Location: Salem, MA (about 30 mins northeast of Boston, MA)
Summary: Artists from the Salem, MA, area showed off their talents at the 2025 Salem Arts Festival.
Welcome to part 2 of my blog post about the Salem Arts Festival!
One of the more interesting parts of the Salem Arts Fair was the art from local artists that were on display in the Old Town Hall. Yes, that town hall. The Old Town Hall in Salem, MA, is the very same building that was used in the filming of Hocus Pocus.
Yes, this very same building was the home to the works of dozens of artists in the Salem, MA area.
Everything from paintings and sculptures to photographs were on display during the festival. These are some of my favorites from the event!
After viewing the art in the Town Hall, I was surprised to see a group of acrobats setting up on the lawn of the visitor’s center! The acrobats entertained the crowd with gravity defying tricks!
During a break in the action, one of the performers picked a spectator from the crowd to challenge him to a contest. Although it was pretty obvious her “random choice” was not very random at all, it was still fun to watch, especially when she acted like she thought everyone was clapping for her and not him! It was very cute and entertaining! In fact, watching the spectators’ reactions were just as fun to watch as the young juggler was to watch.
What a way to end the festival! The Salem Arts Festival definitely didn’t disappoint, although I do wish the weather was nicer, particularly since it was in June! But, that’s New England for you!
Summary: Performers entertained visitors with gravity defying acts, fire breathing and other jaw dropping tricks!
Fiery frights awaited all at this year’s Phantoms By Firelight event at Old Sturbridge Village.
An array of performers, dare devils and acrobats entertained countless visitors last month at Old Sturbridge Village.
Perhaps this event should have been titled, “don’t try this at home.”
The family friendly event included card tricks by Magnus The Magnificent.
There were also games like this World Scramble game. Can you guess the phrase hidden in this world scramble?
After all the fun and games, it was off to the Village Common to watch Alexander the Upside Down Man.
The feats of strength by Andrew were very impressive!
Whew! I got sore and tired just watching Alexander!
Next on the list of things I’ll never be able to do was the rope climbing extraordinaire Philomena.
But, before the show got started, the ring master got the crowd pumped up for the event!
After all that climbing, Philomena took a well deserved rest!
After the show, I was able to take a photo of the star of the show!
As the evening wore on and darkness fell upon the village, The performers kept everyone warm and entertained! Ignatius and Anastasia, aka the Masters Of The Flame, kept everyone enthralled with their fiery tricks! I liked the contrast of the agility and graceful of Philomena and the pure rock and roll daredevil action of Ignatius and Anastasia!
After that breath taking display, it was on to the Cyrkus Vampyr Finale Ultimo. As the name would seem to suggest, this was the finale of the evening.
This performance included some awesome acrobatics and more fun with fire!
There were also additional shows at the event. In the spirit of the Halloween season, there were some macabre events like this re-enactment and info session about wakes. This event was both respectful and informative.
There was a lot of differences from wakes during the early 1800s. For instance, during the early 1800s, which is the time frame Old Sturbridge Village is based, people didn’t take visitors for wakes. People’s wakes were very different. People mourned and reflected on their own. A casket with a mannequin represented how the people would mourn.
The lighting and decor added to the atmosphere of the event.
The performers at the event were not the only people who dressed up! Some of the visitors also wore costumes or other decorative items.
In addition to all of the performances, there was a Clues & Candy game where they had to collect stamps to complete a picture. The lucky ones who completed the tasks were rewarded with a treat pick up! There were also demonstrations of casket making, musicians and spooking story telling!
Despite all of the fire and death defying acrobats (or maybe because of it), the Phantoms By Firelight event was a big hit with both old young!
New England Nomad 