The city of Beford is celebrating 61 years of its most popular community events. The Strawberry Festival kicked off at Bedford Public Square.
“I’ve been coming every year with my grandmother since I was a kid, and now, I bring my kids. We always stop and get some strawberries, strawberry shortcake and we walk around and look at all the awesome vendors,” said Jackie Vinson, a Bedford resident.
This year, the vendors hit capacity offering a variety of different food, clothing, jewelry and community organizations.
“These are community people here, we're supporting them, we’re keeping their businesses going and food on their tables because they have great products,” said Vinson.
As festival goers are walking in, they may notice a new rule on signs.
Co-chair Sandy Spinks met with the Bedford police chief on Thursday after having safety concerns. Hours before the event started, Bedford police announced juveniles would not be allowed in the festival without an accompanying adult.
“There were some incidents around different places, in Mayfield here was some stuff that happened at a festival. We want kids to come, but we want them to come with their family, and we want everybody to feel safe,” said Spinks.
This new protocol was in response to multiple fights that broke out in a large crowd of juveniles waiting to get into the St. Francis festival in Gates Mills. This incident led the festival to close half an hour early. According to Mayfield Police, an estimated 300-400 juveniles left the area and went into Mayfield Heights, prompting calls to the department for "trespassing" and "disruptive behavior."
In addition to the fights, the mob of teens vandalized and stole from local businesses and refused orders from police to leave the area.
“The biggest thing is we don't want to have to cancel this, like some of the other places have had to cancel and were trying to prevent that from happening,” said Spinks.
Some did not necessarily agree with the new protocol.
"As a kid I know me and my sister at 15 and 16 would come to the festivals by ourselves. Our mom trusted us and so I feel like it's kind of taking away from the kids experience a little bit,” said Rachel, who is also a Bedford resident.
However, Vinson is hoping this will keep things in order.
“It's kind of disappointing but at least now everyone has a supervisor, and hopefully more people can enjoy it. And hopefully it doesn't get rowdy,” said Vinson.
The festival runs from Friday to Sunday, and organizers say Bedford police will respond quickly to any disturbances.
