City offers new event grant for citizens with big ideas

Starting next year, a Salem resident might start a new multicultural summer arts festival somewhere downtown. Or there might be a new family Lego festival in downtown alleyways. Or, come February 2016, there might be the city’s first public celebration of the Vietnamese New Year. Those were some of the ideas inspired by the city of Salem’s new offer to residents with event ideas: If you start it, we might pay. For the first time, the city’s Cultural and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board is offering reimbursement grants of up to $2,000 for any Salem citizen with a solid plan for starting a city event of festival…READ MORE.