What's Open, Closed Over Christmas Weekend 2022 In Salem

SALEM, MA — Many Salem residents will get an extra day of Christmas cheer this year with the holiday falling on a Sunday.

That extends to municipal offices and other services that will be closed on Monday as well as Christmas Day.

Most Salem municipal buildings will be closed for a long weekend.

Salem City Hall will be closed on Friday and Monday both this week and next week.

The Salem Public Library is closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Monday.

There is no delay on trash and recycling around the holiday this year (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an update from an earlier publication.)

If you're out looking for a last-minute gift or ingredients for Christmas dinner, you'll be almost completely out of luck. The Massachusetts "blue laws" restrict who can work on holidays, and so many grocery stores won't be open — and that includes liquor stores and major chains like Stop & Shop, Whole Foods and Market Basket.

State law does allow stores that have three or fewer employees to open — that means your local corner store might be open on the holiday. State law also exempts pharmacies, hotels, gas stations and restaurants. The state does not allow alcohol to be sold on either Thanksgiving or Christmas, even if the store is small.

Stores also don't have to adhere to blue laws on Christmas Eve, so most stores will be open, with many most likely to close early.

The MBTA will operate on a weekend schedule on Christmas Eve; on Christmas commuter rail will be on a weekend schedule, but all other T buses and subways will be on a Sunday schedule. There is no ferry service on Christmas.

(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.)