MANCHESTER - There was no shortage of events in Manchester to celebrate the 4th of July.
The town's annual event, the James "Dutch" Fogarty Independence Day Celebration, drew in a record number of people to Manchester Community College.
"Biggest crowd we've had in a long time, probably has something to do with Hartford and East Hartford canceling the Riverfest fireworks," Manchester Mayor Jay Moran said.
Despite the number of people, this year is no different from years prior for police: it's all hands on deck.
"We have police presence both obvious and concealed," Police Chief Mark Montminy said. "Today, everybody working, it happens to be a great day, we`re expecting record crowds and so far everything's gone well."
While the event brought tradition to the town, a new festival kicked off a few miles away.
The Food Trucks and Fireworks Extravaganza at the Shoppes at Buckland Hills also drew in a countless number of people. About two dozen businesses on wheels cashed in.
"Being the first year at the food truck festival, people will be coming back and remembering this because this is certainly a lot of people here," Faddy's Donuts owner Mike Rittlinger said.
Rittlinger expected to go through thousands of donuts by the end of the night.
Festival-goer Edith Bodman of East Hartford said she hopes this event grows year after year.
While most people expressed happiness at the event when the fireworks went off, complaints came with it at the mall. Thousands were set up there to watch the show, at 9:30 p.m. only to realize the only fireworks they could see were going off miles away at the community college.
Many people left shortly after and some expressed to FOX 61 they hope this is fixed if they bring back the event next year.
