Co-Chairman Danny Puccio stated, "Last year, they were coming in in packs of hundreds, maybe even thousands, and it was very difficult to keep under control. It made it a very uncomfortable situation."
Puccio mentioned, "2022 was the first year I saw a rise in young people disrupting the North End festivals. In 2023, the crowd and underage drinking got so out of hand that we had to shut down the event stage at 9 p.m. instead of the usual time of 11 p.m."
Noting the influence of social media, Puccio explained, "At one point last year, one of my members saw something on social media that said, 'Hey, let's all meet down the feast and shut it down.' The post went viral and next thing you know, you got kids from all these different towns coming down."
Regarding security improvements, Puccio said, "The other [2024 North End] festivals have had great success with the security measures that they used, and we're following suit with what they've done for the first two festivals."
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