Halloween 2026 in Salem Is a Saturday What closes, when trains run, and when to leave

If you live here

• Move your car Friday night if it's on a downtown street. Resident-permit hours on weekends run from noon to 7am through November 1. Where the tow zones are: Parking in Salem.
• Do your errands before Friday. Thursday on Highland Ave is the easy window.
• Trick-or-treating: in the resident groups, Chestnut Street is the answer people give most for families.
• The parade already happened. It was October 1. Halloween night is the street party and the drone show.

What the night is like

Halloween Day 2025 drew about 96,600 visitors downtown, up 7.2% on the year before, and that was a Friday. This year it's a Saturday. In the visitor groups, the question "how crowded is Halloween night?" came up 461 times, and the locals' answers split two ways: go early and take the train, or skip the night and come another day. Both are fair.

The day, hour by hour

• Friday, October 30: The city expects heavy traffic and likely closures. The weekend before, October 24 and 25, will be busy too.
• Saturday morning: Downtown streets close to all traffic no later than noon, earlier if crowds build.
• 6pm: The MBTA Salem garage at 252 Bridge St closes to cars coming in or going out. The Salem Depot busway closes, and buses stop short of the station for the rest of the night.
• 9:15pm to 11:30pm: Bridge Street closes between the overpass ramps and Sgt. James Ayube Memorial Drive for the drone show.
• 10:15pm: The drone show.
• Around 10:30pm: Head out. Last year that's when police and public works started clearing the streets.

The MBTA says the garage reopens at 11:30pm and the city says 1am, so plan on 1am.

Streets that close

By noon on October 31: Essex Street from Crombie to Union; Washington Street from New Derby to Bridge; Federal Street from St. Peter's to North; Washington Square North and West from Essex to Williams; Brown Street from New Liberty to Washington Square North; Hawthorne Boulevard; Derby Street from Lafayette to Congress; and Charter, Central, Front and Lafayette streets between New Derby and Front. Expect delays on Routes 114 and 1A and on Route 128.

Getting there and getting home

Train. The commuter rail from North Station takes about 30 minutes, and $8 gets you there one way. Since it's a Saturday, the $10 Weekend Pass covers unlimited rides all day. Bikes and scooters aren't allowed on Newburyport/Rockport trains through November 1. The MBTA hasn't posted its Halloween timetable yet; in 2025 the last train to Boston left at 11:05pm. Check mbta.com before you go.

From Beverly. Park at the Beverly MBTA garage, 10 Park St ($2 on weekends), and ride one stop. October weekends have a $5 Beverly-to-Salem round-trip ticket.

Ferry. The city lists the Salem Ferry season as running through October 31. Check sailings with the operator, Boston Harbor City Cruises.

Driving. Don't. If you must, park outside downtown and walk in. Parking in Salem has the lots, rates and tow zones.

Rideshare. Pickups are slow on Halloween because the streets around downtown are closed. Use the October weekend pickup spots, like the Old Salem Jail lot at 161 Bridge St, and confirm them on the night.

Coming in without a car? Getting to Salem without a car covers the train, ferry, bus and Logan.

The rules

No drinking in public. Last year the city confiscated weapons, real or fake. Public drinking, vandalism and littering carried fines of up to $300 last year.

If you'd rather skip the crowd

Come during the day, before the streets fill. Or come Sunday, November 1, the last day of the season. Locals say the crowd is thinner, though the weekend Essex Street closures still apply. What's on that weekend is in this weekend in Salem and the events calendar, and Salem in November starts the next day.

A note for next year: Halloween 2027 falls on a Sunday.