Five Family-Friendly Reasons to Take Your Kids to the Feast

Each year, the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament takes over the North End of New Bedford for four days. While you may be familiar with all of their adult-friendly activities like live entertainment across four stages and 40-foot long barbecue pit for cook-your-own carne d’espeto, you may not know that the Feast is designed for the entire family.

Thanks to Walgreens, the Walgreen’s Family Day Program has become a staple feature of this world-famous event. Here’s are the top five reasons to take your whole family (grandparents included!) to the Feast this year:

1. It’s packed with kid-themed activities. This event is packed with local, hands-on exhibitors, Plus, what's a festival with getting your face painted? But watch out! You might just end up in the middle of the Dance Xtreme Flash mob while you're there!

2. The carnival has new rides! Thanks to Cushing Amusements, the Feast has a traveling carnival set up for all four days. They have all of your kids' favorite kiddie rides including Dizzy Dragons, Go Gator Coaster and merry-go-round, just to name a few.

3. Kids Eat Free! Kids under the age of 12 can eat for free on Saturday, Aug. 4 from noon to 4 p.m. Kids can order a burger or hot dog, French fries and a soda for free!

4. Toe Jam Puppet Band. As many SouthCoast families already know, a Toe Jam Puppet Band performance is a physical activity all on its own. Kids of all ages will dance along as Mr. Vinny and Mr. Tom play some of the wackiest, kid-friendly music with the help of crazy props including giant bubbles, dirty laundry and more. The best part is their 12 noon performance is FREE to attend. Following that performance is a 1 p.m. appearance by kid-friendly band Cool Banana Wig. Your kids can get on stage with the gang, dress up and play handmade instruments alongside the band.

5. Saturday is also Senior Day. Grandparents are invited to the pavilion for half-price dinners and live entertainment from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The menu includes roast beef, chicken, fish, cacoila, roast goat or rabbit and other traditional Portuguese favorites. Coffee or soda are included with your meal, and for a little bit extra, you can finish it off with a Malassada.

If you've never been to the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament before, 2018 is the perfect year to give it a try. With plenty of street parking and paid-for parking all around the Feast grounds, your family can easily get in, have some fun, and make memories for years to come.