Seven People Arrested At Horseshoe Event
Seven people were arrested yesterday [June 20] at the ‘Bermie Beer Fest’ at Horseshoe Bay after a fight broke out amongst the crowd.
The Police ordered the organisers to close the event early after they “assessed the nature and size of the crowd to be a threat to public safety.”
The Police also said that, “The safety of this event would have benefitted from a more substantial security plan and earlier notice to the police, but we are grateful for the cooperation from the organisers and patrons who closed the event peacefully.”
The event had been previously promoted as, “Special guest entertainers will also be passing through to grace the stage at various intermission points between DJ’s. You have chances to win prizes all day long as you play all sorts of MADD SILLY beer games with your favorite brand. Play games such as Beer Pong, Boat Race, Flip Cup, Silly Sprint, Chug-of-War, & Booze-ical Chairs to name a few. We have Beer Fest T-shirts, Beer bongs, Beer trinklets, and of course….BEER!!!”
The full Police statement follows below:
Early in the afternoon on Monday police attended Horseshoe Bay beach in Southampton where a local group was holding a public event.
The group had obtained an Occasional Liquor Licence from Magistrate’s Court and the event was attracting a growing crowd that caused severe congestion issues at the car park and access road.
As the crowd grew throughout the day the organisers’ ability to control the event was tested. By about 7:00 pm the police estimated attendance to be in the thousands and they witnessed several offences of public disorder.
Seven arrests were made for public fighting, obstruction of police and breach of the peace. The police assessed the nature and size of the crowd to be a threat to public safety and they ordered the organisers to close the event early.
Section 51A is a recent amendment to the Liquor Licence Act that authorises the police to close a liquor licence area when there is a risk to public safety arising from serious disorder. More than two dozen police officers were on hand and no further incidents occurred as the crowd left the beach.
It is clear that the safety of this event would have benefitted from a more substantial security plan and earlier notice to the police, but we are grateful for the cooperation from the organisers and patrons who closed the event peacefully.
Going forward, the police would encourage concert and large event organisers to make early contact with the Chief Inspector at the local police station where the event is planned. All stakeholders should be included to ensure that adequate security and safety arrangements are in put place in advance of the event.
Damn…..The UBP again……Don’t you guys get it?………The end is near …..I feel so sorry for the ones that made it whilst their siblings see a railroad strewn with waste from teachings.
DUN,
DONT LISTEN TO THIS DOPEYNESS! guyz r str8 exagerating…I wuz up horseshoe yesterday wif my girl Prune Ears (she wuz drinkin sum twisted T) and it wuz 1 of de most peaceful parties um ever bin 2. In fact, it was almost TOO quiet, dun. I mean dont get me wrong, guyz were stil havin a gud time, drinkin pure heinekens an all dat deya, but there was just so much peace n quiet that it was crazy. I saw one guy just starin at a tent pole, no lie. I asked him “AY bie, whatchu doin?” n he wuz like “Flexin, dun”. 2 each his own i guess.
WAKE UP PPL! This is a conspiracy by de police department to get ppl to stay inside more often. THINK ABOUT IT…MORE PPL INSIDE = LESS PARTIES. LESS PARTIES = LESS MEDNESS. LESS MEDNESS = LESS ARRESTS. LESS ARRESTS = MORE TIME 4 POLICE 2 JUST FLEX N PLAY DOMINOES IN D STATION.
I mean, dnt get me wrong, babylon is safe when their stoppin guyz from robbin houses n shootin each other, but NOT WHEN THERE TRYNA RUIN A PERFECTLY QUIET PARTY THAT DEFINITELY WAS NOT OUT OF CONTROL AT ALL, NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT. I mean, I dineen see ONE drunk person there, an i wuz there literally d whole time n talked 2 nearly everybody in attendance. Straight truth dun.
OPEN UR EYEZ, BERMUDA!
Maybe I am too old, I did not understand most of these comments. I really did try, but…..Is this the new way people talk? What happened to the English language, the internet and texting is killing our vocabulary.
Totally agree with you, I read it at least 2 times and I have no clue what was written
lol this is truly sad!! but at the same time funny.
