O’Fallon beefing up security to preserve annual City Fest

Organizers hope additional security measures will make this year’s O’Fallon City Fest a safe family event.

Plans call for reduced hours Saturday, increased lighting, a larger police presence and drone surveillance.

After disturbances at some local festivals, including disruptive behavior at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church annual parish picnic in May and skirmishes at last year’s City Fest, organizers have put new safety plans in place.

City Fest Chair Marcie Lapolice said Police Chief Kirk Brueggeman has been meeting with the committee, and they have reviewed site plans and security measures.

“These are precautions,” Brueggeman said. “It’s unfortunate what happened at Nickfest. If we can do these safely, we’re all for it. It’s very taxing on public safety, and we understand this is good for the community, so we’ll do what we can to make it successful.”

The annual City Fest, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Aug. 22-23, returns to Community Park, with hours from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

“Safety is our top priority, so we’re going to close two hours earlier on Saturday,” Lapolice said. “We’re keeping Friday as is because most incidents tend to happen later on Saturday.”

Attractions include food, drinks, carnival rides, games and live music, with a Saturday parade at 4 p.m., the Sonny Sterthman Memorial Auto Show starting at 8 a.m., and a triathlon sponsored by Bike Surgeon at 8 a.m. The band Hollywood 5 will play from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, while South of Sanity is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. and Champagne Fixx from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Carnival rides stop at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, when all youths must leave the grounds, organizers said.

Lapolice, who has been involved in organizing the festival for the past nine years and is a longtime community volunteer, said residents requested a picnic-type event to return with a “hometown feel.”

It gives many local nonprofits, school programs, churches and businesses an opportunity to raise funds for their causes, Lapolice said.

“It’s a good way to get the town together and have a great weekend for the whole family,” she said.

She said in previous years, attendance for the two-day event has been roughly 21,000. This year, 65 groups and floats have registered for the parade, which has a “Nursery Rhymes” theme.

“A lot of time and planning goes into this. We’re just going to do our best,” Lapolice said. “The police are bringing in other officers from surrounding areas, and we’ll have a central police location near the rides. We do not want people congregating around the rides.”

She said the new site layout helps, and extra portable lighting will be placed throughout the park.

Brueggeman said drones will assist with surveillance.

“Unsupervised youths seem to be the biggest problem,” he said. “It’s mainly 13- to 20-year-olds who show up and cause trouble with each other. They don’t necessarily involve others in the crowd, but then that puts a cloud over the event.”

Police will not allow anyone to cover their face or wear a hooded sweatshirt or jacket.

“Those are designed to conceal identities. These rules are the same as at school. We have zero tolerance for it,” Brueggeman said.

Brueggeman said disorderly conduct and verbal confrontations will be dealt with immediately.

The larger park gatherings seem to be where disturbances happen, because O’Fallon has also hosted smaller outdoor events that have gone smoothly. Brueggeman noted that the monthly Downtown District Nights held during the summer are very popular.

“At the recent one on Aug. 7, we had no incidents, no issues whatsoever. It was great music and fellowship,” he said, noting that Vine Street Market, Independence Day fireworks, Bacon Fest, Witches and Wizards Night Out, Veterans Day Parade, Holiday Illuminated Parade and Halloween events haven’t had problems.

“People love the outdoor activities. The organizers plan really nice events.”

Letting people know city officials are being proactive is important, said O’Fallon Mayor Eric Van Hook, the city’s former public safety director.

“Ninety percent of the people are there to have a good time. Unfortunately, there are the 10 percent, mainly from other towns, who aren’t,” Van Hook said. “With homecomings, there is a nostalgia factor. People remember coming with their families and having a good time, and they want to have that experience with their own families now.”

Reported disturbances

“These are not isolated incidents only in the metro-east. These issues are happening across the state and in Missouri,” Brueggeman said.

In May, police were called to Nickfest, an annual parish event at St. Nicholas Church in O’Fallon, because of fights that got out of control, extending into late hours in the surrounding neighborhood.

Organizers eliminated carnival rides and shortened hours, but that didn’t prevent the disturbances. The church is exploring alternatives to bring people together to celebrate, but no plans have been announced.

“They did everything right and still had challenges,” Van Hook said.

Last summer, due to park improvement construction, City Fest was temporarily moved to Family Sports Park. Police closed the event an hour earlier that Saturday because of juveniles fighting, followed by a stampede of people running in different directions.

The annual Midwest WingFest in Fairview Heights was canceled after fights and people tried to enter illegally at its St. Clair Square venue last August. Two people were arrested and others were pepper-sprayed.

“The safety concerns following last year’s event have created too many variables and expenses for our all-volunteer crew to manage responsibly,” the group said in a statement canceling this year’s event.

Belleville Oktoberfest ended earlier than scheduled last year because of more than 100 juveniles being unruly and disorderly. In 2022, a “stampede” of about 300 teenagers ran through the festival. Someone falsely screamed about a shooting, but a juvenile with a loaded handgun was arrested near the grounds.

At last year’s Shiloh picnic, some juveniles were turned away because they didn’t want their bags searched. Shiloh police later discovered bags with guns outside the grounds. In 2023, juveniles also caused fights at the picnic.

The Shiloh Homecoming will take place Sept. 5 from 5 to 10 p.m., with fireworks at 9 p.m., and Sept. 6 from noon to 6 p.m.

O’Fallon homecomings

Originally started as a welcome-home party for soldiers returning from World War I, the event became a fundraiser for the city’s park system.

What had been the city’s Homecoming event was dropped in 2008 after troublemaker incidents and then restored in 2018.

Former Mayor Herb Roach included its return as part of his campaign platform when he ran for mayor in 2017.

“O’Fallon was once known for its citywide festivals, picnics and homecomings. During my campaign, as I walked through O’Fallon and visited over 6,000 homes, I was often asked why O’Fallon no longer hosts a city-sponsored festival. Many residents expressed to me that our neighboring communities all have one or two such events annually,” he said.

“City Fest was started to help bring our community together in a united public celebration where the entire city could come together and enjoy themselves,” Roach said.

Volunteers are still needed for City Fest, and people can sign up by visiting the event’s Facebook page. Help is welcome, she said.