The Halloween crowds in Salem, Massachusetts, may have hit a brief lull Tuesday night, but things are only expected to ramp up with a favorable forecast over the next few days and officials are still expecting to break records this season.
Crowd sizes fluctuate with weather and on weeknights, according to Mayor Dominick Pangallo, and people may have stayed away because of the recent brush fires in south Salem. Despite a temporary lull, officials are still expecting to beat last year’s record of 1.2 million people visiting the city.
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"Downtown visitor numbers are up over last year. We expect that's going to maintain," Pangallo told NBC10 Boston Wednesday. "The weather forecast looks really good for the next few days and for Halloween itself, so we're anticipating a large number of people here as well as the weekend after Halloween."
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Pangallo said all signs point to a 6% to 10% increase in visitors this year compared to last, which means somewhere between 72,000 and 120,000 more people. Local businesses are so busy, they can barely keep up.
"The volume goes from, I don't know, 50 to 100, you know? It's just so much more. It's stressful," said Karen Davis, owner of Moons Gift Shop. "I've smelled the smoke, I have seen stuff on Facebook, but nothing stops them from coming."
Rockafellas restaurant server Anya Dokes blamed the latest lull on brush fires in south Salem, which have since been contained.
"It's bad for the health, it's cold, apparently. In 22 hours, 20 more degrees, people will come out when the sun comes out, honestly," Dokes said, adding that the crowds are, "good for business, but it's hard on our backs and the tourists are tipping less than ever."
The crowds are only expected to ramp up over the next few days. Officials are expecting between 50,000-80,000 people in Salem on Halloween. With only 4,000 public parking spaces in the city, Pangallo is asking people to take the train or the ferry and urging people not to drive in.
"We're going to have our full operational plan in effect, as far as public safety goes," Pangallo said. "We have planned road closures that go into effect on a scheduled basis, but also if the pedestrian crowds are so large that we need to make sure people are safe, police will close the roads."
