Intown Concord Rescinds Ban On Political Parties At Festival

CONCORD, NH — After an outcry by city officials, local politicos, and others, the board of directors of Intown Concord has reversed a decision to ban established political parties from having booths at Concord's Market Days Festival in August.

The decision was made this week and both the Concord Republican City Committee and Concord City Democrats were notified that they would be invited back if they choose. The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, which did not have a booth booked for 2021, will also be allowed to participate. The ban only affected the local groups — other special interests and political groups were not disinvited despite being political.

Jess Martin, the executive director of Intown Concord, and Jared Reynolds, the board treasurer who also works at the University of New Hampshire-Extension, said on Thursday the decision to disinvite the city Democrats and Republicans was due to comments made by a number of community members and downtown merchants after the 2019 Market Days Festival.

"This was never political," Martin said. "It was unintended consequences; it was based on the feedback we received. I just want to make that very clear."

Martin called the feedback "overwhelming" about how the orgs were conducting themselves at the event in 2019.

City Democrats that year, had a "Veto Sununu" high striker set up with a picture of Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, on the bell. The governor, when he saw it, laughed and thought it was amusing even if it was an insult, according to witnesses. City Republicans had Trump flags — a year before a contentious presidential election that was ultimately decided by about 43,000 votes in three states. There were also complaints made about a pro-life group that was asked to take its "Abortion Kills Babies" signs down. A number of years ago, attendees complained women were wearing "I Survived An Abortion" T-shirts at the event — something some found inappropriate for a family event.

According to the surveys from 2019, there were complaints that the two political organizations were overly aggressive, bordering on harassment when it came to speaking to people who were not actually approaching their booths. Often, the orgs, too, left their booths unattended, Reynolds said. Special interest groups, however, did not field the level of complaints the city groups had.

"The difference," between the political parties and the special interest groups, "is that politics is so divisive," Martin said. "If you don't want to talk about politics, you don’t really want them in your face about it."

Reynolds added, "People just didn't feel it was contributing to the event; it wasn't the mission of Intown Concord or the goal of Market Days."

Martin said board members, the community members they heard from, as well as merchants really wanted to go back to why the event was originally created — as a festival for families celebrating downtown businesses and the community. Especially after missing it in 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic which had taken a toll on everyone.

At the same time, the board reconsidered and reversed the decision.

Instead, more oversight as to what is going on with the political organizations will be established by the board and staffers. That code of conduct, for lack of a better term, has not been created yet but will be soon, Martin said. Leaving booths unattended and harassing festivalgoers "is not going to be tolerated" in 2021, she said.

"Especially coming out of 2020 (when there was no festival) ... it's a celebration of the downtown businesses, the community, and we want everybody to know that those are the expectations," Martin said.

"Our sole goal," Reynolds said, "is to support and unify our community. It has been a really challenging year. We have had a number of conversations with community members about Market Days. We want to find the best way to (set up the event). That is the goal — especially after the past year. That has been solely our focus."

Despite the ban and reinstatement, a number of Patch readers welcomed the change made by Intown Concord — reflecting some of the points made by Martin and Reynolds.

"It's about the market, not politics, good," one reader said. Another reader wrote, "That only politicians seem to be complaining seems to indicate this is a good idea."

But others challenged that notion — especially with a partially city-funded event.

"No Democrats, no Republicans, no money from the city," another reader said. "Unless a group has been deemed a violent group or are a terrorist organization type group, every peaceful group should be allowed, and no city money should support arbitrary decisions."

A representative from Thornes of Concord confirmed the conversation happening with the downtown businesses about the event.

"For many years now, area businesses have talked about how the Market Days Festival has migrated away from the Old Fashioned Bargain Days model and how they were nostalgic for the celebration as it was 'in the old days'," they wrote. "The activities and music livening the streets and squares, lights and laughter overtaking the Statehouse plaza, the smell of fabulous foods everywhere, and shoppers strolling eager to spy that special purchase or legendary bargain; this is what Market Days should be made of."

The Market Days Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Aug. 19, Aug. 20, and Aug. 21. The event is free. It is the festival's 47th year. For information about vendor registration, visit this link.

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