This Year’s Haunted Happenings Grand Parade is “Upside Down and Inside Out!”

The 25th Annual Salem Chamber of Commerce Haunted Happenings Grand Parade returns to this year’s Salem Haunted Happenings on the first Thursday of the month, October 7, 2021 between 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm throughout downtown Salem.

But that’s where all the normal ends! This year’s event has been reimagined into a “reverse parade” featuring the theme “Upside Down and Inside Out”. The performances, floats, vehicles, and displays will be stationary, with attendees parading the route to view them all! The evening is the official kickoff of the Halloween season and should be a night full of color, pageantry, music, and costumes.

Marching bands and other musical entertainers are participating again this year, but just like everyone else, they will be assigned a spot along the route, and the audience will be walking by! The Salem Chamber suggests to parents and kids to walk the route in smaller groups the night of the Parade, and of course, costumes are highly encouraged, both for parents and kids.

The Haunted Happenings Parade will have a limited footprint, and no official starting or ending point. The streets used for this year’s event: Essex Street & the Pedestrian Mall, Axelrod Walkway, Charter Street, Front Street, Derby Square, and Central Street (see map). Retailers and restaurants along the route are strongly encouraged to stay open and participate in the event. The parade will also be aired on SATV and on their YouTube channel.

The Salem Chamber is grateful for the financial support of our parade sponsors: Coffee Time Bake Shop, Eastern Bank, Garrity Insurance, Hawthorne Hotel, Institution for Savings, Mass General Brigham – Salem Hospital, Marblehead Bank, New England Security, North Shore Bank, Peabody Essex Museum, SalemFive Bank, Salem State University, Salem Waterfront Hotel & Suites, Salem Witch Museum, St. Jeans Credit Union, and Xfinity.

For more information, please visit salem-chamber.org.