Salem's So Sweet

14/02/2026

The festival is technically over, but everyone wants to know how the sculptures are doing. And they are..... holding on!

Milder temps means they're losing definition, and those in direct sun are definitely getting ready to go, but for now they're all still in place and mostly staying strong ❤️

Happy Valentine's Day!

08/02/2026

It's the last day to hunt for trivia in the Chocolate Hearts Challenge! Visit 5 participating businesses, find their Chocolate Hearts flyer with their unique piece of trivia, and use the QR code to enter the answers to be entered for prizes, including an overnight at The Hotel Salem !!!

Participating businesses you can visit today include:

The Black Veil, 304 Essex Street
Blackcraft, 253 Essex Street
Chambers of Terror Haunted House, 57 Wharf Street
Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center, 45 Charter Street
Circle of Stitches, 78 Wharf Street
Coffee Time Bake Shop, 96 Bridge Street
Couch Dog Brewing, 76 Lafayette Street
Dire Wolf Tavern, 87 Washington Street
District Trading Company, 244 Essex Street
East Regiment Beer Company, 31 Church Street
Emporium 32, 6 Central Street
Front Street Coffee House, 20 Front Street
Harbor Sweets, 85 Leavitt Street
Harrison’s Comics & Pop Culture, 252 Essex Street
HausWitch, 144 Washington Street
Hawthorne Hotel, 18 Washington Sq W
Hotel Salem, 209 Essex Street
J. Mode, 17 Front Street
Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry, 24 Front Street
Jolie Tea Company, 316 Derby Street
Kakawa Chocolate House, 173 Essex Street
Longboards Restaurant & Bar, 76 Wharf Street
Moons Gift Shop, 226 Essex Street
Nocturne, 18 Front Street
Pamplemousse, 185-189 Essex Street
Popped! Gourmet Popcorn, 84 Wharf Street
Re-Find, 72 Washington St
Salem Bespoke Boutique, 127 Essex Street
The Salem Flea Marketplace, 11 Dodge St Ct
Salem Witch Museum, 19 ½ Washington Square
The Sea Wych Salem, 1 Derby Square, 2nd Floor
Turners Seafood, 43 Church Street
Whimsy's, 26 Front Street
Witch City Broom Co, 246 Essex Street
Witch City Wicks, 302A Essex Street
Witch House, 310 Essex Street
Witch Pix, 172 Essex St
Wolf Next Door Coffee, 142 Derby Street

07/02/2026

Parking ban is officially over at 7! The sculptures are all illuminated!!!

Old Town Hall sculpture sponsored by Derby Square Architects

07/02/2026

Quick update as of 10 am on Saturday morning :

- Parking ban is still in place and snow is still coming down. Please be advised that if you are not already downtown, there may be nowhere for you to park. We will post as soon as the ban is lifted!

- Ice sculptures are still being installed. If there are any adjustments or significant delays, we will post them here.

- Many businesses are still open or opening closer to noon. The Chocolate Hearts Challenge is ON! Some events, like the Love Letter Artisan Market at the Hawthorne, are still on. Some events, like the City of Salem's Black History Month celebrations have been canceled for the day.

- We are currently still planning to proceed with tonight's illumination.

- The Trolley will NOT be running today.

We will continue to post updates as we have them!

07/02/2026

Ok Ok Ok. We have a parking ban in place. 😗 But we're still planning to move ahead with as much as we can!

If you are already in town with parking - great! just follow along for any specific updates.

If you were planning to drive into town.... parking options will be limited until the ban is lifted. We will keep you posted as quickly as we can but if you're driving from far away, we might not be able to guarantee parking in the downtown.

The sculptures will still be out, but there may be a few installation impacts. We will update you here if any sculpture is moved or not delivered.

Additional programming like musical ensembles may be cancelled based on snow/temperature.

We are still planning on the Saturday night light installation.

The City of Salem will be declaring a citywide snow emergency parking ban at 9 PM on Feb 6 and a downtown district parking ban at 12 AM Feb 7, until further notice. DPS is currently pretreating roads.

DPS is asking residents to slow down and use caution when out traveling over the roadways and to please give the snowplows plenty of space as they clear the roads. There may be icy spots on the road surfaces. DPS will continue to treat and clear the roadways throughout the storm.

The City asks for your assistance in shoveling out catch basins and fire hydrants near your home. Property owners must clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their property as well as near by curb ramps.

Residents can report snow related issues by emailing them to [email protected].

Please Note:

THE MUSEUM PLACE GARAGE & SOUTH HARBOR GARAGE SNOW RATES WILL GO INTO EFFECT ON February 6, 2026 at 5 PM . IF YOU PARK IN THE GARAGES PRIOR TO THIS TIME, YOU WILL BE CHARGED AT THE REGULAR HOURLY RATE AND NOT THE SNOW RATE, UNTIL YOU RETRIEVE YOUR VEHICLE.

For a complete list of emergency parking areas and the City’s Snow Brochure go to www.salemma.gov/snow for further information.

For emergencies, please call 911.

For non-emergencies, the Salem Police Department can be reached at 978-744-1212.

To report a power outage, call the National Grid outage hotline at 1-800-867-5222.

