Last September, Moon Over Salem festival debuted with some stacked stats: Of the downtown Salem festival’s 35-plus performers, 64 percent of artists identified as women or non-binary artists — a welcome but uncommon level of representation among most fest lineups — and ticket sales from the fest’s sole day garnered over $3,000 for the locally-focused Rising Artists Scholarship.
Looking ahead to the event’s second edition, those figures are already growing. The 2025 Moon Over Salem festival will maintain its seven-venue footprint, but will feature 50-plus performers over two days, September 12 and 13. The lineup dropped last week (July 11) via Moon, a nonprofit that operates the Salem all-ages venue Moon Base One and works to increase access to underground music in the Salem area. Moon Over Salem will benefit both Moon Base One and the nonprofit’s Rising Artists Scholarship, which supports college students who are studying music or the arts.
Much like last year’s lineup, there’s a noticeable portion of performers who call the North Shore home, such as Hyber, Tigerman Woah, Cape Crush, Spirit Hotel, and Oh the Humanity. Boston talent plays a major role, contributing acts like punk stalwarts Rebuilder, lo-fi bedroom pop act Layzi (pictured above), and dreamy shoegazers Vivid Bloom, among countless others, but New Hampshire’s also on the schedule; look for the drone rock of Chainlacing and country-tinged alternative from Happy Just To See You, for example.
The eclectic 50-plus sets will be spread across Bit Bar Salem, Charlotte Forten Park, Cinema Salem, Felt Fantastic, Koto Salem, Moon Base One, and Salem Public Access, the home of Salem Access Television.
Two-day tickets are on sale now for $35, and prices will gradually increase over the course of the summer.
