Salem Arts Festival

Salem Arts Festival Join us the first weekend of June every year to Celebrate the Arts in Downtown Salem, MA. Free three day festival.

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Produced by Salem Main Streets and Creative Collective

🎨 The murals are up — now it's YOUR turn to crown the winner!For its 10th anniversary, the Mural Slam brought 12 artists...
06/08/2026

🎨 The murals are up — now it's YOUR turn to crown the winner!

For its 10th anniversary, the Mural Slam brought 12 artists to Artists' Row to transform blank 8' × 4' canvases into finished works of art — painted live over Salem Arts Festival weekend. Swipe through all 12 and find your favorite 👉

Now YOU decide the People's Choice winner — and that artist takes home an extra $500.

🗳️ Vote: salemartsfestival.com/mural-slam-saf-26
📍 See them in person at Artists' Row, 24 New Derby St., Downtown Salem
⏰ Voting closes Sunday, June 14 at 10 PM

🎨 Meet the artists:
· · · · .jpd · · · · · · Jennifer Wackerle · Sheila Farren Billings

Presented by Salem Main Streets & Creative Collective. Mural Slam sponsored by the City of Salem Public Art Commission, Moons Gift Shop, and The Hive / AC Hotel.

06/07/2026

Final day to shop the makers. 🛍️

The Artisan Market fills downtown Salem one more time today — dozens of local makers with ceramics, jewelry, textiles, woodworking, prints, glass, and more, all in one walkable weekend. Every dollar you spend stays with a North Shore artist or small business.

We’re open today, Sunday, June 7, 11 AM–6 PM — free and family-friendly, across downtown Salem. Bring a tote, take your time, and take home something made by hand.

Marketplace Sponsors : , , , , and Title Sponsor:
Festival Partner:
Foundation Support:
Creative Directors: , , and Performance Sponsors: , , , and Social Media Sponsors: , , and Goldberg Properties Produced by and

06/07/2026

Final day to watch them paint. 🎨

Twelve muralists. Twelve 8’×4’ panels. One working studio at Artists’ Row — and today is your last chance to catch our Mural Slam artists painting live. By tonight the brushes go down, but the panels (and the voting) stick around.

This year’s twelve:
Nicole Garcia
Jennifer Wackerle
Sabrina East
Zoe Jansen
Sheila Farren Billings
Krystle Brown
Ammy Gonzalez
Emily Kwong
James Paul Davis .jpd
G Daigle
Naijah Garrett
Dewa Raka-Goncalves

Got a favorite? You’ve still got time — voting stays open for one more week. Cast your vote for the People’s Choice using the link in bio.

We’re open today, Sunday, June 7, 11 AM–6 PM — free, family-friendly, in downtown Salem. Come walk the Row, meet the artists, and watch the final strokes go on.

Mural Slam Sponsors: , , and JJ Welch
Title Sponsor:
Festival Partner:
Produced by and

06/07/2026

Final day of Salem Arts Festival — and the Tiny Dance Stage at Derby Square is where the littlest stage makes for the biggest day.

Three groups, three chances to wander down with and catch something joyful:

11:45 AM — Sophie Nash, Kaija Schram, High Street Friends, Cas Glover, Aiden Jones, Mackenzie Trainor
2:45 PM — Sophie Nash, Kaija Schram, High Street Friends, Cas Glover, Mackenzie Trainor, Betsy Miller Dance Projects
4:30 PM — Sophie Nash, Kaija Schram, Aiden Jones, Betsy Miller Dance Projects, High Street Friends
Plus a Large Group Dance Set at 1:15 PM — Duets for a Lifetime, Julianne Cerreta Choreography, and Mosaic Dance taking over the square.

Free. Family-friendly. Downtown Salem until 6 PM. Bring the littles, bring a snack, find a curb, stay a while.

Co-produced by and .
Title Sponsor:
Festival Partner:
Foundation Support:

06/07/2026

Day two! Salem magic personified ! One more full day, join us tomorrow. Music, dance, street fair, gallery, mural slam and so much more!

PEM is free today — and it's your last weekend with Edmonia Lewis. Sponsors AND a free-for-all, what amazing partners th...
06/06/2026

PEM is free today — and it's your last weekend with Edmonia Lewis. Sponsors AND a free-for-all, what amazing partners the Museum is to the festival!

Step right outside the museum to make art with as part of the festival — then head inside for a Spanish-language gallery tour of Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone with PEM's Hannah Varden.

If Said in Stone has been on your list, this is the moment: the exhibition closes tomorrow, Sunday, June 7, before it leaves Salem. A rare chance to stand with the work of a trailblazing 19th-century Black and Indigenous sculptor — right here in her own backyard.

Free. Family-friendly. In the heart of the festival. Come find us downtown.

Title Sponsor:
Festival Partner:
Foundation Support:
Creative Directors: , , and
Produced by and

06/05/2026

The Salem Arts Festival kicks off TONIGHT — and the night starts at 5:30 PM. Come early.

Friday opens with a student recital outside Old Town Hall, then a second-line procession leads everyone inside for the Juried Gallery opening, drinks and mingling, and live performances down at Derby Square. At 7:00, the Tiny Art Spree takes over upstairs — grab a $20 ticket, join a group of five, and work the room Supermarket-Sweep style while the art comes right off the walls.

Free. Family-friendly. Right in the heart of downtown Salem.

18 years in, this is still our favorite night of the year. Come find us. 💙

📍 Old Town Hall + Derby Square · Fri June 5, 5:30–8:30 PM
🔗 salemartsfestival.com

Title Sponsor:
Festival Partner:
Foundation Support:
Creative Directors: , , and
Performance Sponsors: , , , and
Social Media Sponsors: , , and Goldberg Properties
Community Art Artist:
Community Art Makers: , , and Marblehead Bank
Produced by and

06/03/2026

The Ladies of Salem are back on Essex Street. ⚓

Take a stroll down the pedestrian mall this summer and you'll spot them again — 15+ hand-painted figureheads that turn our lampposts into a free, open-air gallery. Every one is created by a local artist and sponsored by a local business — a 33-inch tribute to Salem's Golden Age of Sail. A tradition since 2012, with brand-new looks for 2026.

And there's no better time to come see them than this weekend. The 18th annual takes over downtown June 5–7 — free, family-friendly, and part of the Salem 400+ celebration. Make a day of it: wander Essex Street, meet your favorite Lady, catch the Mural Slam and juried gallery, and shop the artisan street fair. 🎨

Figureheads once rode the bows of Salem's ships "to the farthest ports of the rich East" — the spirit of the vessel, watching the horizon. Now they watch over downtown all season long.

The Lady of Salem exhibition is a Salem Beautification Committee project — we just love pointing you toward the local artists and businesses who make this city worth wandering. 🖤
Which Lady is your favorite? Tag someone you want to explore Salem with this weekend.

📍 Essex Street pedestrian mall, Downtown Salem
🗓️ Ladies on view June–October · Salem Arts Festival June 5–7, 2026

Address

32 Derby Square
Salem, MA
01970

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