Fall Fest Draws Attendees, And Safety Concerns, To Bemus Point
BEMUS POINT — The village’s annual three-day Fall Fest drew plenty of people looking for autumn goods and family-related activities.
But it also drew plenty of vehicles, and one Bemus Point village trustee again expressed concerns over safety and the need to possibly host the festival elsewhere in the future.
Margaret Richardson commented on the recently completed Fall Fest during the September meeting of the Bemus Point Village Board. Her worry lies with the habitually busy Main Street that becomes crowded with vendors, attendees and motorists during the event.
“I say it every year, safety is the most concern,” Richardson said. “Sometimes you look back at it and I cringe. I cringe every year, and I will be the bad guy every year saying it. I understand the need to have it going down Main Street, but we can close other roads in this village and still have it within the village limits.”
She added, “Having it on Main Street is a really bad idea. Sorry, I’m just waiting for someone to get hurt. It is a waiting issue, and it’s going to happen, and it bothers me. I know we’ve done everything we can to get it away from the traffic, but having traffic in the middle of that crowd, we just shouldn’t.”
Because Main Street is not a village-maintained road, it cannot be closed during the three-day festival. Trustee and Deputy Mayor Ted Farnham said the lack of a viable detour around the downtown area also makes it difficult to arrange for road closures.
Mayor Jeff Molnar said he’d like to meet with other officials, including organizers and the fire department, to review how this year’s event went and what can be done differently moving forward.
“We can all work together to make this bigger and better,” Molnar said.
More than 60 vendors were set up during this year’s festival, which also included live music and a petting zoo.