The Lancaster Office of Promotion, housed within the City’s Department of Neighborhood Engagement promotes the City’s quality of life, economic vitality, and attractiveness as a destination and a place to live. Some of their most visible work includes planning and implementing City events such as the Red Rose Run, Celebrate Lancaster, and the Mayor’s Tree Lighting. As an important economic engine for the City, Lancaster Office of Promotion has undergone recent changes to enhance their marketing efforts and bring a more equitable and inclusive experience at City events.

The changes include being more intentional about sourcing talent and vendors that better reflect the City, and providing a platform for underrepresented, emerging, and immigrant or refugee artists and makers. They have also increased language access for their vendors and for guests at their events, including American Sign Language. They have also streamlined their event permitting process to make it more accessible to applicants and are focused on providing more ADA compliant accommodations at their events.

New to their event line-up this year includes a Hispanic Heritage Festival that recognizes and celebrates Lancaster’s large Hispanic population and Welcoming Week. During Welcoming Week the City Visitor Center at 38 Penn Square was renamed the Welcome Center. With its new name, the Welcome Center is now better positioned to attract both residents and visitors, where they can shop for handcrafted items from underrepresented artists, learn about the City’s history of welcome, and participate in special activities.

The Lancaster Office of Promotion plays an important role in marketing the City to both residents and visitors and with their new initiatives, events, and enhanced permitting process, their work moves the community closer to meeting many of the Building On Strength Aspirations.