I know what he is saying but its ridiculous that he is really typing in that manner. It’s one thing to talk with your boys like that but to type that way is just plain sad!!! lol
ffs people…its sarcasm…
Obviously he is speaking in his native accent and dialect using grammar that is endemic to these isles. If you didn’t understand him you are either not Bermudian or just plain iggrunt.
LOLOLOL!!!! Ya killin me ova hur!! Dang IGGRUNT non-Bermujans!!
SAY WHAT????
This made me laugh!
ya me too…hilarious
wif less teachers we will all get much better edumacated
Have fun !
what the vuck is happening ,
Wow! I hope this person had a little too much to drink so they decided to write in texting code.
Tell him repost this after he comes off his high……
Lol, loving the bermy accent. Nice story telling, I feel like I was there!
Shut up troll.
CLAFE is proof of exactly why they needed to shut that party down!
With a name like “Bermie Beer Fest” we shouldn’t be surprised that there was trouble!
So you think the name of an event causes people to act violent and ruin an event where 99.8% of the people there where being civil and enjoying themselves??? So what’s the reason for fights at Cupmatch, or a football game, or 24th of May, or the Majorette competition……or Rugby Classic. That’s a pretty ignorant statement to make. The fact that all the GOOD things that where goin on gets overshadowed by a headline highlighting SEVEN cunts is extremely annoying. But I applaud you RME…..it’s not your fault…..you clearly wasn’t there so you’re opinion most likely stems from your own negative vibes. Maybe you should ask a few people that where there throughout the day, and see how much fun and harmony was going on until the LITTLE incident happened….because the newspapers were not there to make their own assumptions. Bless
Hilarious!
Is it me, or isn’t it obvious that Clafe is joking?
apparently not lol sadly..
I beg to differ. My daughter was there and it happened as the police described and more.
were YOU there?
Aye dun!
Who she boy gon 2 dat paARTy! dun fo sho.
ou obviously wasn’t there. I must admit that it lasted pretty long before a fight broke out but it was a big one and guys got hurt and now it will most likely start future disputes. I saw two fights, one being a small one then that REALLY big one. All those girls there in bikini’s and dudes want to fight? It’s sad what happening to the dudes of Bermuda. Only interested in fighting.
Well said Charles
OPEN YOUR EYES & CLOSE YOUR MOUTH “DUN” you sound stupid as H*LL!
I was there and YES there were fights.. immature boys that just ruined a perfect day. If it wasnt for all this stupidness that is taken over the island MAYBE the police wont have to be INVADING these sorts of events.
OPEN YOUR EYES “DUN!”
Hook on Phonics worked for Me!
Great job!!
He got his ass arrested for being what he just typed. bwahaaaaaaaaaa
Lord…sounds like Terry………
Serious, why do you even ever respond Terry, your ass is played out Dude. No joke Bro.
Just proving a point. It’s people like you that want to silence others but you can’t and won’t.
18th hole…your on the “Tee”…..to bad your caddy left your driver in the bushes. Go figure…..
Yes buddy, at first I thought u were just goofing round, now I really think u a little off…lol
If I am so “off” why do you respond. As for “u a little off..lol” you betch I am. I am well off. Living the life of Riley, all thanks to the UBP…..Now it’s your turn………Bow down or shakle thy own ankles…….
Way “off” but to each their own.
I was there yesterday and there was a massive fight and ppl were hitting each other over the head with beer bottles and there was blood, so ya it did get out of hand after about 6:30p
Another event ruined by idiots & alcohol. CLAFE really needs to go back to school to learn the english language. I wonder if he’s ever filled out a job application. ((SMDH))
zoey you need to go back to school to learn comprehension, sarcasm, and humor, and how they relate to story telling…
About time the Gummint made liquor illegal. Makes people crazy and violent.
CLAFE’s grammar and his way of putting it out there is not the issue…everytime someone posts there are always those who want to point out grammatical errors instead of dealing with the issue at hand….so I guess with “ya’s” sense of humour (“wif less teachers we will all get much better edumacated”) I guess Zoey and the rest of you feel that he/she needs to go back to school as well? stick to the issue at hand…@ Ashley I agree it did get a “little crazy” ….Alcohol and sun don’t mix……
I guess thats the last Beerfest we’ll have here in Bermuda. Another fun event ruined by a***oles.
