California

Safety a Priority for North Branford Potato & Corn Festival

North Branford is generally a quiet town, but one weekend a year it welcomes tens of thousands of people at its Potato & Corn Festival.

On its 18th year, festival coordinator Gayle McMillan says the festival has something for everyone.

“We have food vendors, we have craft business, non-profit vendors, we have a great amusement company ,we have a petting zoo, we have a traveling circus,” she said.

With over 20,000 people expected to show up to throughout the weekend, safety is a priority.

“We will have security drones in the air from the police department,” McMillan said. “We also will have a lot of security on site—some seen and some not seen.”

Deputy Police Chief James Lovelace says all of the station’s officers will be onsite.

“We also work closely with the fire department and the emergency operations center,” the Deputy Chief added. “We combine our plans and we sit down and we review and we carry out a safe festival each and every year.”

The deputy chief says he understands why some festival-goers may be concerned, especially the recent shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California.

“Those concerns are real, we share those concerns with our residents here and also the people that come from around the state.”

But, he says they’re working to make it a fun and safe weekend for everyone.

“We’re putting every safety measure in place, we evaluate those incidents from around the country, we learn what was done right what was done wrong and what we can do better. And it’s going to be a great fun event and come out and enjoy the festivities with us.”

The festival goes ‪from August 2 to August 4.

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