Salem Arts Festival Returns For 17th Year During 'Vital' Time

SALEM, MA — Salem's annual downtown showcase of the Witch City's diverse artistic talents will return next month for the 17th Salem Arts Festival.

The event will run from June 6 through June 8 in and around Old Town Hall and annually draws more than 8,000 people to view the exhibits, mural slam, street fairs, as well as musical and dance performances.

This year's festival partner is the Peabody Essex Museum with title sponsor Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry.

"The Arts Festival has become such an important community event over the years because our
community is the focus," said Kylie Sullivan, Executive Director of Salem Main Streets, co-organizer of the Salem Arts Festival. "We have such an incredible breadth and depth of creativity within our Salem community and the surrounding area, and we take our commitment to showcasing that very seriously."

Organizers said festivals such as these "serve as vital lifelines for creative professionals while fostering the communal healing desperately needed in our neighborhoods."

The Creative Collective is collaborating with Salem Main Streets on this year's event.

"The Salem Arts Festival embodies what our community needs most right now," said John Andrews,
founder of Creative Collective. "We're creating a space where everyone belongs — where diverse creative voices find not just appreciation, but real economic opportunity. When we celebrate local artists from all backgrounds, we're investing in a Salem where creativity and inclusion fuel each other.

"This festival reminds us that by building bridges across our community, we create both cultural vibrancy and economic resilience, especially during times when feeling connected matters more than ever."

Artists interested in this year's gallery should complete an Intent to Apply here. Judging will take place on May 30 trough June 1.

This year's public arts project is titled "Hissstory" and is led by public artists Linda Mullen and Claudia Paraschiv. The "Hissstory" project repurposes vinyl banners from past city events, inviting community members to craft individual snake segments and add their artistic embellishments.

These segments will be assembled into a larger snake installation that celebrates Salem's creative spirit and commitment to sustainability — what organizers call "a powerful metaphor for how our community can transform fear and uncertainty into collective beauty."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)