So glad I stayed home. Was there any security there? I understand Mr Mohawk team was suppose to be handling security…hmmm
Let’s not spread rumors. Unless you know for a fact that DPA was in charge of the security don’t post comments like this. I saw two security guards when I attended and I can tell you that neither of them work for DPA.
regardless of the way that clafe is talking/ writting its called freedom of speech/ expression if he so chooses to speak n type like that who are we to judge, as bermudian were so quick to talk or put down some1 for how they wanna express themselves, even if what he was saying was not entirely true how can all of u as people who make dumb decision to once in a while put down or make him feel less of a person. n i bet all of you that comment on it are probably white any (my assumption dnt care if u dnt like it) an really dnt have anything for blacks. why i say this not one person on here even asked him to re-type what he wrote all i’ve been reading is rude responses to what he feels is a conspiracy by the police, an this what makes my blood boil about this country no body is will to look pass faults an look at the good he trying to do. no were to busy laughing at him an making a mockery out of him, an your telling me, as a people were doing all we can to help no all ya helping is yahself while more n more people are suffering, you dnt no this persons back round or the struggle he might be undertaking rite now . clafe do yah thing express how u wanna talk n be heard f the rest of these posers cause they jus typical persons program by society to be how they want them to be no characters.
Thanks for your heartfelt, sincere defense of what was an obvious joke.
haha
n if u think by commenting negative on what i wrote will affect me it want but ill hit you hard on what an how u wrote it so i welcome the suggestions the rude remarks n all.
How do you intend to do that?
yeah some posts are idiotic i.e. Terry and and now we have been introduced to CLAFE who is probably a guest worker cracking jokes on our version of ebonics. Yep they do it every weekend of Saturday Night Live……but BERNEWS posts are halarious.
im bermudian and i thought its funny as hell..sometimes we need to poke fun at ourselves so those of us with good hearts dont turning into a depressed, dark society…
Love the Bermy tongue….or is it tung…and for the record, I too am of Caucasian descent….or is it wite…tryin’ to learn a bit ‘o bermy. Love to see my fellows of all color and creed who stand up for who they are. Sarcasm has no script, so it is the reader who must see through it. In this case, the message comes through beyond any linguistic sarcasm that may exist. I read the message to be that he/she was simply not witness to the unfortunate B.S. that went on to end the fun. Wish I were there wif ya all.
Total embarrassment.
It is illegal to take glass onto beach so how were they approved to serve bottles? There is broken green glass everywhere up there now. —holes.
I’m SOOOO glad you said that because bottles were not being served. It’s illegal to serve bottles on the beach. Moreso than that…..they were serving Heineken in cans. Therefore the organizers aren’t to blame for broke GREEN bottles. My girl was drinking WKDs all day and everytime she went to get one they put it in a cup. They where serving cans and drinks from cups. Many people came with their own alcohol. One of the guys who was involved was walking around with a vodka bottle……vodka wasn’t being served.
Its so Hilarious that people are picking out Grammatical and Spelling Errors.
This Post has nothing to do with that. Its to do with the Beer Fest and the Fighting that Broke out. Those who are hitting out at Clafe clearly tell you why Bermuda is in a state that its it.
Everyone is always Worried about the Next Man/Woman and Constantly trying to bring a next man/woman down.
yup i have to agree thats clear what i was saying
I don’t really care about the drunks on the beach, but what about all the broken glass that’s now on Horseshoe Beach hidden in the sand? Looking forward to getting your feet cut this summer? they should ban glass from all beaches!
agreed. the law is stretched enough by allowing drinking on a beach (public place), and i am fine with that, but glass should definitely be banned.
My girl was drinking WKDs all day and everytime she went to get one they put it in a cup. They where serving cans and drinks from cups. Many people came with their own alcohol. One of the guys who was involved was walking around with a vodka bottle……vodka wasn’t being served
Clafe (original) – you have a future in comedy my friend. Clafe too and others defending original Clafe and not realising it was an obvious joke – u need to go gat edjumacated. Also Cafe too – gets a star for bringing race into it. Have a great day arryone.
