Warm weather could lead to record Halloween crowds in Salem, officials say

Local news

“Be patient.”

Known for its history, the Salem Witch Trials, and the elaborate celebration of Halloween during monthly Haunted HappeningsSalem attracts more and more visitors every year.

And with Halloween temperatures expected to soar into the 70s, the city is bracing for record crowds this Thursday.

Mayor Dominic Pangallo told those who had not yet arrived, “Be patient and remember that we are not at a theme park or on a movie set. This is a city.”

According to Ashley Judge, executive director of Destination Salem, the city’s destination marketing organization, visitor numbers are trending up this year.

The 1.2 million visitors last year were concentrated in the peak period from mid-September to Halloween, Judge wrote in an email to Boston.com. During the “unbelievably dense 50 days”, the city receives about half of its annual visitors.

The tourist office does not yet have the full picture for this year, but current figures suggest a 5-7% increase in visits compared to last year.

“All signs point to another record-setting season,” Judge wrote.

Jeff Schwartz, assistant director of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, says given the cold temperatures expected this weekend, he thinks many may attend this Thursday.

With more than 150,000 tourists estimated to have visited the city last weekend, Schwartz wasn’t surprised that people were venturing beyond the busy downtown streets.

“It was intense in Salem,” Schwartz said.

There have been no serious incidents so far, so it’s been “fun and successful,” he said.

Businesses are already staffed for the season, but may hire additional people to man the front door and line up guests waiting to enter.

Ideally, the camera encourages visitors to develop a plan on public transportadvance ticket purchase and patience for “what will probably be a record-breaking Halloween,” Schwartz said.

Lucas Miller, Salem’s police chief, expects the crowd to be bigger than last year.

“All the crowds were very good-natured and people seemed to be having a good time,” he said. “So far, the Halloween season has been very successful.”

With the exception of the pandemic years, Salem has seen a steady increase in tourists over the past 10 to 15 years, Miller said.

Miller said police have gotten better at managing crowds each year. The department is establishing a separate command center downtown while maintaining service to the rest of the city. They also receive help from neighboring police departments, the sheriff’s office and state police.

This year, the crowds were more spread out, with more visitors during the week than in the past, which created some challenges, he said. Police normally send extra officers at weekends, but now they have also had to send extra officers during the week.

Last year, there were also significant drunken driving problems on the Halloween and Halloween weekends, Miller said. The police also increased control over drunken driving.

According to him, the crowd and traffic “burden the residents.” But most are aware of the benefits it brings to local businesses.

“I think the people of Salem in general are very tolerant and good at sports,” Miller said.

Pangallo said more than a million people visit Salem a month, which is a lot for a city of only about 44,000 residents.

So, for those not interested in the crowds, Pangallo says Salem is still around 11 other months of the year, offering most of the same attractions.

“We even have people here in costume year-round,” he said.