COVER STORY
A summer to by Michael J. DeCicco
celebrate
The largest festival of Portuguese culture in the world and the largest ethnic festival in New England, New Bedford's Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, is back!
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ccording to its organizers, the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament is totally back to normal, and is scheduled for the Madeira Feast grounds, 50 Madeira Avenue, New Bedford from August 4-6. This year there will be more hand sanitizers on more poles and more barrels of Madeira wine, thanks to the backlog of barrels the Feast was unable to utilize while the event stayed closed for the past two years, and the Feast will run its first ever 50-50 Raffle. But that's about all that will be different, said Clube Madeirense S.S. Sacramento president Richard Fernandes. He said the only other difference in this year's Feast would be its own version of the common, nationwide problem of getting supplies,
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It's all back to normal. And we welcome everyone.
an open area," he noted. "You're not confined inside. The police choose how many officers we need. They determine that number based on a formula, how many officers are needed per how many people. I'm not worried. It's a fun, family event everyone comes to. The community doesn't abuse it."
from plastic cups and paper products to meat supplies. "Suppliers didn't have the quantity we wanted," he explained. "Our meat distributor had to find us a different supplier. But we are managing. We will have the same volume of people and enough supplies." He said he is expecting as large a crowd as ever, and he is feeling good that the atmosphere will be a safe one. "You are around other people in
KEEPING THE TRADITION
August 2022 | The South Coast Insider
Fernandes' own story is emblematic of why The Feast has survived to its 106th anniversary. He started working at the Feast 48 years ago at age 19 with his father Charles. One of his main jobs then was to deliver cash collected at the different stands to the treasurer (before the Feast adopted a ticket-
