Salem Halloween 2025: Grand Parade Road Closures, Parking Bans, Pedestrian Barriers

SALEM, MA — While the crowds have already been slowly mounting in Downtown Salem for weeks ahead of the Halloween season — with plenty of witch-hat-wearing tourists filling the streets and shops during a glorious stretch of fall weather on Tuesday — the official kickoff of the Haunted Happenings season is Thursday with the annual Grand Parade.

This year's parade comes with plenty of road closures, parking restrictions and, for the first time, pedestrian safety barriers that will bar parade attendees from crossing streets during the parade.

Salem police were to begin sealing off parking spots and placing some barriers as of Wednesday with the full road closures set to begin on Thursday at 4 p.m. Roads closed for the parade will not reopen until barriers have been moved after the parade.

The parade will begin at Shetland Park at 6:30 p.m. and proceed down Congress Street to Derby Street, take a right on Central Street, then Front Street, to Washington Street, then proceed down the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall and end at the Common.

At the end of the parade, all vehicles in the parade will exit at Washington Square South and those walking in the parade can proceed onto the Common.

The following roads will be no parking/tow zone areas on Thursday:

• Congress Street both sides from Derby Street to Harbor Street: Parking ban already in effect
• Essex Street from Hawthorne Blvd. to New Liberty: Parking ban to begin at 7AM
• Essex Street Pedestrian Mall from Washington Street to Hawthorne Boulevard: No deliveries to be allowed after 10AM-No exceptions will be made
• Central Street both sides from Charter Street to Derby Street: Parking ban to begin at 7AM
• Derby Street both sides from Congress Street to Lafayette Street: Barricades are already deployed
• Front Street both sides from Washington Street to Lafayette Street: Parking ban to begin at 7AM
• Washington Square both sides from Essex Street to Brown Street: Parking ban to begin at 2PM
• Washington Square S both sides from Washington Square W to Washington Square E: Parking ban to begin at 2PM
• Washington Square E (Common Side): Parking ban to begin at 2PM
• Parking meter spaces at the intersection of Charter Street, Front Street, and Central Street: Parking ban to begin at 2PM
• Washington Street between Lynde Street and Front Street both sides: Parking ban to begin at 7AM
• Front Street Lot: Parking ban to begin at 2PM
• Essex from Barton to Washington: Parking ban to begin at 2PM

The following roads will be closed on Thursday from 4 p.m. until approximately 9:30 p.m.:

• Congress Street will be closed from Harbor Street to Derby Street.
• Derby Street will be closed from Congress Street to Lafayette Street.
• Commuters will not be able to use Route 1A between Derby and Brown Street which includes Derby Street, Hawthorne Boulevard and Washington Square at the Common entrance.
• Front Street
• Essex Street will be closed between North Street and Hawthorne Blvd
• Washington Street between New Derby and Bridge

Garage access will be restricted during the parade:

• Vehicles parked in the South Harbor Garage will not be able to exit until approximately 9:00 p.m.
• The Museum Place Garage entrance will only be accessible from Church Street or St. Peter Street. Vehicles exiting the Museum Place Garage will only be able to take a left onto to Brown Street and a right onto St. Peter Street.

(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).