Salem Halloween Night 2025: Drone Show, 5 Music Stages, Late Trains, Triple Fines

SALEM, MA — A Friday night Halloween promises to be the busiest night of the year in the Witch City with live and DJ music on five stages, a grand finale drone show and many road closures and parking restrictions in place in downtown Salem to accommodate the crowds.

"Visitor trends throughout October indicate that we are expecting large crowds for Halloween night," Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. "We encourage everyone to help us keep Salem magical: plan ahead, take public transportation, respect our rules and our residents, and enjoy a safe and fun Halloween."

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There will be several music stages downtown with the Salem Common stage offering tunes from noon to 10 p.m. DJ Richard Mixin will be spinning songs from noon to 5 p.m., Witches Circle is playing from 5 to 6 p.m., Not Bad, Pretty Good is playing from 6to 7:30 p.m., and Drunken Doja Monkey is playing from 8 to 10 p.m.

At the stage at Washington Street and Federal Street, DJ Francois Flow is playing music from 2 to 7 p.m. and Hello Newman is playing from 7 to 10 p.m.

The stage on Front Street will feature a DJ from 4 to 6 p.m., Big Ol' Dirty Bucket from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and TerraFunk from 8 to 10 p.m.

The state at Charlotte Forten Park will have live music throughout the day, while the Undercover Band will play from 6 to 8 p.m. at the stage on Hawthorne Boulevard and Pretty Rotten from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Witch City Walking Tours will sponsor a Halloween Night Closing Drone Show at 10:10 p.m.

The final trains leaving Salem on Halloween night are 11:05 p.m. to Boston, 12:22 a.m. to Newburyport and 12:30 a.m. to Rockport.

"The city of Salem strongly discourages disorderly behavior, including drinking in public, littering and random acts of vandalism," city officials said in a statement. "Offenders will be penalized to the maximum amount allowed under the law both civilly and criminally. Some violations may incur triple fines on Halloween."

Entry to the MBTA garage is closed beginning at 6 p.m. with exit from the garage halted until the festivities are concluded at about 11:30 p.m.

Public consumption of alcohol is prohibited and weapons will be confiscated. Those at outdoor events should plan to depart by 10:30 p.m., as the police and public works departments will be clearing the streets at this time.

Citations for illegal behavior, including public drinking, vandalism, and littering could have fines up to $300 per violation.

(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.)