Despite efforts by #Fest organizers to increase organization at the mostly annual event, city officials believe the event is unsafe and are exploring ways of enforcing sanitation and health standards.
#Fest had a record 16,000 in attendance last Saturday, Ron Lucas, deputy service-safety director, said. Though the city had planned in advance to close West Union Street and Route 56, Lucas said the closures proved to be an inconvenience for the city and its residents.
“You’re trying to close an entire street because everybody has to walk home,” Lucas said. “But then we have trash issues, a lot of alcohol and people jumping in and out of pickup trucks.”
Service-Safety Director Paula Horan-Moseley remembers meeting multiple times with event manager Dominic Petrozzi, but said the event still lacked oversight.
“I would not call what occurred ‘managed,’ ” Horan-Moseley said, adding that part of the transportation issue stems from a single point of entry and exit to The Venue on West Union Street.
City officials will discuss these issues with county officials and the Athens Police Department at this year’s annual debriefing, Lucas said. He’s not yet entirely sure when the meeting will occur, but he said this year the discussion might turn to more sweeping changes that will need to be made next year.
“Has this happened before? Yes. But the amount of people was a problem,” Lucas said. “It’s something that I’m guessing would have to be capped at some point.”
Petrozzi said there were only 16 hospital transports this year, despite the surge in attendance, and because the street closing was organized beforehand, no safety issues were present.
“The most common-sense thing to do would be to organize it so there was onsite parking,” Petrozzi said. “The only problem is walking.”
Petrozzi said he is not anticipating a ticket or attendance cap for next year, but will discuss possibly changing the location of #Fest to the Athens fairgrounds.
“I would say ... the current setup and the fact that it’s unable to be managed (are the biggest problems),” Horan-Moseley said. “It’s an accident waiting to occur. I fear for the safety of the festgoers.”
And when someone does get hurt, the sheer size of the crowd could be a problem for first-responders, Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said.
“It causes a lot of problems with emergency response units since you have a concentration of traffic in the area,” he said.
Moving the festival to the fairgrounds would place it within Athens city limits and force its schedule to comply with the Athens noise ordinance, which can shutdown a loud event.
“If the fairgrounds is being considered as an option, then there are many stakeholders who need to be brought to the table to discuss that,” Councilwoman Michele Papai, D-3rd Ward said. “Right now, it’s disrupting traffic.”
Mayor Paul Wiehl said that he’s had multiple concerns with the festival outside of general road closings and vehicular traffic.
“They don’t have enough port-a-johns, and that has to be an EPA concern because everything is flowing into the creek which connects to the Hocking river,” Wiehl said. “When you’re talking that many people, things weren’t being utilized properly.”
But Petrozzi said he will be working with the city to accommodate its needs, while making sure #Fest is business as usual for the attendees.
“We’ll definitely be meeting with the city to curb their concerns,” Petrozzi said. “We’ll make it less BYOB-oriented and reduce the amount of alcohol.”
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