Wicked New England Returns to Salem This April
- Mar 15
- 3 min read
For those who can’t wait for spooky season, “WICKED NEW ENGLAND” is bringing its Halfway to Halloween Festival back to “The Witch City”, Salem, Massachusetts. The event will once again pack both floors of Old Town Hall, and will be creeping out into Derby Square for the first time. The hall will be filled with a curated vendor market featuring spooky vendors from every New England state and beyond, stage presentations by New England Halloween businesses and experiences, photo ops with iconic characters, monsters lurking and more. This second-year event will occur on Sunday, April 19, 2026, from 12:00pm-7:00pm.
Tickets are now on sale for this one-day event. General Admission includes access to all festival activities taking place inside Old Town Hall. In addition, VIP Admission gains guests a gift bag, event souvenir, and the option to take part in a future ghost hunting experience with Wicked Ghost Hunters. Anyone visiting Salem with or without admission are welcome to enjoy the offerings in Derby Square. Affordable tickets are available for purchase at WickedNewEngland.info.
The Marketplace features vendors from every New England state and beyond with their spooky, scary, macabre and Halloween-themed merchandise for all to enjoy. From apparel to candles, jewelry, decorations, artwork, pet accessories, bath goods, apothecary items and more, every Halloween-loving guest is sure to find something to take home.
Heirloom Hallowe’en will be debuting their traveling museum showcasing the rich history of Halloween traditions and decorations. They will be decorating Old Town Hall’s stage with artifacts from their diverse collection, featuring antique jack-o’-lanterns, paper decorations, party games, postcards, and other historic treasures from Halloweens past. They will share the history of select artifacts as part of a Stage Presentation.
Additional Stage Presentations include discussions with Halloween New England as they share family-friendly Halloween offerings in New England, a “do it yourself” demonstration from beloved haunted house attraction Barrett’s Haunted Mansion, an offering from Witch City Broom Co., tales of real-life ghostly encounters from Wicked Ghost Hunters, a mass wedding vow renewal with BORAH! from Salem’s Black Hat Society where anyone in attendance can
take part, a peek behind the scenes with “Hocus Pocus Live: An All New Parody Musical” presented by Summer Orlando Productions, and more!
Salem’s own BORAH! The Witch, as seen on “America’s Got Talent”, and the cast of “Hocus Pocus Live: An All New Parody Musical” will be in attendance for the entirety of the event to meet with fans at their photo ops. The latter are especially fitting as Old Town Hall was used for exterior shooting in the Disney movie “Hocus Pocus”.
New this year is the opportunity for children in attendance to trick-or-treat from participating vendors. This is a free offering for any child enjoying the event. They’ll be able to pick up a trick or-treat bag at the event entrance. Children four and under attend free with a paid adult.
“With the success of the first Wicked New England event in 2025, I want to continue to grow, celebrate, and shine a light on what New England has to offer during the Halloween season,” states Wicked New England founder and producer Jeff DePaoli. “Halloween is a special day wherever you live. But I believe Halloween in New England holds a bit of extra magic. There’s a reason why so much media we consume tied to the holiday is often set in New England. I hope everyone who attends gets an early touch of that magical feeling as we celebrate halfway to Halloween.”
This event is produced under DePaoli’s depaolEVENTS label and is being sponsored by Witch City Walking Tours and Witch City Broom Co.
About Jeff DePaoli
Jeff DePaoli has been producing and hosting “That Halloween Podcast” since 2020, where he’s interviewed many celebrities and talents from the Halloween and horror industries. He is a freelance writer and SoCal correspondent for Attractions Magazine where he covers many forms of themed entertainment in the area. His credits include working with the world’s largest Halloween and horror convention, Midsummer Scream, as a Segment Producer, Co-Producer of Spooky Kids Club exhibition at SugarMynt Gallery next door to the Michael Myers house in South Pasadena, CA, and is a Contributing Creative Producer with Creep It Real OC. He grew up in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he enjoyed many New England Halloweens and cherishes those memories.
Old Town Hall and Derby Square are located at 32 Derby Square, Salem, MA 01970
Event Website
Event Ticketing Link
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