Battle Ground’s National Night Out will move to a new location this year as the community event has outgrown its previous location.
The new location gives organizers more room for activities, vendors and attendees.
The free event, hosted by the Battle Ground Police Department, will be held at Chief Umtuch Middle School, 700 NW Ninth St., on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m., after previously taking place at Kiwanis Park.
Battle Ground Police Department Lt. Jim Keller said the move is designed to improve parking, increase accessibility and provide more space as attendance continues to climb.
“We’re growing just a little bit too big to facilitate parking on public roadways at Kiwanis (Park),” Keller said. “Chief Umtuch allows us the opportunity for people to park at Chief Umtuch, at Captain Strong, as well as Battle Ground High School and Lewisville campus.”
The new venue also gives organizers more flexibility in how the event is designed.
“The field at Chief Umtuch, there’s no berms. There’s no limitations on our layout,” Keller said. “And we can spread the vendors out, so it’s actually a lot more widespread. It’s not consolidated into a specific corner of the park. And people have a lot more opportunity to visit the vendors without feeling rushed.”
The larger venue was necessary this year as not only is attendance expected to grow, but the vendor total increased as well. Keller highlighted that 34 vendors are expected this year, up from 26 in 2025. Vendors will be offering safety information, community resources and family activities.
Returning favorites include the Fire District 3 spray house and barbecue, along with the Battle Ground Police Department’s bike safety rodeo. Keller said the larger parking lot will also allow officers to expand the bicycle course.
“We’re also trying to get two bike officers actually with their bikes to go with the kids through the course,” Keller said. “So we’re going to actually have a longer bike rodeo course because it’s in the parking lot, which will afford us to stretch it out a little bit.”
Free bicycle helmets will once again be available for children, with Walmart employees fitting helmets for each child who needs one. During last year’s National Night Out event, Keller said 350 helmets were handed out to kids who needed one.
Keller also added event organizers are planning bicycle giveaways for children and prize drawings for adults with outdoors gear courtesy of Caddis Sports in Battle Ground.
After running out of hot dogs during last year’s event, Keller said organizers have made one notable adjustment.
“I’m going to double the amount of hot dogs because that was the biggest complaint from last year,” he said.
Beyond the activities, Keller said National Night Out is about strengthening relationships between first responders and the community.
“We want the community to know us personally and have one-on-one conversations, whether it’s the kids or the adults,” Keller said. “I want them to understand that if they see us, we’re there to help. I don’t want them running away from us thinking that we’re coming to take somebody away.”
The event also connects residents with organizations offering medical, educational and social services throughout Battle Ground.
Battle Ground Communications Manager Alisha Smith said the city is working to ensure residents know about the venue change through social media, postcards distributed during Harvest Days and neighborhood notifications for nearby residents anticipating increased traffic.
“And just an encouragement for anybody who sees those social media posts to like and share it,” Smith said. “Helps us get the word out, helps us get more people through the door, more opportunity for our officers to interact with the public.”
Smith added that growing attendance ultimately benefits the entire community.
For additional information on National Night Out in Battle Ground, visit cityofbg.org/847/National-Night-Out.
