The NCAA Division III men's college basketball championship was held at the civic center for many years.
Boxing, professional wrestling, rodeos, and high school basketball games are typical events.
In addition to sporting events, the Salem Civic Center also hosts concerts, circuses, conventions and trade shows.
The annual Roanoke Valley Horse Show and Salem Fair are held at the civic center and the adjacent grounds.
The center was infamously used for a scene in the 2006 mockumentary movie Borat, which includes the titular character singing a made-up (and humorously insulting) version of the Kazakhstan national anthem to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to a jeering Virginian crowd who were not aware of the mockumentary being made.