Welcome to the Salem Night Faire presented by the Black Veil! Situated on the grounds where "Hocus Pocus" was filmed, you're definitely stepping into a sense of nostalgia with this eerie Halloween presentation Step beyond the veil and into darkness, and experience the dark and Gothic oddities this Faire has to offer. Featuring local vendors and artists, you can find oddities, clothing, self-care items, including spooky bath bombs and soaps There are different actors throughout the grounds that you can interact with for a small tip ($1) and get different souvenir gifts. There are tarot card readings, fortune tellers and different photo opportunities! 7th year in a row but our second time enjoying this dark and gothic October There are beer Gardens and food trucks October 17th ,18th, 24th and 25th 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm read more

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Pioneer Village is great if you wanna get a small taste of of what life was like in 1630 Salem . Pioneer Village is a living history museum recreating the city of Salem as it was in the 17th century. It also was a filming location for Hocus Pocus! Pioneer Village is where the scenes from the beginning of the movie were filmed. We see a flyover of an old Salem town as the opening credits roll. In one of the small houses is Thackery Binx, who wakes up to find his sister, Emily, missing. There's not a whole lot here other than a few houses . I would recommend planning to spend 30 minutes here . read more

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Love this place for many reasons.. mainly the Hocus Pocus but its great to take a step back in time and walk around taking in the location and the views. read more

This place is only open on weekends on certain times. There was a huge line when we got there but it does go by fast. Little did we know it only took like 5 minutes to complete this village. A little disappointed. Also $5 is too steep for this experience. Nevertheless, it was a cool experience to see how they lived back in the day. read more

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Unfortunately, we came during a time where it's closed. However, it seems that when it's open time is very limited. I would save your money and come any day during the day and you could see it perfectly. However, it is a cool place to visit. If you love Hocus Pocus, we went at night and it was an interesting experience, but disappointed that we couldn't see much at night Lot of random people are wandering around the park or Pioneer village is located. At night you can take really awesome pictures anyway! read more

Pioneer Village - Local Flavor Near Me - Salem, Massachusetts

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It has seasonal dates. We came in May and it was closed :( We wanted to see the Hocus Pocus filming locations but no luck.

Incredibly disorganized and a big let down. Came here today during my trip to Salem and realized only after we paid for parking that it was closed! No sign and the google page says open. Only on their personal website does it say closed w no explanation. Tried to call the number and the visitor center and no one answers!! Absolutely insane and such a waste of time. Other people waiting outside said they already purchased tickets too because the option was still available online. Be careful on your next trip to here as it could be closed and you may never know until you arrive! read more

Ok.... So I don't understand the low stars here! This place is so cool! The village is small but extremely neat. It's basically a recreation of what Salem village would have looked like back during the time of the witch trials. The houses are open so you can go in and look around. They had a campfire going when we were there. My only suggestion for them would be to have some people in costume playing the role of citizens of the village to show what daily like would hav been like. It my understanding that the village was used as old Salem in the original Hocus Pocus movie which is pretty neat. I do believe they have very limited hours so make sure they are open before heading that way! read more

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I had a blast walking around here! It's like you are transferred to the past the second you walk through the gate. It's small but there's a lot to see since you can enter some of the houses. It's only $5 to enjoy also. Check out the Salem Witch House also if you're in the area, they are owned by the same company. read more

This village was great and worth visiting! I recommend bringing the $5 in cash to get in over buying online.

Huge line, just 2 buildings opened for visit, $5 doesn't look to be fare for 10 minutes you spend there

Man I wanted to like this! The night was perfect, pitch black with the fog rolling in off the harbor; you could see a camp fire burning in the village through the trees. A perfect night for a ghost story...but the ghost story, supposedly written in 1644 and found in the journal of John Winthrop, was difficult to follow and simply wasn't scary. The 4 kids with us, ages 10-12, have played scarier things on XBox and were both confused and bored by the 17th century text. The potential was there though. The candlelit houses and village grounds were very creepy. At one point I saw a shadow move about 15 yards away and could hear footsteps in the fallen leaves. I thought to myself, "Ok, here we go." but it turned out to be a guy showing us where the exit was. The exit guy was the scariest thing about the experience. Too bad. read more