Treble Clafe!
ok even if it was a joke the point i was making was the fact that everyone is entitled to how they want to speak or be viewed an yes i did bring in the race card because it seems to me that mostly people of that race look down towards those that want to express themselves free. An who are you to say that i need to get edjumacated because I’m fending a person who wants to speak free, to me you need to go back a see the bigger picture like i said earlier people need to stop judging people an start helping people but i can see you are how a small mind.
guys have no sence of humour…Clafe’s ace girl was named ‘Prunes Ears’!!!
how stiff are you lot???!!LOL
I was there. I saw a lot of children drinking. Sharing Wicked’s and what not. Clearly you were able to see that they are not old enough to drink. Not saying it was any of the stalls that provided them with the liquor. But, where was the police? If this was Florida, etc there is a great police presence during events at the beach on holidays. Im sure they woudnt even allow minors anywhere near the “Beer Fest”. Next time they should check peoples i.d.’s and perhaps have the event closed off somewhat.
You make a good point. I’m glad that you understand that the underage kids didn’t necessarily get their alcohol from the stalls…..becuz it’s easy for a pretty little girl to convince a horny older guy to buy her drinks for her and her friends. It’s also near impossible for organizers to check ID of THOUSANDS of people entering a PUBLIC beach. Keep in mind that there are numerous points of entry…including the water itself if someone has a ski or a boat. Think about it….how would that be possible??? It’s the police officer’s job to monitor the under age drinking. It’s the organizers job to ensure that the don’t sell drinks or drink tickets to the underage kids. I also know they where checking ID at the tkt area bcuz I heard them ask a few people that looked underage for ID while I was waiting in line. The organizers are people I am aware of, and I support all the events they do. I have full trust in them that they wouldn’t serve underage kids. The group are a charitable organization that also put on a free family fun day for the kids every year at Shelly Bay. It’s just a shame that with all these comments on here, very little actually talk about the positive side of the event or the things that the organizers have been doing for quite some time. Hopefully the event will be allowed to take place next year, and the police and security ‘issue’ will be resolved. Sadly, I have been to events (ie Cupmatch) that have both security AND police, and fights still break out. Our young men merely have to be better educated about the consequences of their actions and how it affects those around them…..both directly and indirectly
This incident shouldnt prevent Beerfest from happening next year. It should just give them a chance to go back to the drawing board and try to mitigate the likelihood of incidents like this occuring. Unfortunately violent behaviour is an inherent hazard that comes with events like this. Look at the bars of front street every weekend. I hope the law gives them a chance to come back stronger and more prepared next year.
Clafe interpretation:
Buh aint nufin wrong wif a coupla bies wilin out afta dey dun had some liks in em! All der gatta do is just do wha der gatta do and make tings happen fa nexx yur. Just le de man know wha der tryna do in advanse and maybe dohn have dat much glass on de beach. Chek dahn frunt street erry weekand and de saaaame medness goes on n de man comes all late!! Um sayin..drink n be merry!!
It was actually quite disturbing to witness. My friends and I had just finished a barbecue. Once the fight broke out and went down the beach, I completely lost my appetite.
The worst part was when a thug who looked to be about 17 was running up and down, blood on his face saying “I ain’t scurred. Southside all day.”
Pure dysfunction.
Another part that was disturbing was when a young woman was appealing to what looked like a young man “thats your son over there fighting, aren’t you gonna do anything?” A very sad occurrence indeed.
And there was NO SECURITY. Beachfest on Cupmatch had security at all entrances, and patrolling the beach. This Beerfest thing had nothing. Which is irritating, because those of us on the public beach were at risk of injury from these thugs acting up at Beerfest.
