DAYTON — There was a lot of excitement and smiling faces at the 51st Annual Dayton Holiday Festival.
The tree lighting marks the start of the holiday season.
News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott talked with festivalgoers and looked at how organizers are keeping families safe after someone fired a gun last year.
It’s the time of year many people have been waiting for full of laughter, nonstop singing, and tons of holiday festivities.
Especially since last year the parade was canceled almost immediately when a gunshot rang out.
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To ease people’s concerns more security was added.
“It really upset a lot of people, created some chaos,” Katie Meyer, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership said.
Meyer said the organizers worked closely with police to determine what extra security they could add.
This year everything went according to plan.
“I like this, I like it’s so fun,” Willy Edwards said.
For anyone who couldn’t make it Friday night, it’s okay, the tree will remain lit for the remainder of the year.