The SeaFestival of Trees Keeps Short Hours, and the Carousel It Pays For Is Already Running on Broadway

On Friday night, November 20, the lights go on at Blue Ocean Event Center for the Spirits of Christmas Gala and Grand Tree Lighting. The gala runs from 6 to 9 p.m., is 21 and over, and costs $45 a ticket. The next morning the doors at 4 Ocean Front North open to everyone else, and the SeaFestival of Trees runs until Sunday, December 6.

That window is 16 days long, but the festival is open on only 10 of them, and three of those are evening-only. Proceeds go to the Salisbury Beach Historic Carousel and its pavilion, which the festival describes as now open year-round. The carousel is no longer a fundraising goal. It has been spinning at 7 Broadway since the summer of 2023, and its off-season hours line up with the festival's own schedule in a few useful places.

Ten open days in a sixteen-day run

General admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 5 and under. Tickets are sold only at the door, with no advance or online sales. Skating at Seaside Ice, the indoor rink inside the venue, is included, and skate rentals cost $5.

Here is the full public calendar, with the themed programming for each day:

The gaps fall on Monday, November 23, Wednesday, November 25, Thanksgiving Day, Monday, November 30, and Tuesday and Wednesday, December 1 and 2. That leaves three full weekends plus the day after Thanksgiving for daytime visits. The three weekday sessions on November 24, December 3 and December 4 run only from 5 to 8 p.m.

The themed events are included with admission. Dance Day brings Kadee's Tumbleweed at 11:30 a.m., Karla Pattavina's Dance Academy at 1:30 p.m., and Rap 'N Tap School of Dance at 3:30 p.m. At Santa's Big Rig Christmas, visitors can climb aboard a fire engine, a giant snowplow and construction trucks. Bruins Night includes an entry to win Bruins game tickets.

Tuesday, November 24 is the local night

Triton Night is the one night priced for the towns around the venue. From 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24, students, families and residents of Salisbury, Newbury and Rowley pay $5 admission with proof of residency.

For two adults, that is $10 instead of $20, and the rink is included either way. It also falls on a short evening between the two busiest stretches of the run: opening weekend before it and the four-day Thanksgiving weekend after it. Bring a document that shows your town, since the discount depends on it.

The raffle runs on a single phone call

You don't need to win an auction to take a tree home. Every decorated tree is raffled, and the raffle has rules worth knowing before you walk in:

1. Raffle tickets are sold only in person at the festival, by cash or credit card.
2. White tickets cost $5 for a sheet of 25 and go toward the general trees.
3. Red tickets cost $5 each or 5 for $20 and go toward the showcase trees, whose prizes are valued at $1,000 to $4,500.
4. Drop your tickets into the dispenser in front of the tree you want, and write a phone number where you can be reached.
5. Winners are called on Sunday, December 6, between 5 and 9 p.m. A winner has one hour to respond to the festival contact, or another winner is drawn.

December 6 is a Sunday evening, and the festival closes at 5 p.m. that day, so the calls begin as the building empties out. If you put red tickets in, keep that phone nearby until 9.

The festival's 2026 announcement on Seacoast Kids Calendar counts more than 145 themed trees donated by local businesses and families, including one showcase tree with a $2,000 cash prize. In the same announcement, festival managing director Kathy Aiello explained the raffle format: "Visitors don't need deep pockets to bring a tree home." That is why the trees are raffled through affordable tickets instead of sold at high-dollar auctions.

Where the money goes, and why it has already arrived

This is the festival's 14th year. Seacoast Kids Calendar reports more than 250,000 visitors over that time and more than $1 million raised for the Salisbury Beach Historic Carousel. For most of the festival's history, that money paid for a goal. The carousel itself has been operating since the summer of 2023.

The story behind it goes back to Broadway's original carousel, the Broadway Flying Horses, which ran in Salisbury from 1914 to 1977. As the Boston Globe reported when the new carousel opened, the original ended up disassembled in Southern California. The Salisbury Beach Partnership could not authenticate those horses. In 2019 it bought a different machine, a three-row Looff-Mangels carousel from Harvey's Lake, Pennsylvania, from the Winterstein family, its original and only owners. It was built by artisans associated with the original Broadway carousel.

The carousel needed a permanent home, and the town and local donors provided it:

• The Capolupo family donated the land at 7 Broadway.
• Salisbury's Planning Board approved a 6,600-square-foot octagonal pavilion there by early 2022, designed as a year-round home for the carousel.
• Newburyport Bank gave a $250,000 lead gift toward the project.
• The campaign goal was $4.2 million. In August 2023, the Globe reported that the Partnership had raised more than $4 million.

The opening slipped past its early-spring target while the carousel waited on a final state inspection. According to The Daily News of Newburyport, the pavilion was cleared for full operation on June 30. The carousel's own site says it is one of only 180 hand-carved grand carousels left in the country. Today the money raised by the trees helps keep a running carousel going year-round.

Making it a two-stop night on Broadway

Because the carousel is open, a festival visit can include a ride. The carousel lists its current off-season hours as Friday 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday noon to 7 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Those hours overlap with festival weekends. On a Saturday, both places are open from 11 a.m. or noon until 7 p.m. On the two Friday evenings, the carousel's 4 to 7 p.m. window covers most of the festival's 5 to 8 p.m. session. The carousel posts its hours without dates, so check salisburybeachcarousel.org or call 978-467-0600 before you plan around them.

The festival's own program also lists a Festival of Wreaths at the carousel, open for select hours. Local artisans hand-make the wreaths, and they are raffled the same way the trees are. The carousel site also sells engraved bricks as personalized gifts, another way to put your name on the project.

Inside Blue Ocean, plus parking

At the venue, the first thing many families head for is the sand sculpture. Sand artist Greg Grady built Santa's North Pole castle free-hand from 8,000 pounds of sand, and the festival's announcement describes it as 10 feet tall. Beyond it are the candy cane forest and Santa's workshop, where a toy testing station sets out classics like Etch A Sketch, plus a 7-foot teddy bear near Santa's Tree Top Gift Shoppe.

For food, the North Pole Café is on the second floor in the Blue Sky Lounge. It serves house-made Papa Elf pizza and Mac & Cheese Buddy Bites, and has full bar service. Seaglass and Capri are sit-down options.

The lot next to Blue Ocean charges a small fee. Parking is free on the street and in the Salisbury Municipal Parking Lot, a couple of blocks from the venue. Santa, Elsa and the Grinch appear on a daily schedule posted on the festival's happenings page, so check it before you go if a photo with one of them is the goal.

The season continues after the last tree comes down. The Santa & the Grinch Pancake Party is Sunday, December 6, at 10 a.m. for $45 per person. The Polar Express Pajama Party is Sunday, December 13, at 10:30 a.m. for $35 per person, after the festival has closed, and festival admission is not included. Tickets for both events are sold through the Blue Ocean Box Office at 978-462-5888.

If you're spending more time on Salisbury Beach this winter and want to talk through what's happening along Broadway, or anything else on your mind about the town, Marc Ouellet Realty Group is happy to help. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits you, even if it's after Triton Night.