Another event ruined by Tyrone and Shanaynay. I wish they would keep their butts at the cricket clubs and Captains and leave front street and the beaches for the civilized people Lol
I was there as well. The Police were there when I got to Horseshoe Bay at 2:15PM. The Police did not need to shut down the party over a few idiots. It was not wide spread kaos as implied. It was agreat VIBE. Kudos to Multi-entertainement. Even the tourists were asking the police why they were shutting down the party when they had already arrested the troublemakers. The first fight started over a girl who chose to leave the WKD tent with another guy and her boy friend and her lover started fighting. When the Police came they ran off. The Police actually stood there and allowed some of the fighting to get out of hand. They purposely shut the Beer Fest down after everything had quieted down. It was ridiculous. Everyone was begging them to let things continue. The other fights were between Parkside and White Hill Crew and the Police are well aware who theses thugs are and allowed them to fight and then when things strated to escalate they charged in. Utter BS. We cannot continue to allow a few fools spoil everyone’s fun. Summer has just started and people have the right to gather and socialise on a public beach. In my opinion the Police had no right to ask the people who were relaxing and enjoying the beach to leave.
Clafe is a “street Satirist”. I think he is quite clever and his posts are hilarious. Check out his “reflections” regarding the “anti PLP” graffiti in the comments section of the related article also on Bernews.
Lighten up People or as Fred Flintstone used to say, “Loosen a bone Wilma!!”
What do you expect people? Why is everyone so surprised? These idiots dont know how to act even when they hang out in town. Having a beach Beerfest in light of that is just asking for trouble! Im sick of @ssholes like these CHILDREN ruining it for everyone else who just want to have a good time. Stay in ‘da hood’ if you cant act civilised.
ps Clafe sounds like Chris Furbert.. haHAAA
You a-holes ruin the fun for normal people. AGAIN!
To be real, those fights just killed the whole mood. It was good vibes, before those fights broke out, but who is to say if the police didn’t shut it down that someone wouldn’t have got shot? You never know nowadays! If the police didn’t shut it down then we would be complaining that they didn’t do anything!?!
Well, I must have passed Hooked on Ber-monics because I read Clafe (1,2 and 3) and Better Planning out aloud and I had no trouble understanding what was being said.
From all of this, there seems to be some lessons learned:
1) No Glass on the Beach
2) At the first hint of a fight – the organizers should stop the music until the trouble causing agents leave or then call the police
3) The other 99% of the people who are there acting responsibly should show their displeasure at these few idiots who are spoiling things. There is strength in numbers, race them off the beach if necessary.
4) MAYBE the organizers could liaise with the BPS prior to the event, but with the way the BPS conducted themselves, I am not sure if this is a good idea.
5) It is definitely time for ordinary citizens to band together in the face of adversity.
“I saw one guy just starin at a tent pole, no lie. I asked him “AY bie, whatchu doin?” n he wuz like “Flexin, dun”. 2 each his own i guess.”
That, people, is comedy genius right there. So much better than the usual Terry and Nicole moaning. I was giving up with Ber News, but I’m back on track.
Give this man a regular column.
I was at beerfest from about 2 until the party was shut down… I saw one fight, and one guy didn’t look to sharp afterwards. The fact is though, that the one fight that I saw did nothing to disturb the overall ambiance of the party and for the most part everyone was more than well behaved. I met tourists who said that this was one of the best trips they’ve been on because of beerfest, for them the combination of beautifal water, island living and drinking was fun.
Anyways the fact is that this is being blown out of proportion, the majority of people were having a good time hanging out listening to good music and partying. As for the glass comment, all the tents that were selling booze, had cans – except for WKD I think. But either way I had a lot of fun, I cliffed jumped, I played football and I played some drinking games, hopefully this happens again next year, but with a little more foresight and planning.
To everyone on this thread that has been shooting down people and talking about other people’s grammer, your debate, by philosophical standards would be considered null and void because instead of tackling the arguement at hand you instead commit fallacies.
*grammar [and spelling too, apparently]
testing, one two three, testing… is the mike on? Alright cool, cause here we go….
