Hilliard's Fall Fest is set to take over Roger A. Reynolds Municipal Park on Sunday, September 13, from 1 to 4 p.m., with a petting zoo, hayrides, inflatables, balloon artists, face painting and live music from Dr. Awkward all packed into a single free afternoon. The city announced the lineup in a Facebook post Wednesday from the City of Hilliard, Ohio - Government account.
According to the City of Hilliard, Ohio - Government, the festival will also feature live dog shows, and the demonstrations are expected to come from Performance Dogs of Ohio, a group that regularly performs at outdoor community events across Central Ohio, per Columbus Prime Realty. The group is scheduled to run show rings throughout the park from 1 to 4 p.m., the same window as the festival itself. Food trucks will also be on hand, coordinated through the Central Ohio Food Truck Association, which handles vendor applications annually each January and manages food logistics for multiple major Hilliard city events, according to the City of Hilliard.
The event's sponsor list includes Hilliard Modern Dental, Alchemy, Oppidan Connect, Thai Orthodontics, Scioto Orthodontics, Sage Family Orthodontics, Amazon.com and Raising Cane's, per the same Facebook announcement.
A 130-Acre Park Built for Festival Crowds
Roger A. Reynolds Municipal Park spans 130 acres and functions as Hilliard's premier municipal green space, home to the Hilliard Family Aquatic Center, an 18-hole disc golf course, pickleball courts and a fishing pond, according to Destination Hilliard. The park serves as the main hub for city-wide festivals year-round, and it was officially dedicated in the early 2000s to honor a dedicated public servant in Hilliard, the city notes in a history posted on its website. The park also serves as the administrative headquarters for Hilliard's Recreation and Parks Department.
Fall Fest is one of more than 40 community events the department hosts annually, a slate that ranges from summer fitness series to major seasonal gatherings like Freedom Fest, according to the city. Event planning and coordination is handled as a year-round municipal operation, reflecting the scale of programming Hilliard now runs for its residents.
A Packed Weekend Across Old Hilliard
Fall Fest is not the only thing on Hilliard's calendar that weekend. One day earlier, on Saturday, September 12, local merchants and Destination Hilliard are presenting the annual For the Love of Hilliard Festival at Hilliard's Station Park, which sits in the heart of Old Hilliard, according to Columbus on the Cheap. Then, on the same Sunday afternoon as Fall Fest, from 1 to 5 p.m., the Hilliard Historical Village at Weaver Park is hosting a free Ohio's Open Doors event with interactive tours of the city's 19th-century train station, per the Ohio History Connection. Weaver Park sits adjacent to the Franklin County Fairgrounds, giving families a second nearby stop if they want to stretch the day beyond Fall Fest's 1 to 4 p.m. window.
Growing Suburb, Growing Investment
The festival weekend arrives as Hilliard continues to pour money into its recreational footprint. The city is building The Well, a 125-acre, $106.3 million Recreation and Wellness Campus directly west of Municipal Park that will include an OSU Wexner Medical Center facility and a relocated senior center, according to The Hilliard Beacon. The new complex is expected to relocate facilities previously stationed at Municipal Park.
That investment tracks with the city's growth. Hilliard has a population of approximately 38,000 residents, a median age of 35.8 years and a median household income of $128,189, according to Census Reporter data drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Originally founded in 1852 as Hilliard's Station along the Piqua and Indiana Railroad, the city now covers roughly 14.3 square miles in Franklin County between Big Darby Creek and the Scioto River, according to Wikipedia, having evolved from a rural rail stop into a major Columbus suburb.
