Fireworks Festival Parking Pass Holders Treated as VIPs (Very Ignored Persons)

I wonder if people who paid $160 for VIP tables at the Noblesville July 4 Fireworks Festival at Forest Park had good parking. And I wonder if those VIP guests were let out of the park before the trolleys and buses at the end of the night.

Usually we ride our bicycles or walk into Forest Park, which is closed to vehicular traffic during the festival.

But this year, we decided to buy and try out the $25 Fireworks Festival Parking Pass to park in the Forest Park Aquatic Center parking lot at the north end of the park.

It wasn’t far to the fireworks viewing area from the parking lot, but it was a little far if you had 80-plus year-olds with you making the trek. Where was the handicap-accessible parking anyway?

After the fireworks, I thought it might be easy to get out of the Aquatic Center parking lot, since the lot was near the Field Drive entrance.

But I was wrong.

All of the trolleys, charter buses and school buses that the city hired to transport festival-goers out of the park after the fireworks were actually blocking the driveway to the Aquatic Center parking lot.

All of the people who paid for parking passes to the Aquatic Center parking lot were trapped in the lot. Some parking permit holders got out of their vehicles to complain. And some drivers honked horns repeatedly. But there was nothing anyone could do but wait until all of the trolleys, charter buses and school buses filled with passengers, again and again, to leave the park.

As we sat in the fourth car in line to get out of the Aquatic Center parking lot, festival-goers walked past us to their own vehicles in the Aquatic Center parking lot. One chuckled, asking, “How’s it feel to be a VIP now?”

At that moment, we realized that there was no “VIP” stamped on our neon pink Fireworks Festival $25 Parking Pass hanging in our car’s front window. (Usually VIP stands for Very Important Person.)

But in this instance, we discovered those who bought the $25 parking pass were actually indeed treated as VIPs (Very Ignored Persons).

What was the city thinking when organizers made the plan to have trolley and bus departure blocking the parking lot that folks paid $25 each to have a reserved place to park?

Maybe the city had a reason for all of the buses and trolleys to board at the north end of the park. But common sense to me would have been to use the south end like we’ve seen buses departing the festival in the past.

The Fireworks Festival Parking Pass was a great idea and I would probably buy one again. But next year, let’s get better organized with the departure.

As always, I encourage anyone with opinions, complaints, kudos or suggestions to contact our mayor’s office at 317-776-6324. Mayor Chris Jensen loves to hear from the community.

– Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com. By the way, the $160 VIP tables of eight ($20 per person) did look like a great way to enjoy the festival and watch the spectacular fireworks, with reserved seating close to the band’s stage and separate VIP restroom options.