Record 500K Salem Halloween Visitors Hit Witch City Through Sunday

SALEM, MA — More than a half million visitors descended upon Salem during the first half of October as city officials urge those planning trips to the Witch City over the next two weekends not to plan on driving into town.

Officials said there were more than 108,000 visitors last Saturday alone and about another 56,900 on Sunday, with the overall seasonal surge up about 15 percent from the same timeframe last year.

All the interest in the sights and sounds of the holiday's unofficial hometown has municipal leaders and law enforcement imploring those planning a trip for the final two weeks before and including Halloween to do so using public transportation originating from outside of the city.

All municipal garages and satellite lots with 800 additional parking spots were filled by around noon this past Saturday, which figures to be the case once again this Saturday with sunny skies and temperatures near 70 degrees forecast.

The MBTA said on Wednesday that there will be additional service from North Station to Salem, and between Salem and Beverly, and points north along the Newburyport line, for the final two weekends before the big day of the dead.

There will be seven more inbound trains from Salem to North Station with at least two trains per hour after 6 p.m. There will also be four additional outbound trains from North Station to Salem, and two more outbound trains from Salem — one that travels the one stop to Beverly and one that goes all the way to Newburyport.

The commuter rail is offering $10 weekend passes this year — which include the Salem stop.

Because of the crowds, the city has scheduled many street closures and parking restrictions, with Salem police monitoring downtown routes throughout each weekend to determine the need for more rotating shutdowns.

The Salem Ferry is running larger vessels as needed to help people get in and out of the city.

The satellite lots are located at Salem State University's O'Keefe Center parking lot at 225 Canal Street, Salem High School at 77 Wilson Street and Salem Hospital at 108 Jefferson Avenue off the 800 spots and free shuttle service downtown, but they filled up within two hours of opening last Saturday.

The satellite lots are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday through Halloween.

Tickets for illegal parking in residential areas are $75 during October in Salem.

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