National Night Out at Henrico's Dorey Park expected to draw crowd of more than 10,000, organizers say

Henrico will host a massive National Night Out celebration in Dorey Park on Tuesday, which organizers say will be the largest of its kind in Virginia’s history.

The event, which aims to foster positive relationships between local law enforcement and  communities, will feature amusement rides and inflatables, a petting zoo, helicopter flyovers, a hot air balloon display, food trucks, and live music. Speaking Spirit Ministries, one of the organizers for Dorey Park’s celebration, has also invited local law enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders.

Since partnering with Henrico Recreation and Parks, Speaking Spirit Ministries has seen attendance grow from about 1,500 people in 2022 to over 7,000 last year. Organizers expect upwards of 10,000 people to flock to Dorey Park this year from Henrico, Richmond, and Chesterfield, according to Speaking Spirit Ministries’ community outreach director Lynette Hargrove. 

“This is for everyone, from the young in age to the young at heart, and everyone in between. We have, literally, representation for each age group,” she said. “We want you to come out and bring the kids, we want you to bring the cousins, the aunties and the grandparents.”  

Along with the attractions, the event will also have a number of resources from small businesses, banks, local schools, and healthcare organizations, Hargrove said.

“This year, we wanted to take it a step further, bringing people together that are offering educational resources, financial resources, all of these different resources under one umbrella and one central location,” she said. “The goal is just to be a bridge amongst the community.”

In addition to the celebration in Dorey Park, Henrico County will host 48 other National Night Out events on Tuesday, ranging from small neighborhood block parties to large community gatherings, said Henrico’s Community Policing Captain Salvatore Mulé. For Henrico Police, National Night out is like “the Super Bowl,” Mulé said, with officers at each event.

“It's building those relationships with our community members, with people that maybe we don't see in our day-to-day activities,” he said. “This is something that we do all day, every day, at every level of the division. But it is kind of nice to have this one night that we can slow down just a little bit, to get to check in and stop and visit with folks.”

At Dorey Park, attendees will get a hands-on feel for the day-to-day of law enforcement, with Henrico Fire opening up their firetrucks for families, University of Richmond Police bringing communication equipment to show the behind-the-scenes of a 911 call, and FBI Richmond even bringing a mobile forensics lab. 

The ultimate goal is to expose more communities to positive aspects of law enforcement, breaking barriers that may exist between police and residents, Hargrove said, 

“You don’t just get to see police officers, you actually get to see what they do,” she said. “Last year, we had a couple of kids that actually now aspire to be first responders or law enforcement, which is the goal, to kind of erase the stigma.”

Speaking Spirit Ministries’ National Night Out celebration will be hosted from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Dorey Park, located at 2999 Darbytown Road. Henrico County will have a number of other National Night Out events in different neighborhoods in the late afternoon and evening.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.