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Surveys show residents, businesses broadly satisfied; residents favor drone show over fireworks
Summary
City survey results presented to the council showed generally positive resident and business impressions of Haunted Happenings 2024, and staff said 52% of resident respondents favored replacing fireworks with a drone show.
City staff told the committee that resident and business surveys after Haunted Happenings 2024 trended more positive than the prior year and that a majority of resident respondents favored replacing fireworks with a drone show.
Jeremy Fisk, special events manager, said the resident survey received roughly 700–725 responses (staff cited about 724) and that 52% of residents supported switching the end-of-Haunted-Happenings fireworks to a drone show; 22% opposed the change. Fisk said 68% of residents expressed a somewhat positive to positive view of an amplification ban the city imposed, and overall resident impressions were “slightly more favorable” than in 2023.
Ashley Judge summarized a 45-response business survey prepared with the Salem Chamber, Salem Main Streets and Creative Collective. Judge said 73% of business respondents rated Haunted Happenings as good or very good and that very-poor ratings were zero.
Councilors who heard the results urged staff to drill down on business concerns (for example, where businesses reported poor cleanup or restroom access) and to return with more granular data next year so the city can respond with targeted improvements. Staff said they had begun analyzing written comments; common themes among lower-rated business responses included parking, restroom availability and staffing burdens.
