Whaling City Festival Organizers Eyeing Major Security Overhaul After Buttonwood Park Stabbing

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — In the wake of Saturday night’s triple stabbing at Buttonwood Park outside the gates of the Whaling City Festival, the festival president said organizers are already looking into ways to step up security before next year’s event.

Three people were stabbed at around 8:45 p.m. on July 11 after a fight that New Bedford Police said broke out at the festival and then carried out into the area outside its gates. They were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital and their conditions and identities have not been released.

As a result, the festival saw an increased police presence on Sunday, and closed at 8 p.m., an hour earlier than originally scheduled.

READ MORE: Whaling City Festival Alters Sunday Hours, Increases Police Presence

Whaling City Festival President Michael Sylvia called in WBSM’s SouthCoast Now on Monday morning and told host Chris McCarthy that the festival organizers are taking this issue and the overall safety of attendees “very seriously.”

“We’re a very small group of volunteers, and some of us are actually 911 first responders,” Sylvia said. “We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

While Sylvia pointed out that the incident did not happen on the grounds of the Whaling City Festival, he said it is “still very serious” and there are things they could do to increase security at the festival itself.

Security Upgrades Considered for Future Festivals

“Going forward, I was speaking with the carnival owners about security measures we could possibly put in place, things like fencing, cameras, metal detectors, security teams to work alongside police possibly, if police are open to that idea, wanding, checking bags,” he said. “Anything we can do, we take safety very seriously. We do this for the families of this city.”

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Admission Cost and Community Impact

Of course, added security will also come with an added cost to the bottom line of putting on the four-day festival.

“Even if we do have to add a little bit of a charge to come in, I promise the people of this city it will not be anything outrageous,” Sylvia said. “It will be completely affordable, even for families that don’t have a lot of money, because at the end of the day, this festival is for the people of this city.”

READ MORE: New Bedford Feast Adds Barrier Fencing and Metal Detectors

Sylvia started volunteering at the Whaling City Festival at the age of 13, picking up trash; he is now 44, and took the festival over in 2019 after the New Bedford Police Union could no longer put it on. He said since that time, he has always been open to talking to anyone who wants to talk with him about how to make it better.

“I’m experienced in the festival, but that doesn’t mean I know everything,” he said. “I’m not a security expert, either. I heavily rely on the police every year when we sign the detail to tell me how many cops I’m going to have. I don’t ever dispute that, we don't ever try to get less, we do exactly what we’re told and then we pay the detail.”

City Council Response

New Bedford City Councilor at Large Brian Gomes has filed a motion for this Thursday’s meeting requesting that the council’s public safety committee, which he chairs, meet with Sylvia as well as New Bedford Police Chief Jason Thody and command staff “for the purposes of discussing future security procedures during the four-day festival.’

Sylvia said he is not only willing to come before the city council, but he also wants to have conversations with Mayor Jon Mitchell and Police Chief Jason Thody, perhaps even setting up a liaison between the police department and the festival.

READ MORE: New Bedford Feast Adds Major 21+ Nighttime Restriction

“I do believe meetings have to be had and dialogues that haven’t exactly been open at this time do have to be opened, for the safety of the public,” he said. “We can all work together, because at the end of the day, it’s one team, one city.”

“I know people have feelings about this festival, as they do any other event in the city, but we truly do care about the people that come here and we want to keep them safe, and we want to see families, especially children, enjoy themselves,” Sylvia said.