Firs offf eye wuld lyke fi sey dat um aink guna spel nufin write…. secund eye wunt two cumment onn de ironee uv “hero’s day.” 4 onn de dey wur sposed fi celebrate are grate huro Ms. Evans iz de dey dat hur F.F. (fornication filosophy) cawses dis her. Alright it’s getting too hard, i’m goin to talk propa (last one)…. Anyway don’t you see that the cause of this ‘skirmish’ is not due to lack of prior proper planning, there is nothing cops can do to stop one igraaaannnnnnt (thats how its spelled) child from slapping another. And then their brothafromanothamotha (one word) from retaliating, its how they are raised. 75% do not have a ligitamate father and the other 25 probly dont even get to see theirs often. Therefore, as a slight result, they feel the need to (maily b/c they don’t know any better) prove their worth infront of their bedrins and acgyals (or just steal someones chain). Thanks to Ms. Lowis Brown our country is now this way…. well she would say look at the positives, atleast she acheived her goal, the PLP now have power…. wait, that hasn’t helped either??? Maybe we should try independence? No i have a better idea, just build a nuclear power plant at belco and put bermudians in charge…. ya there’s our solution….. butt sers buh, dis her iz awl fwukt, de dey wee celbrait dat der gyal wa awl suprized wen de problum shis creatd showz itselph pon de beach, akleast wii (as in nintendo) shuld bee gratefull dese bies diknt wunt fi get der rasweaponry al sendy, oar els wee bee renammin dat der beech “youbetterwearyoushoescausethesandiscoveredinpurebloodShoe Bay.” Sow ya, lemikno wat u tink shuld bee dun bout de out of wedlock #’s cus dey startin fi luk lke my fone numba bie phhhhhhetttttttttttttttt!
Oh and PS: pussyclot masters um back again to make you vexed, fukin native haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
my bad forgot bout the swerin; ment to say- Oh and PS: mista masters um back again to make you vexed, me more native than you haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
well aren’t you just the most helpful little person around
Did you ever stop and think that the beach is pretty big and that the other fights that took place were out of your view? Seems like common sense to me, but I guess common sense isn’t so common anymore.
The one fight I saw was right next too, the others i missed because I was playing football… thanks for your input though real helpful, especially when you don’t know what I did the whole day… So yeah guess common sense isn’t so common, even when one called Think about it thinks. Also like I said in my earlier post, thanks for taking on my arguement and not my grammar, unlike some pretentious people, namely alex masters.
hahah that kid is a joke
LOL!!! Want a live comedy show??? Go to Bermuda. It starts when the plane door opens until the time you get checked in on your return. LOL….
And another thing: You all keep saying the police didn’t need to shut the party down, but how much you wanna bet one of those fools would have called their friends and came back to shoot up the place?
Not sure about the other details but it should have been obvious that no glass bottles should have served on the beach. Next time serve in cans or plastic glasses.
If it is ever allowed again that is.
The drinks WERE served in cans. Those that didn’t have cans where served in cups. Beer Fest alcohol was NOT the only alcohol allowed on the PUBLIC beach. If you where there maybe you would have seen that.
Chingas Bye…..I jus hope dat de stoopidness dat happen at de BearFest party don descorage dem Chewinstick byes from havin der vikked beach party de furst day Cup Match! VoT!!! Las yur der vas so much skirt up Horseshew I taught I vas down SouthBeach!!!!
Great now we have multiple clones of Terry commenting. The ol typing the way Bermudians talk thing is sooo played out. A bunch of grown people doing this too. How mature. Thanks Terry! Bernews needs a report comment button so they can be flagged as spam.
Despite the negative thoughts about beer fest I had a nice time. Yes I will admit that a fight did break out but last year it went on until 1 or 2 in the morning..not every event there is a fight. Else for the police they were present but they was on top of the hill the majority of the time which was useless all you needed was one car to block people from entering the car park since it was full not five or more..if they were roaming the beach periodically then there would have been a less chance of a fight breaking out. I know they can’t be at every place all the time but what’s the sense of being on top of the hill when the majority of the crowd was down the bottom of the hill I just don’t understand.
Darn to Horseshoe for the event
There weren’t no Elephant
Got into a fight
Darn Westgate for de night
Blame it all on the Gover(n)ment
Hey wassup people. I am on the administration team for Beer Fest and Multi Entertainment in general. First of all I respect everyone’s comments on this blog and do not wish to ‘argue’ with anyone in regards to an particular comment. Some of the comments I agree with, some I don’t, and other’s I deem ignorant and pointless. Nevertheless, I believe in freedom of speech, so as an organizer I can understand certain frustrations that have risen from the negative incidents. Trust me, NO ONE is more upset about the negative happenings then us organizers. A lot of time, energy and finances went into putting this event on. We had this event last year, and it went without incident. The police where actually on hand during the evening time, and actually made a couple of patrols on the beach. This year, they WERE notified about the event and the had been at Horseshoe Bay for quite some time before the violence happened. There are a few things we would like to clear up as it does not feel good knowing the things we know, while most are left in the dark and left to make their own incorrect assumptions based on what the read or hear in the media
1 – YES…there was a fight (which was fairly minor in respect to other fights I’ve witnessed at football games and cupmatch….both of which have police and security guards).
