On Friday, Nov. 24, the Dayton Holiday Festival and children’s parade once again will be held at and around Courthouse Square near Third and Main streets in downtown Dayton.
The Downtown Dayton Partnership puts on the popular festival, the Grande Illumination tree-lighting ceremony and kids’ parade.
Crews last week put up a 35-foot green spruce tree at Courthouse Square and started stringing lights on trees in the public space. This will be the 51st annual holiday festival and parade. The event usually attracts between 20,000 and 30,000 visitors each year.
The Downtown Dayton Partnership said it has worked for nearly a year with downtown stakeholders and police to come up with a plan to try to prevent the scary scene at last year’s celebration from happening again.
Last year, someone fired a gun into the air during the children’s parade, which sent people scrambling for safety.
Many, if not most people at the festival did not hear the gunshot and did not know what was going on, but they saw a large wave of people running away from an unknown danger.
Some people said they or their children were nearly knocked down and trampled during the frantic scene. Some people thought it might be an active shooter.
Some parents and other people who attended the 2022 festival told this newspaper they did not think they would ever again attend the event, even though some of them had been coming to it for years or decades.
Some attendees said it was a traumatic experience for their kids and families, even though no one was seriously injured.
Local leaders say downtown generally is very safe, and they hope a few changes to this year’s festival and the event’s security plan will help put people at ease.
The festival and parade have been moved up an hour, meaning more of the event will happen during the daylight hours. The festival starts at 3 p.m. and concludes at 8 p.m.
The Dayton Police Department plans to position its officers differently than in past years to try to make them more visible and accessible, said Katie Meyer, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership.
Police officers will patrol the area on bikes, and private security officers will be added to some indoor locations that are involved in the event, Meyer said.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
She also said there will be better communication between police personnel and festival staff and volunteers.
The Dayton Police Department will have about 25 officers and one lieutenant assigned to the festival, according to a contract approved earlier this month between the city and the Downtown Dayton Partnership.
The partnership is paying about $12,000 to hire off-duty police personnel to handle traffic and security at the festival and parade.
The organization last year spent roughly the same amount ($11,000) for off-duty police personnel.
Meyer said unfortunately incidents like what transpired last year can happen anywhere.
She said it’s understandable that some people may be reluctant to attend this year’s event. But Meyer said many steps are being taken to reduce the likelihood of any problems.
“We believe the new strategy of increased officer visibility and more security at the event will add more eyes and ears to discourage any possible incidents and help stop them before they can start,” she said.
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