Hamden's National Night Out Tuesday at Rochford Field

Hamden will be one of more than 15,000 communities that will come together Tuesday to take back their neighborhoods.

The event is orchestrated by the Hamden Police Department and Hamden Youth Services and sponsored by Target. It takes place Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Rochford Field, 550 Newhall St.

According to the National Night Out website, the eveint  is designed to:

• Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
• Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs;
• Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
• Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

While the purpose of National Night Out is to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, it's also a chance for people to come together and have a good time.

To that end, singer and pianist Blessing Offor, as well as Benny Mikula and his band, Spiral City -- all Hamden natives -- will perform, as well as. Young Audiences of Connecticut’s Efraim Silva and members of the Hamden Dance Academy, as well as a martial arts demonstration by the students of Bashta’s Martial Arts Studio.

To help enjoy the entertainment, there will be food available -- a cookout with hot dogs, chips, snacks, drinks and sno-cones.

Other entetainment for the kids will include a dunk tank and a moon bounce, along with arts and crafts projects, games, raffles, prizes and giveaways.

Last year Hamden's National Night Out was a national award winner, placing 36th in the catagory of municiaplities with populations between 50,000 and 99,999.