Oak Lawn’s annual festival, Fall on The Green, will be limited to adults only this year. For years, the annual festival has held a craft fair, children’s activities, live music, food, and a beer tent for attendees 21 and older.
In past years, the festival had several themed bounce houses, blow up obstacle courses, popular carnival rides, and a giant slide.
However, in recent years, the village has limited the number of activities for attendees, particularly children and teenagers.
Carnival rides have not appeared in years, blow up bounce houses and obstacle courses have disappeared, and the giant slide, a favorite of mine, is no more.
Last year, only a few children’s activities took place, and most teenagers walked around the grounds with their friends.
With little to do, some of these teenagers have become destructive. The Oak Lawn Police reported that some attendees were throwing pumpkins, fighting, and cursing at officers.
While the majority of the teenage attendees were not destructive in this manner, those who were created a disruptive and potentially dangerous environment.
The village has stated that it will move the children’s activities to other dates, such as during the Fourth of July parade.
While not allowing unsupervised teenagers to enter the festival this year makes sense, what about kids?
Every year, the event is filled with families spending time together, including families with young children.
At the craft fair, young children can be seen shopping with their parents, walking alongside them or being pushed along in the stroller.
Inside the food tent, elementary school aged children can be seen enjoying slushies, hot dogs, or pizza with their family.
They do not start fights, curse at police officers, or throw pumpkins around like unsupervised teenagers have done in the past. They are simply enjoying the day with their family.
Why can’t they go to the festival anymore?
Instead of changing the event to be 18+, the village should still allow those 10 and under to join in on the festivities, at least till sundown.
There’s no reason to not allow a 3 year old to enter the craft fair tent.
While I support the village’s move to prevent teenagers from coming to the festival, there’s no reason to conclude the children’s activities and prevent kids, toddlers, and infants in strollers from entering.