Gloucester officials prep for Fiesta security

Jun. 20—After being on hiatus since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Peter's Fiesta is back.

The 95th edition of the traditional five-day event kicks off Wednesday, June 22, with musical entertainment and rides in St. Peter's Square staring at 7 p.m. after the nine-day religious Novena to St. Peter, which began last Monday and runs nightly at 7 at the Lester S. Wass American Legion post, ends Tuesday. Fiesta runs through Sunday, June 26, culminating with the outdoor Mass, the procession through the city streets with the statue of St. Peter, the Blessing of the Fleet, and the finals of the greasy pole walk and seine boat races.

And when it comes to keeping St. Peter's Fiesta a fun, safe family event, both on land and at sea, police Chief Edward Conley said it's all hands on deck for Gloucester's first responders and other employees.

"It's a collective effort between most of the city departments," Conley said.

Conley, who started as Gloucester's police chief in April 2019, has gone through one Fiesta as chief before the pandemic postponed the celebration in 2020 and 2021.

"In terms of lessons learned, I think we have to remember what Fiesta is," Conley said. "It's a family event. There's a lot of celebration but at the end of the day, the majority of what happens involves families."

Security staffing

Conley said an overwhelming police presence isn't needed at such an event.

"We have a staffing plan that we put in place," the chief said. That includes patrol officers, with assistance from State Police, the Essex County Sheriff's Department and the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council.

Mayor Greg Verga said relevant city department heads plus representatives of St. Peter's Fiesta Committee meet Thursday go over preparedness since this is the first time since 2019 the event has been scheduled to take place.

"They've got their act together," Verga said of planning by heads of departments such as police, fire, inspectional services, public works, health and the harbormaster's office. "They all know what they are doing, so I was pretty happy."

Joe Novello, president of the St. Peter's Fiesta Committee, said "it was a pleasure to be going to that meeting," saying it was well organized and to the point.

"They know what they have to do," Novello said.

"They are on top of things to the best they can anticipate and expect," Verga said. "They have the help if needed from the State Police, the Sheriff's Department. The Environmental Police are going to be helping out on the water side with the harbormaster but obviously the big unknown is what's going to happen this year because it's been three years since the last Fiesta, so there's going to be a lot of excitement about it, so I would hope that people would behave themselves to the best of their Fiesta ability."

"What is important about our planning is contingency planning," said Conley. They plan for everything from a violent occurrence to an unexpected weather event.

"And, what's important to know is those plans are in place," Conley said. "We meet and talk with our partners over at the Gloucester Fire Department and the Harbormaster's office and the DPW about them."

Through partnerships with neighboring communities and NEMLEC, local police have the ability to scale up their presence "in a very quick order."

Conley has put Deputy Chief Joseph Fitzgerald in charge as the incident commander.

"He's very experienced. He's had a number of Fiestas. He was born and raised in Gloucester. So I do rely on his local expertise to sort of dial in our operational plan," Conley said.

Closing time, at sea

When it comes to trying to keep the peace around closing time, Conley said police, fire and inspectional service officials work in advance by visiting all the downtown bars. They give bar owners a letter from Conley reminding them of their responsibilities and their maximum occupancy capacities.

"It's more just of a conversation," Conley said. "It's not accusatory. It's not meant to be threatening; it's just a conversation, a reminder that while Fiesta is going on, we'll have officers and fire inspectors randomly checking different bars to make sure they are complying with their liquor license requirements along with occupancy requirements."

Gloucester is also unique in that Fiesta attracts a lot of boaters, especially with attractions such as the seine boat races and the greasy pole contests taking place on the waters off Pavilion Beach. Conley said there will be a large law enforcement presence on the water among the Harbormaster's office, the police boat, the Coast Guard and the Environmental Police.

Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro said safety zones will be marked off on the water around the seine boat races and the greasy pole contests. In addition, they will provide a safety boat with a paramedic for the greasy pole competition plus lifeguards on paddleboards just in case.

"We join others in celebrating the return of the St. Peter Fiesta and as we do with every large event in the community, our team is working with Building Department inspectors, Fire, Police, Harbormaster, event organizers and vendors to ensure a healthy and safe week of celebrations," said Health Director Max Schenk in an email.

"The presence of COVID is certainly an added layer of concern to this year's festivities," Schenk added, "and we ask that everyone stay conscious of their responsibility to their own health and the health of others, especially in light of the large number of visitors anticipated. We will be monitoring our COVID case and hospitalization numbers, post-Fiesta, to gauge the impact large events have on the spread of the virus in the city."

Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or eforman@gloucestertimes.com.