Old West End (OWE) Festival 2026
(Toledo, Ohio)- As I leave New York City for Toledo, I am saddened to read and hear from 5:37 pm., nonstop, to the present, on the television, my social media, and on my phone, from texts to emails, of the shooting that occurred in the Old West End (OWE) Festival in Toledo, Ohio. The OWE festival is the festival that kicks off all the other festivals for the summer in and around Toledo. It is a festival I have faithfully attended annually since my move to Toledo in the mid-90s. A festival where I have bought things like the Corian kitchen countertop that my children ate off every day, to pieces of art made by local artists, and food from a person’s house or a food truck. I have taken friends, encouraged family to attend, and even volunteered at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) table, doing arts and crafts with small children. I have had some crazy nights there, dancing, singing, and made so many new friends at this festival. I still have friends who live in that neighborhood and raise their children there.
So, when I read the article, “Mayor says Toledo must rethink large events after Old West End festival shooting” in the Toledo Blade (June 7, 2026) by Alice Momany, I found issues with the Mayor’s suggestions. His suggestions were to have 1) “a stronger curfew,” 2) “metal detectors or some sort of scanning or bag checks at the gates of our church festivals,” and 3) “security cameras at events.” While possibly also making everyone show some sort of I.D. with their age on it to get into events, and if you are a juvenile, you would be required to be accompanied by an adult. I don’t know about you, but my parents ran a Taco Truck, and some of my best friends I met running around the festivals while my parents worked the food truck…