Waterville - A Waterville neighborhood that was once considered a rough part of town may not be so bad anymore.

The Waterville South End Festival began back in 2004. The original organizers of the festival connected with a national organization called National Night Out. "It's basically cities and communities that work with police departments in collaboration to take back their communities," said festival organizer Nancy Souza.

They were trying to change the image of this part of town which was notorious for its high crime rate. It's taken about eight years, but their message seems to be getting out. During that time, the event has steadily grown, incorporating some of the new additions to Watervile's south end into the festival. "We started with a skateboard competition also in 2007 and 2008, because the skateboard park was just completed then," Souza said.

The festival has continued to grow into what its become today. This year's festival, thanks in large part to the city of Waterville and local businesses like Standard Waterproofing, Boy Locksmith, and Advanced One Cleaning, who all sponsor the event, is shaping up to be their biggest year ever. "We're going to also have a bounce house, climbing wall, and lots of kids games, free food for folks in the neighborhood," said Jackie Dupont, Co-Director South End Festival.

Local non-profits like KV Cap and Hardy Girls Healthy Women plan to have tables set up to show people in the neighborhood what resources are available to them. "So I think it's really succeeded," Souza said of the festival. "We bring in over 800 people and that's just the neighborhood. We basically only advertise within the neighborhood because we want it to stay a neighborhood event."

Waterville's South End Festival is happening next Tuesday, August 7, in the Green Street Park. It runs from 5:00-8:00.

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