For the second consecutive year, a separate Como Homecoming event will include Fort Worth PD presence in the Como neighborhood, blocks from family-centered Comofest at a nearby park.
It’s one of the largest neighborhood celebrations in Fort Worth.
The Como community gathered for food, live music and fellowship on Thursday afternoon and evening, with an extra emphasis on safety and security for late-night revelers a few blocks away.
Volunteers from Legacy Lake Como spent much of Thursday setting up tents, chairs and inflatable bounce houses at Lake Como Park ahead of Comofest ’25.
Carzell Wells described all the set-up work as “business as usual.”
“It’s just a party, Lake Como style,” Wells said.
It’s a tradition dating back 75 years here, of a neighborhood-centered event on either July 3 or 4, in one of Fort Worth’s oldest historically Black neighborhoods.
In 2021, Legacy Lake Como branded the family-centered tradition Comofest.
Wells says he joined Legacy as a volunteer the following year.
“Look at where we’re at now, it’s keeping the history alive,” Wells said.
Dr. Mia Hall said Thursday this year would mark her first Comofest.
The newest Fort Worth city council member, whose District 6 includes Lake Como Park said the event is an opportunity to meet more constituents and to enjoy time with friends and family.
“Lake Como is filled with so much history, so much legacy,” Hall said. “And so it’s a great opportunity for us to celebrate the 120 years of history here in the community.”
While the success of the five-hour event that ends just after sunset is a point of community pride and cohesiveness, organizers in recent years have had to address two unrelated acts of violence that occurred just blocks away in the hours after Comofest ended.
In 2021, eight people were shot after Comofest at a car wash on nearby Horne Street.
Two years later, three people were killed and eight others were injured in a mass shooting in the same area.
So, in 2024, neighborhood leaders in Como and Fort Worth PD teamed up to create a controlled environment with two blocks of Horne Street closed to vehicle traffic and a large uniformed officer presence.
Como Homecoming, held from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. and open only to adult revelers, launched as a proactive response to allow celebrants a place to gather.
While only separated by a few city blocks and a few hours, volunteers like Wells hope neighbors and families who have enjoyed Comofest for years with their kids understand the distinction between the two events.
Wells adds money raised from the sale of things like Comofest T-shirts, helps support programs like early childhood education and back-to-school events.
“Everything we do is community-based; we try to keep it within the community and help out here, at home,” Wells said.
The Como Fourth of July parade wraps up the neighborhood festivities at 10 a.m. on Friday.
“Come tomorrow morning, check out the parade and we’ll have a great time,” Hall said.