] dance lessons
7:30 – 8:30 pm, Derby Square
Los Sugar Kings
Afro-Cuban Soul & Salsa
Sat. June 8
11:00 am to 7:00 pm
Street Fair and Art-Making Activities – throughout the festival
Juried Art Gallery – Old Town Hall
HEART & SCROLL Community Art installation – Artists’ Row / Front Street
11:00 – 11:45 am, Derby Square
Sarah Blacker
Folk/Rock
11:00 – 11:30 am, Armory Park
Acosia Red Elk
Jingle Dress Dancer (Umatilla Nation)
11:45 am – 12:30 pm, Artists’ Row
Caleb Hall
Experimental Music
11:45 am – 12:15 pm, Derby Square
Tiny Dance Stage, Group 1
Abigail Ripin, Avery Pelosi, Hayley White, Rose Woods Dance Collaborative, Sarah Soares, Marissa Chura
12:00 pm – 12:45 pm, Armory Park
Jenova 7
Trip-hop
12:15 pm – 1:00 pm, Derby Square
Conical Cacophony
Balkan Brass Band
12:45 – 1:00 pm, Armory Park
Damaris Lopez
Spoken Word/Poetry
1:00 – 1:30 pm, Derby Square
Tiny Dance Stage, Group 2
Abigail Ripin, Avery Pelosi, Hannah Brown and DeAnna Zois, Marissa Chura, Mayta Fusion Dance, Sarah Soares
1:00 – 1:45 pm, Artists’ Row
Melodious Zach
Pop/Rock
1:30 – 2:00 pm, Derby Square
Tarot Cabaret
Tarot-Themed Music & Performance
1:30 – 2:15 pm, Armory Park
The Busted Jug Band
Jug Band
1:55 – 2:35 pm, Essex Street
Quanzhou (Jack) Zhao
Live Calligraphy
2:00 – 2:15 pm, Artists’ Row
“Ideas, Not Theories” by Reynaliz Herrera
Theatrical percussion performance
2:00 – 3:00 pm, Derby Square
Witch City Bellydance
Bellydance
2:00 – 4:00 pm, roaming
Miracle Fish Puppets
Giant puppetry
2:15- 3:15 pm, Old Town Hall
Dance Block
April MacLean, Carmen Rizzo & dancers, Lindsey McGovern, OnStage Dance Company, Rose Woods Dance Collaborative, The Click
2:30 – 3:15 pm, Armory Park
Magician Showcase
Magic performance
2:30 – 3:15 pm, Artists’ Row
ChagallPAC Saxophone Quartet
Classical/Jazz/Pop Instrumental
3:15 – 4:00 pm, Derby Square
Wild Planes
Rock
3:15 – 4:00 pm, Armory Park
The Away Games
Indie Folk
4:00 – 4:45 pm, Artists’ Row
Zack Kaas & the Macrocosmonauts
Experimental Rock
4:00 – 4:30 pm, Derby Square
Tiny Dance Stage, Group 3
Hannah Brown and DeAnna Zois, Hayley White, Kaija Schram, Mayta Fusion Dance, Rose Woods Dance Collaborative, Sarah Soares
4:00 – 5:00 pm, Armory Park
Magician Showcase
Magic Performance
4:30 to 5:15 pm, Derby Square
Terry Borderline
Hip Hop Jazz Fusion
5:15 to 5:30 pm, Artists’ Row
“Ideas, Not Theories” by Reynaliz Herrera
Theatrical percussion performance
5:45 to 6:45 pm, Derby Square
JSMU Big Band
Big Band Jazz
Sun. June 9
11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Street Fair and Art-Making Activities – throughout the festival area
Juried Art Gallery – Old Town Hall
HEART & SCROLL Community Art installation – Artists’ Row / Front Street
11:00 am to 11:45 am, Derby Square
Cat Jones & the Rest of ‘Em
Folk Country
11:00 to 11:30 am, Armory Park
The Northshoremen Chorus
Barbershop Quartet and Chorus
11:30 am to 12:30 pm, Artists’ Row
Jay Felitto
Soundhealing
11:30 am – 12:00 pm, Derby Square
Tiny Dance Stage, Group 1
Decent Dance, Jackie Bowden, Jupiter Gurney, Mira Göksel, Off Beat Tap Company, Sophie Nash and Dana Alsamsam
11:45 am to 12:30 pm, Armory Park
Ad Hoc Poets Society
Poetry
12:00 – 12:45 pm, roaming
WhistlePig Morris Dancers
English Traditional Folk Dance
12:15 – 1:00 pm, Derby Square
JATK
Power-Pop
12:45 – 1:30 pm, Armory Park
Julie Dougherty
Folk
1:00 – 1:45 pm, Artists’ Row
Stone Soup Ensemble
Modern Classical
1:00 – 1:30 pm, Derby Square
Tiny Dance Stage, Group 2
Decent Dance, Duets for a Lifetime, Hannah Ranco, Meghan McLyman & Betsy Miller, Mira Göksel, Off Beat Tap Company
1:30 – 2:15 pm, Derby Square
Matt Savage Groove Experiment
Jazz/Funk
1:45 – 2:00 pm, Armory Park
Dexter Garcia
Poetry
1:45 – 2:30 pm, roaming
Moonrise Fae
Interactive Flow Arts
2:00 – 3:00 pm, Armory Park
Poetry Open Mic with Meghan Miraglia
Poetry
2:15 – 3:00 pm, Artists’ Row
Meraki Caravan
Folk/Fusion Music and Bellydance
2:15 – 3:15 pm, Old Town Hall
Dance Block
Dance LAB, Holly Stone, North Shore Dance Collaborative, OM Movement & Expressive Arts Dance Company, Priya Bangal, Samskriti
2:30 – 3:00 pm, Derby Square
Salem Scottish Dancers
Scottish Dance
3:00 – 3:15 pm, Front Street
The Celestial Spinners
Aerial performance
3:30 – 4:00 pm, Armory Park
Big Brotha Sadi
Hip Hop Poetry
3:15 – 4:00 pm, Artists’ Row
Salem Soundpainting Ensemble
Improvisational music
3:15 – 4:00 pm, Derby Square
Catnip Junkies
Trad Jazz & Swing
4:00 – 5:00 pm, Artists’ Row
Diana Norma Szokolyai – World Poetry Salon
Performance Poetry
4:00 – 4:30 pm, Derby Square
Tiny Dance Stage, Group 3
Betsy Miller & Meghan McLyman, Duets for a Lifetime, Hannah Ranco, Jackie Bowden, Jupiter Gurney, Off Beat Tap Company
4:15 to 5:15 pm, Armory Park
Salem Halloween Girls
DJ, House/Dance music
4:30 – 4:45 pm, Front Street
The Celestial Spinners
Aerial performance
4:45 – 5:00 pm, Derby Square
Closing Remarks and Awards
5:00 – 6:00 pm, Derby Square
Flamenco Boston
Flamenco
FESTIVAL MAP
