Goodale Park, the riverfront and the Short North fill up every summer. Here is where to park, what to avoid, and how we reach you when something goes wrong.
Call (740) 812-9489Columbus festival towing calls follow the calendar: a cluster in June around Goodale Park, then more along the downtown riverfront through July. This page is for anyone driving to one of the big recurring festivals near downtown who ends up with a dead battery, locked keys, a flat on a side street, or an empty curb where the car used to be. We list what we could confirm about each festival's home base and season, the parking guidance organizers themselves give, and how to call us so a driver can reach you despite the barricades. Organizers change dates and footprints from year to year, so confirm the current schedule on each event's site. We are an independent company and have no role at any of these festivals; we simply respond to drivers who need help getting home.
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Several of the largest events land within a mile or two of each other, which means the same neighborhoods absorb the traffic weekend after weekend. Because two of those events share one park on back-to-back June weekends, the same side streets see heavy parking pressure twice in a row. Here is what we confirmed for each one.
ComFest's own transportation guidance is blunt: the streets around the park require residential permits, and cars parked there illegally get towed. The organizers point drivers to the Arena District or a nearby public garage instead, and they suggest paying for any legal street space through the ParkColumbus app or the QR-code kiosks. They also note that COTA routes 1, 2, 5, 8 and 102 stop about a block from the festival.
The same logic applies during Pride weekend, when the march and the festival pull crowds into the same few blocks. If you park in an Arena District deck, write down the garage name and level before you walk off; after a long day in the sun it is easy to forget, and dispatch needs it to send the right truck. Our parking-garage recovery crews run low-profile trucks for tight decks, and our Arena District page covers the garages there in more detail.
The Arts Festival and Jazz & Rib Fest sit along the Scioto, where park roads and nearby streets are often closed for booths and stages. That means longer walks to your car and more time for a battery to cook in a surface lot. A car left in summer sun for six hours with a weak battery is a common source of the click-and-nothing call.
When it happens, give dispatch the lot name or the nearest open cross street, since we cannot drive onto closed festival blocks. A jump start comes with a battery test and printed report. A tire that went soft on a curb can be swapped for your spare with a tire change. If the car is truly done for the day, emergency towing can take it home or to a repair shop.
First figure out who took it. A car removed from a permit-only residential street or a posted no-parking zone is usually with the City, and the City's Find My Vehicle search is the quickest way to check; our impound lot guide explains the hours, documents and published fees. A car pulled from a private surface lot is with whichever company the posted sign names.
We cannot release your car from either place. After you have the release, call (740) 812-9489 and we can take it where it needs to go, priced from our rate card: $4 a mile en-route, a $125 hook-up and $7 per loaded mile, plus the weekend surcharge when the pickup falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Take photos of where you parked and any nearby signs; they help if you later question the tow.
We do. Dispatch answers 24/7, and we respond to drivers near Goodale Park, the Short North and downtown during festival weekends. We are not part of any festival and cannot drive onto closed blocks, so tell us the nearest open street or the garage name and level. Most metro calls are reached in 20 to 40 minutes, but festival traffic can stretch that estimate.
ComFest organizers recommend the Arena District or a nearby public garage, and they warn that the surrounding neighborhood streets require residential permits. Cars parked there without one can be towed. If you find a legal metered space, pay with the ParkColumbus app or a kiosk. Taking a COTA bus or riding a bike, with the festival's free bike valet, avoids the problem entirely.
Lockout service is a flat $75 plus en-route at $4 per mile from our yard. Because most festivals run on weekends, the $50 weekend surcharge usually applies, and calls after 10 p.m. add $150 for after-hours service. Give dispatch the exact spot, and have ID ready that matches the registration, since the technician will confirm ownership before opening the car.
Yes, as long as the garage is outside the closed streets or reachable once they reopen. We run low-profile trucks designed for parking decks with limited clearance. Tell us the garage name, the level, and the height posted at the entrance if you can see it. That way we send equipment that fits the first time.
We cannot release it; only the City or the private company holding it can do that. Check the City's online vehicle search first, then look for posted signs if you parked in a private lot. The City lot releases cars on weekdays only. Once you have the release, we can tow the car home or to a shop if it will not start.
In June, Pride and ComFest both fill Goodale Park within a week of each other, so parking on the streets around the park goes fast. Riverfront events like the Arts Festival and Jazz & Rib Fest close park roads downtown. Red White & BOOM has the widest closures of all, and we cover it on its own page.
Roadside Towing & Recovery Inc is an independent towing company and is not affiliated with ComFest, Stonewall Columbus or Columbus Pride, the Columbus Arts Festival, Jazz & Rib Fest, their organizers or sponsors, or the City of Columbus.
Roadside Towing & Recovery Inc (dba Columbus Roadside Towing).
Corporate office (private, no walk-ins): 3879 Regatta Ct, Lewis Center, OH 43035
Tow yard & impound lot: 1620 Harrisburg Pike, Columbus, OH 43223
(740) 812-9489 · chris@columbusroadsidetowing.com