2 – The incident began between a group that had PERSONAL issues with one another and was not necessarily ‘alcohol related’. It started outside of the Beer Fest area and eventually spilled into the main party area.
3 – Security was scheduled to be on hand, however, we instructed them to arrive at 7PM as we did not figure it to be any danger any time before this. As stated, the event went on until 2AM last year, and no one had to be arrested for any violence
4 – The police WERE notified via email. It was received by an officer who then in turn copied us in a separated email to sent to various inspectors to reiterate our request
5 – There where NO bottles being opened and given to ANY patrons. Most beers where canned and those that weren’t in cans where poured in cups under our STRICT direction, to which our bartenders adhered to. I see a comment on here about there being green glass broken on the beach. That clears us completely as all of our heinekens where in cans and we did not serve elephants.
6 – Underage drinking in NOT something we condone at all. I have a 17yr old sister that was at the event, and she was not allowed near the drink ticket area nor anywhere near the beer tents. There where however those people that where buying drink tickets and beers, then handing them to their underage friends and/or relatives and/or children once they stepped away from the ticket booth or the drink tents. Our staff consists of parents as well as youth activists, thus they were adamant about asking for ID if someone looked under the legal drinking age. They may not have pinpointed EVERY single underage person, however they where fairly thorough with this process.
7 – There where HUGE numbers of people that where in sheer euphoria during this event….dancing and enjoying the festivities. It hurts that for 6 1/2 hours, everything was fun and positive. Yet, for 10 minutes or less there was a ‘glitch in the matrix’ and THAT made headlines. Not many are dwelling on the fact that were hundreds of tourists from all over having the time of their life. Had we not decided to put Beer Fest on the holiday, there would have been very little to do other than people go to the beach and drink in silence (underage kids included). There is NO telling that this ‘situation’ wouldn’t have happened with Beer Fest there or not. Who would have been security then??? Who would have intervened. Regular patrons as well as Beer Fest staff intervened to stop the fights directly in line of sight from happening.
8 – In foresight, we will take more stringent security measures to ensure the safety of our patrons, as it is clear that we had far too much faith in the good behavior of a few disorderly folk.
9 – Although we were quite upset that we had to end the event, we do understand the police’s fear that as the day fell the possibilities of further retaliations would arise. We where confident that with our security team and the presence of the police that we could continue the event without incident, however I guess they either felt different, or didn’t care to continue policing the area.
10 – Beer Fest is a great event for the island. Through our staff, we manage to get a group of people together that have either never met before, or would never normally meet under normal circumstances. Through our patrons, we allow locals and foreigners to engage in a festive event. Our tourism industry is fairly mellow as tourist rarely have much to do when they come here other than tours and golf. This event (as well as a few others during the summer) allows our tourist more reason to want to visit during certain times. It is our goal to make this event a staple in Bermuda. The responses we where receiving from the tourists in attendance that day was phenomenal. So with that said, I plead to ‘the negatives’ out there, take a deeper look into the event past its one mishap. The fact that it got shut down makes the incident far worse then it was in retrospect. If the incident gives Beer Fest a “bad name” that is to last forever, then maybe every event in the past (ie Cupmatch again) should have a bad name as well. Once again, we had the exact same event last year, complete with advertising flyers and all, and we had no incidents to report. This year, we only advertised on Facebook, and put mini flyers in hotels the day before Beer Fest, as we didn’t wish to make it the kind of party that attracted ‘bad vibes’. We wanted to create an environment that sensible folk could congregate, as well as a place for our tourists from the cruise ships and elsewhere to enjoy a wonderful day in Bermuda
Bless
Thanks for your insight, much appreciated!