Doylestown Still Preparing for Friday Nights

First Friday Doylestown has been cancelled for tonight - and all other First Friday nights - but town leaders say they still expect crowds downtown.

Downtown Doylestown is a gathering place on any Friday and Saturday night, especially for teenagers, they say, and they expect the cancellation of official First Friday events will do little to dimish those crowds.

"A Friday night in Doylestown is busy and requires policing," borough manager John Davis told Doylestown Patch. "Certainly anyone who thinks that these issues of teenagers and bars and crowded streets are going to go away, that’s not going to happen."

The volunteer group that organized First Friday Doylestown for the past eight years announced this week that it was . Faced with paying for police time during the rest of this year's events, the group said it had no money to pay the bill and would cease the monthly events.

Doylestown leaders say it will take time for word to spread that First Friday has been cancelled. Adults and families who came to stroll the streets, patronize the shops and listen to outdoor music might still come tonight and next month, they said.

So the town still must be ready to deal with crowds.

"I think we have to assume that we’re still going to have a lot of people in town," Davis said.

Even if the number of adults coming into town begins to drop, teens likely still will return to their usual fall hangout spots. The beginning of school and the start of football season usually brings them out.

Some residents who live near the downtown area have complained about large groups of teens blocking sidewalks, cursing and shouting, and damaging property.

But ending official First Friday programs is unlikely to affect the number of teens in town.

"Amongst young people in particular, they didn’t come for the events and the shopping," Davis said.

As a result, the Doylestown Borough Police Department is not changing any of its staffing plans.

The borough will continue to pay part-time police officers to provide extra patrol and protection on Friday nights, police said Friday.

"We’re still bringing additional officers in," Doylestown Police Lt. Pat Penecale said. "Experience tells us even without First Friday, once the football game lets out, we still get an influx of kids coming into town. We don’t expect it to be quiet."

The onset of colder weather in November and December typically drives people back indoors, Doylestown Borough Police Chief Jim Donnelly has said. They tend to stay there through the winter.

So Doylestown might not know what impact the cancellation of First Friday will have on the town, its businesses and its residents until next spring, when warmer weather typically would have lured more people to the public square.

"It’s been a long time since we didn’t have First Friday," Davis said, "so it’s a big unknown at this point."

Learn More:

Let Patch save you time. Get local stories like this delivered right to your inbox when you sign up for our daily e-newsletter. Click here for the fast, simple signup.