Paid bookings · Showcases · Future opportunities
Perform at Haunted Happenings
Bring your act to Salem this fall. Apply for a paid stage, venue, roaming or special-programming booking, propose a showcase, or join Creative Collective’s year-round performer network. Bands, DJs, dance, theatre, characters, magic, circus, family acts, screenings and interactive ideas are welcome.
Choose the right path
How do you want to perform?
Choose the route that fits your proposal: a paid performance booking, future opportunities through our performer network, or a conversation about a produced showcase or stage.
Apply for a paid performance
Bands, solo musicians, DJs, dance, theatre, costumed characters, roving acts, magic, circus, family programming, screenings, and interactive experiences.
We will ask about your act, availability, performance video, technical needs, footprint, set length, and rate.
Submit the 2026 performer form ↗Join the performer network
Not available this fall—or interested in more than one festival? Join Creative Collective’s year-round network for Haunted Happenings and other North Shore opportunities.
The best path for future seasons, general booking interest, and performers who want to stay on our radar beyond October.
Join the performer network ↗Propose a showcase or stage
Producing an entire showcase, curating multiple acts, bringing sponsored entertainment, or proposing a co-produced program? That is a partnership conversation.
Tell us about the audience experience, artists, production scope, footprint, technical plan, budget, and what your organization would bring.
Start a programming conversation ↗Special acts
Strange is welcome. Specifics help.
Some of the best Haunted Happenings performances do not fit neatly into a dropdown. For a paid booking that roams, transforms a public space, invites the audience in, uses an unusual apparatus, or combines several disciplines, use the paid performer form and choose the closest category—or “Other.”
Tell us what visitors experience, how much space you need, how long the act runs, what powers or supports it, and what safety or weather conditions matter. We do not need you to make the idea less strange. We do need to understand how it works.
Tell us about your act ↗Before you begin
A few things make the review easier
The form should take about five minutes if you have your basic booking information ready.
- 01 A short, current description of your act
- 02 A recent live performance video or reel
- 03 Your available 2026 dates and typical set length
- 04 Your number of performers, footprint, power, and equipment needs
- 05 A promotional photo and your asking fee, if available
- 06 Any safety, weather, insurance, or audience-participation considerations
From interest to booking
How it works
Choose the right path
Paid acts, future prospects and programming partners each have a separate intake.
We review the fit
We consider the act, audience, date, location, technical needs, budget, safety, and the full programming plan.
We contact performers
A submission is not a booking. We reach out when there is a possible match or when we need more information.
We confirm it in writing
Date, time, location, agreed fee and terms, technical support, weather plans, insurance, and arrival details come next.
The useful details
Performer questions
Does Creative Collective book every Haunted Happenings performer in Salem?
No. Haunted Happenings is a citywide celebration produced by many organizations and public partners. Creative Collective books performers and programming for the official marketplace and the downtown activations it manages.
Are performers paid?
Some stage, venue, roaming and special-programming bookings are paid, with fees confirmed case by case. Tell us your asking fee and requirements in the performer application. The separate busker and roaming pilot has its own participation terms.
Can roaming performers and costumed characters apply?
Yes. For a fee paid to you for a booked roaming or character performance, use the paid performer application. For the voluntary-tips-only Marketplace roaming program, visit the separate busker and roaming pilot page. These are different opportunities; dates, activity and conditions must be confirmed in writing.
What if my act uses fire, aerial equipment, large props, or amplified sound?
Describe every technical and safety requirement in your paid performance proposal. Unusual equipment or effects require additional location, insurance, permit, power, crowd and safety review; submission does not approve their use. The separate busker and roaming pilot has its own equipment and no-power rules.
Does submitting a form guarantee a date or location?
No. A submission begins the review process. A performance is booked only when the date, time, location, agreed fee and terms, technical plan, and other requirements are confirmed in writing.
What if I am not available in 2026?
Join the year-round Performer Network. That keeps your information in Monday for future Haunted Happenings seasons and other Creative Collective events across the North Shore.
Bring something memorable
Salem is better when the streets feel alive
Choose the path that fits your act, give us enough detail to understand what you do, and let us see the work. There is room for music, theatre, movement, spectacle, and the performances people only find by turning the right corner.