This place is a little outside of downtown, but well worth the visit for only $6 (or free if you're a resident). The tour was a little over an hour. Our tour guide, John, was super animated and informative. The village is small, but because of the surrounding fence, vegetation, and water you feel as though you're away and back in the 1600's. read more

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It's much more interesting and lively since the history faculty and students at Gordon College took it over, but Pioneer Village still needs a lot of financial help and elbow grease to get it up to speed. One really good improvement is the removal of lots of poison ivy that used to smother the fences. It's a start. I'd like to see them add more authentic period accents and mannerisms, and maybe a few heritage-breed chickens and small livestock to make it look more "real." Though that would probably cause issues with neighbors and maybe attract vandals unless proper housing was included. read more

Pioneer Village is kind of like a mini Old Sturbridge Village right in Forest River Park. It's basically 3 or 4 dudes dressed in 17th century clothes and a bunch of houses built to look like the original settlers of Salem's homes. It's pretty secluded so it does kind of feel like you're in a 17th century village and I definitely learned a lot about the way people lived during that time. The only thing that bummed me out about it were the actors. They told us a lot of cool information but I thought they were going to pretend like they were from the time period. (The blacksmith kind of did but everyone else kind of just phoned it. Not one old timey accent on anyone!) Also, weirdly my three year old was really into the whole thing so bring the kiddos! It costs 6 dollars per adult and my 3 year old was free. Worth the money! Also Forest River Park is beautiful so check that out while you are there! read more

False advertising. I bought 7 tickets for the Dark of Night event. It was advertised as "ghostly tales" being told in the dark of night. However, none of the stories were ghost stories. One of the stories was from a pirate and the other from a preacher. Also, two of the stories we heard in different areas were repeated. The stories are too long to hold the attention of the attendees. This venue has the unique opportunity to use the dark space for so much more. Having reserved this event for my family, I was mortified when it was not what had been advertised. read more

So we just waited over an hour for 12:30 tour and no one showed up! Called both numbers and no one picked up even though it says it's open in October on Saturday and sundays. BEYOND disappointed as we are heading home today read more

After visiting Forest River Park regularly for the last 10 years or so, we finally made it over to Pioneer Village and had a wonderful time. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly and the hour-long tour was a bargain. Every building in the complex was not open but we saw and learned quite a bit. Our 8 year old son made it through without a complaint and even chimed in with a few comments and questions. He found these replica houses of the earliest settlers as fascinating as we did. Although this is a living history museum, please keep in mind this isn't a large amusement park-type attraction such as Plimoth Plantation or King Richard's Faire. It's more akin to touring the Chinese House at the Peabody Essex with the docents attired in traditional dress. I would heartily recommend taking the tour at Pioneer Village if you're visiting the park or as part of a sightseeing visit to Salem. read more

This was a waste of time. The village has so much potential yet it's wasted. They do not answer the phones if you have questions about the "event". They read children's stories in 3 different locations and then it's over. They do not explain how the tour is set up. I wish we would have spent our time actually learning more about the history and culture of Salem. read more

Biggest waste of time and money ! You literally walk in a circle for 15 min around the woods , not scary at all nothing to really see either . Workers were nice that's about it . read more

Dark of Night: Imagine going to an intimate play, very close up. All I saw were good actors. those that didn't read the from a book were much better. Wish they all were that way. Yes, it has the reenactment type actors going on, so keep this in mind. My husband and I arrived a bit early (715), which was good because it started to get crowded around 8pm. Although it is kid friendly, don't make the mistake of thinking it's geared towards them! Only been here this once at night and wish I could see it during the day for all the authentic historic details. Guessing it would make sense to put up a higher fence so the construction site right outside isn't so distracting. read more

This is a living history museum. As of August 2015, it is opened Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays. The place is small so it only takes an hour for the tour, but the tour was awesome and very informative;I really enjoyed it. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable. And the price was reasonable. You should wear bug spray just in case, because you will be walking through a woodsy area. A must-see for history buffs. read more