ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Gated entrances with metal detectors should offer “extra security” and comfort for guests at Allentown Fair, which opens Wednesday — days after eight people were shot at a downtown festival, organizers said.
Lehigh County Agricultural Society, which owns Allentown Fairgrounds and operates the fair, introduced walk-through metal detectors two years ago.
Security guards previously used metal-detecting wands and random searches to screen people at entrances.
“Security is the No. 1 priority here when we’re putting on an event like this."Jessica Ciecwisz, marketing manager for the Allentown Fair
Fairgoers “appreciate” the added security that metal detectors provide, fair Marketing Manager Jessica Ciecwisz said.
Walk-through detectors are viewed as a “first-level” screening device, while wands are a step below that, she said.
“It's gone really well,” Ciecwisz said of the fair’s first two years using metal detectors.
Fairgoers this year should expect to walk through metal detectors at all entrances, while those attending shows at the Grandstand likely also will be screened by metal-detecting wands, she said.
Security guards and police will be moving throughout the fairgrounds; and the fair’s organizers “have lots of security measures in place that we wouldn’t discuss” publicly, Ciecwisz said.
“Security is the No. 1 priority here when we’re putting on an event like this,” she said. “Security is always of utmost importance for us.”
Gates make security easier
Ciecwisz said a gated festival such as Allentown Fair is easier to secure than open events, such as Musikfest or the downtown Dominican Festival, where eight people were shot Sunday.
Authorities on Monday charged Yunior Peralta-Quintana, 21, of Allentown, with attempted homicide and aggravated assault in connection with that shooting.
Allentown police also opened fire, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan.
His office is conducting separate investigations into the shooting that wounded eight and two officers who shot their guns Sunday.
A Bethlehem man in January was charged in connection with an August 2022 shooting at Musikfest.
Police allege Joshua Nathaniel Colon, 23, shot Jathaniel Lopez in the stomach during what Holihan described as a dispute between hostile local gangs at the festival, which bills itself as “the nation’s largest, free ungated music festival.”
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs introduced metal detectors in March at Coca-Park in Allentown.
The team cited a shooting two weeks earlier at the Kansas Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, where more than two dozen fans were injured and one was killed in a shooting.
Allentown's PPL Center added metal detectors for all events in 2016.
