Summer of Freedom
Join us this summer for guided tours, hands-on workshops and activities, and celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday!
Freedom Day Celebration
May 23 | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
On May 21, 1865, congregants gathered in the St. Philips African Moravian Church and became the first to hear news that would change the nation forever. A Union Army calvary chaplain announced to the congregants and surrounding area that slavery had been legally abolished nationwide, and that all previously enslaved were now an emancipated and free people.
On May 23, 2026, join us at Old Salem to celebrate this momentous event through guided walking tours, highlighted stories throughout the district, and a special hands-on demonstration of brick making at the St. Philips African Moravian Church site.
Guided walking tours will meet at the Salem Tavern at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
Hands-On Workshops and Activities
Click the images to learn more!
Get hands-on with traditional techniques of creating hand-made blank books with colorful paste paper. Take home a blank book of your own, and paste paper for future crafts!
Welcome our Monarch caterpillars to their new home by going out into our gardens and harvesting some fresh snacks for them!
Learn some new techniques for using your smartphone to capture great summer photos – and test them out on the summer blooms and produce in our Gardens!
Get your hands on our pottery! Learn about the pottery techniques that put Salem potters on the map. Plus, take home your very own earthenware tart dish!
Schoolgirls in Moravian towns learned botany skills through natural history and still-life painting. Explore the art and botanical work of notable Moravian women in the 1800s.
Independence Day Celebration
July 4 | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Did you know that the first Independence Day Celebration in North Carolina was held right here in Salem?
Come celebrate our nation’s 250th – the way we have since 1783.
Join us this Fourth of July for a day full of hands-on activities, historic demonstrations, and fun for all ages!
Live Music
Costumed Moravian Brass Band
11:00 AM | Salem Square
Appalachian Strings Dulcimer Performance
1:00 PM | Single Brothers’ House
Guilford Courthouse Fife & Drum Corps
2:00 PM | Salem Square
Family Fun Activities
Bucket Brigade Fire Drill
10:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM | Salem Square
Historical Games
All-day | Boys’ School
Guided Tours
Revolutionary War Artifacts Gallery Tour
10:00 AM & 1:30 PM | Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
Seeds of the States: Colonial Gardens Tour
12:00 PM & 2:00 PM | Garden Education Center
Guided Tour of Revolutionary War Salem
12:30 PM | Salem Square
Historic Demonstrations
Reading of the Declaration of Independence
11:30 AM & 2:30 PM | Salem Square
Historic Firearms Demonstration
All-day | Tavern Meadow
Making Historical Summer Frozen Treats
All-day | John Vogler House
Guided Tours
All of these tours are INCLUDED with your standard admission ticket, so click to learn more!
Sounds of Salem
Join us for a series of concerts celebrating the remarkable 250-year influence of Moravian music on the American sound.
All funds go to support Old Salem Museums and Gardens.
