Will the Coronavirus Affect New Bedford's Portuguese Feast?

The coronavirus has shutdown the NBA, the NHL, Major League Baseball and March Madness. As the SouthCoast sits at home waiting for the COVID-19 plague to hopefully pass us over, many have wondered about the status of the annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament.

We reached out to the spokesman for the 106th Portuguese feast, Steve Duarte.

"As you know, we start planning for the next feast on the last day of the feast itself – a new committee meets on that Sunday evening – and they start the whole process over two days after the feast ends," he told Fun 107. "As you can imagine, they are well entrenched into this year's feast, and as of right now the feast is a 100 percent go. What better way to have a celebration and help out the community when this is all over than to have our feast?"

Duarte told Fun 107 that the thousands of pounds of beef and pork that are sold don't actually get ordered until about two weeks prior to the event. The carnival is also not an issue. The only box that is left unchecked at this point is with the entertainment.

Duarte said they have pretty much settled on the headlining and supporting acts, but have not yet put ink to paper on the contracts. Ironically, Duarte agreed that the uncertainty surrounding the virus may actually benefit the feast because it could free up some artists that might otherwise not have been available.

"God forbid, if this virus is still an issue in July and August, we'll have bigger problems than just the feast," he said.

"One way or the other, we WILL have a feast. Nothing beats the virus better than a little Madeira wine," Duarte joked.