Creative Collective Explores

Creative Collective Explores Celebrating Creative Collective members across Essex County - the local businesses, makers, and events that make the North Shore special. Check out our program.

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06/17/2026

Salem showed up and SHOWED OUT.

Saturday night, Gallows Hill Artist Studios turned into a runway — and what a night. Local designers, bold looks, a packed room, and a whole lot of love for this city's creative streak.
Huge thanks to the designers who brought it: , , , , , , , , and . You made the night.

And it was about more than the runway — a portion of proceeds went to the YouthBuild North Shore CDC Young Adult Housing Outreach (YAHO) program, supporting young people in Salem facing homelessness with outreach, housing, and real workforce opportunity. Fashion that gives back. That's the kind of night we're here for.

To everyone who came out, cheered, and made it electric — thank you. Salem, you've got style. 🤘

Oh hey, Essex County — the cauldron runneth over again and we are not asking it to stop. 🫗 This week it all spilled out:...
06/17/2026

Oh hey, Essex County — the cauldron runneth over again and we are not asking it to stop. 🫗 This week it all spilled out: wine into art, history into the present, freedom into the streets, beer into the solstice, heels into transformation.

Wednesday alone is overflowing — paint a wave with French artist Emmanuelle Le Gal at Lynn Museum & Arts Center (only FIFTEEN spots, swim fast), hear Jim Moser read live from Q***r Heroes of the North Shore with EmVision, and gather in Wakefield as the North Shore Juneteenth Association Inc. raises the flag at dusk.

Thursday goes fully LEI-d back at Ledger Restaurant's fifth annual Summer Luau, gets gloriously cottagecore at Long Hill's herbal apothecary workshop, then turns deliciously wretched when horror hostess Lydia screens a secret bad movie at Koto Asian Fusion. Friday, Seacoast Stilettos will have you lifted higher in Commercial Heels — that's not class, that's transformation. Saturday, With Your Boots On x Notch Brewing launch Rye Moon under the solstice full moon (one small pour for beer…). And Sunday, Salem Jazz and Soul Festival co-founder Henley Douglas Jr. plays his own festival fundraiser at Off Cabot, because honey, he earned it.

That's just some of it — there's always more, because it's always Essex County doing the most in the best possible way. Full overflow lives on the calendar.
Follow both, always — + . Stay sevening. 💛

06/16/2026

Salem RenFaire took over Notch Brewing this past Saturday, and honestly? Small never felt so mighty.

One day. One beer garden turned medieval marketplace. A whole community pulling together to make the tiniest Renaissance Faire on the North Shore feel BIG. There were bards. There were combat demos. There was an interactive roleplay quest sending folks on adventures all over town.

Somewhere between the makers' stalls and the clash of swords, Salem did the thing Salem does best: gathered the weird and the wonderful in one spot and called it home.

Missed it this year? Tuck it away for next time. This is the kind of small-but-scrappy local magic worth showing up for.

Spend enough nights on the North Shore, and you build a short list of bars worth the drive. Three are on our heavy rotat...
06/16/2026

Spend enough nights on the North Shore, and you build a short list of bars worth the drive. Three are on our heavy rotation right now. 🍻

Bit Bar Salem is greater Boston's original arcade bar. Craft cocktail in one hand, a high score in the other. Karaoke on Thursdays if you're feeling brave.

Gentile Brewing Company in Beverly is a family-owned nano brewery with a dog-friendly taproom and real neighborhood-regular energy. Come for the altbier, stay for the room.

The Bell Inn & Tavern is a restored 18th-century mansion with a tavern upstairs and a speakeasy-style cellar bar below. Makes a Tuesday feel like an occasion.

All three are Creative Collective members — independent businesses and makers across Essex County. More spots worth the drive live in our weekly newsletter and at creativecollectivema.com.

06/15/2026

Salem secret, unlocked 🖤 A PR package landed from
— the gothic, woman-owned tea shop quietly blending some of the best loose-leaf on the North Shore. Cracked it open and enjoy Ziggy's oasis, Deep desire, Me time, and Fae glamor. Pair them with a good book, and your favorite mug. If that's your kind of night in, this one's for you. Go say hi 🫖

06/14/2026

Salem just got a little more haunted (the good kind). 🖤

officially cut the ribbon on their storefront — Salem's only Black-owned alt brand, serving up Halloween, horror, and nostalgia 365 days a year. Custom apparel, art, décor, and pieces you won't find anywhere else.

Made possible with . Go say hi, browse the racks, and bring a little October home with you — no matter what the calendar says.

A chef whose family tree starts right here. A local cidery's toast. A waterfront lunch hosted by one of our own. This is...
06/13/2026

A chef whose family tree starts right here. A local cidery's toast. A waterfront lunch hosted by one of our own. This is what it looks like when a community shows up for its own.

Salem welcomed home Chef Scott Conant ( ) — a 13th-generation direct descendant of Roger Conant, who founded Salem in 1626 — for the Food at 400+ celebration of the city's quadricentennial. The City presented official citations, formalized Salem's new sister-city bond with East Budleigh, England (Roger Conant's birthplace), and welcomed the UK Consul General.

But here's the thing — none of the magic happens without the local businesses who say yes. opened its waterfront for the VIP lunch. donated the toast that raised every glass. And the vision behind the whole experience? That's — Karen Scalia (), honored with Salem 400+ medallion #20 for embodying exactly what this community is about.

Real Business Support. Real Community Building.

06/12/2026

Your Thursday plans just got easier. 🍅✨

The Salem Farmers' Market is open for the season — Derby Square, right in the heart of downtown — and it's the good kind of busy. Fresh produce, flowers, local bites, and that summer-in-Salem feeling you can't get anywhere else.

Grab a coffee, bring a tote, wander the tables, talk to the growers. This is what a Thursday should feel like.

Open every Thursday, 3–7pm through October 8. Thanks to for keeping this one going season after season. — go say hi.

06/12/2026

Treats for the puppy and tidbits for you. It's the Weekend Round-Up for June 12!
Each of these events represents our Creative Collective members investing in the kind of community they want to be part of - and we're all invited to explore alongside them!
These gatherings offer meaningful breaks from daily demands while directly supporting the local businesses, makers, and innovators who make Essex County distinctive.            
Our full calendar at creativecollectivema.com (also link in the bio)reveals workshops, markets, performances, and gatherings where we're discovering together that showing up for these experiences strengthens both our personal well-being and the local ecosystem we all depend on.

Are you planning a North Shore event? These are three Creative Collective members are worth booking before the rest of t...
06/11/2026

Are you planning a North Shore event? These are three Creative Collective members are worth booking before the rest of the calendar fills up.

Floral Baby in Marblehead specializes in story-driven event florals. Dramatic arrangements, bouquet bars, interactive floral experiences. The kind of details guests remember.

Retonica Event Lighting and Design in Peabody is an event lighting and atmosphere design company. They are the reason a room feels like an event instead of a venue.

Lastly, 360 Fiesta PHOTO BOOTH in Lynn offers 360 video booths and instant-share photo booths. The party favors your guests will actually post.

All three are part of the Creative Collective — all independent businesses and makers across Essex County. More vendors and weekend ideas live in our weekly newsletter and at creativecollectivema.com.

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