Last September the city of South Bend threw the first Fusion Fest, drawing far more visitors than expected. This year organizers have made some changes aimed at getting you into the venue faster.
In launching Fusion Fest last year at Howard Park, the Mayor James Mueller administration asked the community to re-imagine the city’s Ethnic Festival. The city ended the once-popular tradition in the early 2000s because of fights and unruly crowds that would form toward the end of the night.
To keep out weapons in the reincarnation, the city last year used two metal detectors and limited entry and exit to two spots. The lines were long. This year, the city is borrowing three faster state-of-the-art detectors, the kind that don’t require you to empty your pockets, from South Bend schools.
The city is also encouraging people to carry items in clear plastic bags. Bags that aren’t clear will again be searched, which takes time.
Fusion Fest runs September 14 and 15, so that’s next weekend, but you can get a free clear backpack this Friday at 5 p.m. at Howard Park. The city only has 500 bags to hand out and 35,000 people attended last year.
Amy Roush is interim chief development officer for the city’s Venues, Parks and Arts. Since the city clearly doesn’t have enough bags for everyone, Roush hopes news of the free bags will remind people to bring their own if they have them.
"I don't want to say it's a problem you want to have but it is nice to know that the community truly embraced us bringing this back and were interested in attending," Roush said. "So that's part of the reason why we're trying to help, just