Programs and events in the City may be cancelled or postponed due to this storm. Specifically, note that Design Day at Collins Middle School and the Repair Café have been postponed until further notice. The City of Salem’s Black History Month programming at Old Town Hall will no longer be happening on Saturday, and will be happening on Sunday, February 8. Please see salemma.gov or City of Salem social media channels for updated program details and for further info on future dates.

Due to the snow, as well as the forecasted extremely cold temperatures, please check in on neighbors who may be older, disabled or homebound.

Please watch salemma.gov for updates as the storm progresses.

04/02/2026

In addition to Valentine's Day, did you know that next week is the anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell's first long-distance phone call, originating from The Lyceum Hall in Salem (now Turner's Seafood)? For Salem 400+ this year, we're sprinkling a little phone-related fun through the weekend to recognize this special Salem story. Find this phone installation on the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, and join our Salem's So Sweet - Salem 400+ Game of Telephone! on Sunday!

04/02/2026

Feeling a little overwhelmed by all the special activities happening this weekend?! So are we, and we LOVE IT! In addition to the festival-organized events, here's just a sweet sampling of some of the other activities around town this weekend:

- Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry Artisan Pop-Up at 79 Washington St - Friday night
- Love Letter Market Artisan Market and Experience at Hawthorne Hotel - organized by Love Letter Confections and Creative Collective MA - Saturday afternoon
- The Salem Flea Winter Market at The Hotel Salem - Saturday afternoon
- NEW ice bar and luge at Longboards Restaurant & Bar on Pickering Wharf - Friday and Saturday nights
- Peek around Salem YMCA's historic Ames Hall (and enjoy free restrooms!) during the kickoff on Friday night
- Salem, Massachusetts - City Government Black History Month community event, Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Old Town Hall
- Salem Parks & Rec and The House of the Seven Gables annual Valentine's Day crafts and scavenger hunt on Sunday afternoon
- The annual chocolate fountain at Whimsy's Sweet Life!

And MUCH MUCH MORE! We'll be dropping some direct links to these events and more in the comments below as the week goes on.

03/02/2026

Didn't get your Kickoff tickets in time? You can still have the sweetest time all weekend!

Businesses will be staying open late on Friday night and offering their own sweet surprises, viewing of the ice sculptures is ALWAYS free, roaming musicians can be found throughout the downtown all weekend, and we'll have some special Salem 400+ fun celebrating the first long-distance phone call (Feb. 12, 1877 from Lyceum Hall in Salem)!

Pic by John Andrews / Creative Collective of last year's cauldron photo shoot at Witch Pix on the Pedestrian Mall. Come see what they'll be cooking up this Friday!

31/01/2026

Do you love Salem's So Sweet and downtown Salem? Are you able to stand outside for an hour or so? And/or are you relatively handy with a power drill? We could use a few more helpful hands next weekend!

https://signup.com/go/kHXgMbv

30/01/2026

Working list of Salem's So Sweet Kickoff Event destinations - we now have over 20 downtown businesses serving sweet treats and beverage pours for ticketholders! We'll have a final list (as well as some extra guidance around alcoholic vs non-alcoholic options) at the Kickoff Event. There are still tickets available, but they're going fast!

Annie’s Asian Mart, 72 Washington Street
Chambers of Terror, 59 Wharf Street
Couch Dog Brewing, 76 Lafayette Street
Diehl Marcus & Co, 11 Central Street
Dire Wolf Tavern, 87 Washington Street
District Trading Company, 244 Essex Street
East Regiment Beer Company, 30 Church Street
Harrison's Comics & Pop Culture, 252 Essex Street
Hotel Salem, 209 Essex Street
Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry, 79 Washington Street
Kakawa Chocolate House, 173 Essex Street
Koto, 90 Washington Street
Longboards Restaurant & Bar, 76 Wharf Street
Melt, 60 Washington Street
Nocturne, 18 Front Street
Pamplemousse, 185-189 Essex Street
Re-find, 72 Washington Street
Salem Bespoke Boutique, 127 Essex Street
Salem YMCA, 290 Essex Street
The Sea Wych Salem, 1 Derby Square, 2nd Floor
The Village Tavern, 168 Essex Street
Whimsy's Sweet Life, 26 Front Street
Witch City Broom Co, 246 Essex Street
Witch Pix, 172 Essex Street

22/01/2026

The ice sculpture map is officially here!

Everything in red (1 through 11) gets installed in time for the Friday night illumination, everything in purple (12 through 27) gets installed on Saturday morning. All sculptures are illuminated on Saturday night!

Worried about accessibility?
The Salem Trolley will again be shuttling folks on a loop around town on Sat. Feb. 7 and Sun. Feb. 8 from 12 to 4 pm, $3. They won't be able to get to every sculpture, but you'll get to see plenty PLUS a trolley tour of the downtown!

How long to the sculptures stay up?
Until they melt! Really, not (just) being sassy about it. In warm/wet weather, they may start melting immediately. In cool/dry weather, they can last weeks!

But how much is it to see the sculptures?
Viewing the ice sculptures is always FREE! But we still have tickets available for our Salem's So Sweet Kickoff Event on Friday!