08/08/2025
LBPD 2025 Craft Show Survival/Information Guide
We’ll open this up by setting the stage. Between the time you’re reading this post at this exact moment and Saturday morning as the sun is peaking over the horizon, Downtown Lititz will slowly transform from the peaceful, picturesque, tranquil, Norman Rockwellesque town we all know and love into one of the largest Craft Shows in the northern hemisphere.
A seemingly endless convoy of enclosed trailers, box trucks, and vans descend from near and far packed to the gills with crafts to peddle to the masses. The much anticipated event attracts THOUSANDS of people to the area for a fun day in Lititz, and a massive boost to the local economy. And while all of this already sounds like a blast, there are some drawbacks to an event of this scale and popularity. The following information we feel is necessary to deposit into your brain not only so your day goes smoothly, but also to ensure that our day goes smoothly and we don’t have to send any of our Officers to post Craft Show
We say this every year people, EVERY FRIGGIN’ year……if you're a Lititz resident and you're not fond of the high volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic this event brings to our town, or the huge boost to the local economy, or the success of the
Rotary Club of Lititz and donating the proceeds from the event back into the community, than by all means EVACUATE, EVACUATE, EVACUATE, and preferably before Saturday morning.
Load up the family truckster, find a state park, take a hike, or a rail trail, breathe in some fresh air, have a picnic, don’t leave any litter behind, don’t get eaten by wildlife, come home later in the day after with a rejuvenated soul and all is well, it’ll be like the Craft Show never even existed.
If you're not from around here and visiting our quaint little town looking to enjoy all of the interesting and unique crafts on display for purchase, please remember that where you choose to park your vehicle can drastically impact the rest of your day. What we mean by that is that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is it appropriate to park in a manner which blocks driveways, roadways, alleyways, sidewalks, fire hydrants, handicap spaces, etc…..or for that matter park in any other way not specifically mentioned that is also illegal, like parking in the yellow at the corner of an intersection with half of your vehicle protruding into the intersection. The traffic laws are not void during your pursuit to find the hand crocheted pumpkins for your fall decor.
Parking violations often result in vehicles being towed, which is not to be confused with, "Officer my vehicle was stolen while I was at the Craft Show." We tend to get a lot of "stolen vehicle" reports on Craft Show day. If by stolen you mean that you parked your vehicle somewhere it shouldn’t have been and a tow truck towed it away, then I guess that does qualify as a "stolen vehicle." Tow bills are expensive people, save the money for the crafters.
If you have parked illegally and your vehicle is still parked illegally where you left it when you return, it will most likely be adorning a bright yellow “coupon” that was not there when you parked it. No, this “coupon” it is not an invitation for you and your plus one to the LBPD Fall Formal(great time by the way, you should come), it’s a ticket that the LBPD uses to FUND our LBPD Fall Formal(did we mention it’s a great time, open BAR!!!!)
**DISCLAIMER** a parking ticket is not used as funds for the LBPD Fall Formal, that would be illegal, but if we did do that, we'd probably have enough funds to hold our LBPD Fall Formal somewhere warm and tropical! We don’t actually have a Fall Formal either, but if anyone wants to throw a Fall Formal for us, for free, with an open bar, in a tropical climate, give us a shout!
To follow up on the parking situation, please, please, please, remember where you park your car when you arrive………TAKE A PICTURE with your smart device of the closest intersection, or house, or whatever landmark is nearby. This will make it much easier for us to point you in the right direction when you come to us at the end of the day and tell us how you can't remember where you parked your car. Explaining to us that it's "near the red brick house" or "near the church" doesn’t particularly narrow it down. Our Bike officers have their work cut out for them helping people locate their cars based on vague descriptions of where their cars were parked, yeah we do our good deeds and all and saved people from having to walk several blocks in the wrong direction, but our Bike officers aren’t getting any younger, and their pedal power is best reserved for true emergencies.
BarriCADES, BARRIcades, and BARRICADES, and more BARRICADES(say the word out loud)…… with an event this large in a town this small, there are Barricades placed at strategic locations to ensure the safety of all those involved and attending. An immense amount of pre-planning goes into an event like this. You showing up on Craft Show day, having not been a part of the pre-planning, demanding to be permitted past the barricade for any reason simply won't fly. It does not matter to us that your best friends step moms college roommate dated a Cop back in 1981. It does not matter to us that you called in a carryout order to Roma Pizza (Lititz) or Nino's New York Style Pizza & Italian Restaurant and you need to get there to pick it up. We love our Romas and Ninos pizza, but we've heard it all, we can go on for days. Short of landing a helicopter on the roof of a downtown building and repelling below to pick up your pizza, which we don’t recommend by the way but would be incredibly cool to see, if you are in a vehicle and you approach a barricade, your thought should be at that point to figure out an alternate route. Pull over, hop on the smartphone, go to the map feature, and figure it out like a fully capable functioning adult navigating their way through 2025.
Barricades are NON-NEGOTIABLE. If you're the wisenheimer(say this word out loud too) that doesn’t heed the previous advice and gets out of your vehicle to attempt to move the barricade, or simply drive around the barricade, just know that the LBPD Barricade Ninja Strike Team has been itching to get to work, they’ve been bored with all the activities getting cancelled this past year. Unlike our diet consisting of Coffee, Mt. Dew, and regret, the LBPDBNST members function on 5 hour energys poured into Paradise Punch Monsters and the thought of all the souls of those they have yet to claim. They are not taking any prisoners, this is your only warning, heed the Barricades.
So far you’ve followed all the previous mentioned advice, you’re on a roll, feeling confident, and out of your vehicle(legally parked) walking towards the crafts. Remind yourself that this is not a big box store on Black Friday, we realize not having the Craft Show last year and all of the anticipation and build up can be overwhelming, but pushing small children and the elderly out of the way to get to the hottest birdhouse gourd to go along with your 17 other birdhouse gourds in your backyard will not be tolerated. You will earn a trip to the adult timeout room located in the basement of the LBPD and you’ll be gourdless!
Under no circumstances will we tolerate shoplifting either. Intentionally failing to pay for the hand crocheted pumpkins will earn you a trip to LBPD timeout, and there’s nothing more embarrassing than being escorted by an Officer on the walk of shame to LBPD timeout wearing a fresh set of bracelets through the large crowd of people while another Officer tows your red flyer wagon full of stolen loot back to the PD.
For specific Craft Show related information check out the Lititz Rotary Clubs page or their website, specifically their FAQ page. https://www.lititzrotary.com/page/lititz-craft-show Anyone who asks in the comments of where to park, or where the shuttles are, etc…. we’ll immediately know you did not go to the FAQ page.
Congratulations, that’s it, you made it to the end of this years LBPD Craft Show post. Please take a moment to share so your friends can be as informed as you are, because after all we don’t want them to be misinformed, and everyone knows misinformation breeds more misinformation. Your social media friends need this information and there is absolutely no better place to share information than social media!!
The Author of this post will be available for Autograph signings on Tuesday August 12th, from 5pm-9pm at the LBPD Endless Summer Party at the Treehouse Playground, feel free to join us, it’s a great time!!
