It’s all trick, no treat in Salem
Witch City unplugs Halloween with weekend curfews
Salem is shutting down streets and enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew for business to restrict Halloween-driven tourist access to the Witch City over the next two weekends, the mayor and governor announced.
“A typical Halloween weekend in Salem is not manageable,” Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday, citing the public health risks posed by Salem’s typically large October crowds.
“The last two weeks as we push towards Halloween, we get a lot of visitors in town,” said Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, who said she feels “like the fun police.”
The city canceled all of its Halloween events months ago, including outdoor music stages and street performers.
Now, the governor is backing the mayor’s decision to close all parking garages at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, and noon on Oct. 24, 25, 30, 31, and Nov. 1. Businesses are encouraged to close at 8 p.m. this weekend, and Driscoll will look to enforce that business curfew as law over Halloween weekend.
The MBTA will “curtail trains to Salem” over the next two weeks, according to the mayor, and shut down Essex Street Pedestrian Mall if a crowd forms.
Halloween weekend typically draws between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors, Mayor Driscoll said.
Some business owners are pushing back against the protocols, saying they go too far.
“We’re a nighttime business with tours at night. We’ve been asked by the states to pre-book everything, so we’re already sold out on these nights. To try to make us try to close early on a Friday or Saturday? That means I have to lay off 15 tour guides,” said Tim
Maguire, who owns several stores in downtown Salem and a tour company.
Jacey Millett, an employee of the Witch Mansion
Haunted House, said even with restrictions in place, Halloween can’t go uncelebrated in Salem.
“I don’t necessarily know how that’s going to pan out, but I have high hopes that we’ll still have a little glimpse of what we can do for Halloween,” he said.