Food trucks take the Common, both days

The Salem Food Truck & Craft Beverage Festival is back on the Common for its seventh year, and this time it runs both Saturday and Sunday. That is the easy answer to what you are doing this weekend. The harder question is the other five nights, and this week the answer is unusually good: Critter Fest runs seven screenings at CinemaSalem through Sunday, the equinox lands Tuesday, and Haunted Happenings opens next Thursday.

What follows is the short list: a dozen picks out of 165 events in Salem this week. Every one of them, every day, every venue, with times and links, is in the full directory at fromwitchcity.com/events.

Salem Events This Weekend

Salem Food Truck & Craft Beverage Festival. Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM, Salem Common. Seventh annual, two full days, and the Common is the right place for it. Go hungry Saturday, come back Sunday for the trucks you missed. Details

Critter Fest Late Show: HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS. Friday, 10 PM, CinemaSalem. A silent black-and-white slapstick film about one man fighting several hundred beavers, all played by people in mascot suits. At 10 PM on a Friday this is the correct choice. Details

Essex Heritage Concert. Saturday, 7 PM, Tabernacle Church on Washington Street. A proper concert in a proper room, and a rare reason to be inside the Tabernacle. Details

Witch City Comedy Benefit. Friday, 6 PM, The Satanic Temple of Salem. A benefit comedy show in the Salem Art Gallery, which is not a sentence most cities get to write. Details

Live Music and Film in Salem This Week

Critter Fest at CinemaSalem. Thursday through Sunday, seven screenings. CatVideoFest tonight at 6:30 and SECOND NATURE at 7, Better Call Babs Saturday noon, The Ark at 2, Unspoken Bond closes it Sunday at 7. $15 at the door, $14 in advance, $12 for members. We flagged this last week and it delivered. Details

Jordan Gravel and the Jorgan Trio. Monday, 7 PM, Gulu-Gulu. Live jazz on a Monday is the best argument Gulu-Gulu makes all week. Details

Tours, Outdoors and Odd Salem

SESD Fall Public Tour. Thursday, 3:30 PM, South Essex Sewerage District on Fort Ave. Free, capped at 40, and a genuinely interesting look at where everything goes. Register first. Details

Great Misery Island Birding and Nature Tour. Friday, 8 AM, Salem Ferry Dock. Chris Leahy leads it. An early boat to an island most of us only ever look at. Details

Tarot Yoga Pairing. Sunday, 5 PM, Dóchas House of Yoga on Canal Street. Equinox week, and this is the version of it that involves stretching. Details

Also On in Salem

• Free Friday Tea & Cake Tasting, Friday 3 PM, Jolie Tea Company. Actually free. Details

• Sinatra Speakeasy Night, Saturday 8 PM, The Bell Inn & Tavern, from $13. Details

• Cry Innocent, Saturday 3 PM, Salem Armory Visitor Center. Details

• Whorling Witches Handspinning Meetup, Sunday 2 PM, Circle of Stitches. Details

• Gilmore Girls Trivia, Tuesday 8 PM, Bit Bar. Details

• Free Bingo Night with Will Pottorff, Wednesday 6 PM, Gulu-Gulu. Details

On the Horizon

Haunted Happenings opens Thursday, September 24. The Marketplace at Charlotte Forten Park starts at 5 PM, the Food Court at Old Town Hall opens at noon. That is the real start of October in Salem, and it lands inside next week's issue. Details

And if you only want the full list: all 165 events this week are at fromwitchcity.com/events, sorted by day.

Know someone who'd want this?

Share your link. One referral gets you the Locals' October Guide: the resident's version, not the tourist one. Back routes and parking that still work, when to buy groceries, which kitchens will still seat a local, and the three days you should just leave town.