New Bedford has a long and fascinating history, filled with stories of whalemen going to sea for years a time, wives left to run businesses, escaped slaves seeking freedom, and a connection to the sea that spans centuries. The public is invited to explore this history through free guided tours, offered seven days a week in July and August, at 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Most tours leave from New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park’s visitor center, with Working Waterfront tours starting out from the Wharfinger Building at Fisherman’s Wharf. Daily tours start on Monday, July 9. The park visitor center is located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford.

Tours will include Risks and Rewards of Whaling, Unknown Heroes and Their Secrets: New Bedford’s Underground Railroad, New Bedford’s Working Waterfront: Then and Now, and Sharing The Same Seas: The Uneasy Relationship between Humans and Whales.

Jen Nersesian, superintendent of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, said, “Our national park is proud to offer these tours to our public. The stories of whaling are connected to so many people around the world—they are everyone’s stories. Our walking tours are just one way we connect visitors to this amazing history. We especially look forward to seeing folks from New Bedford and surrounding towns drop by.”

The Slow Burning Nuggets are a young rock band from New Bedford. I exchanged insults with mastermind Ethan Weiss.

Eric: Who is in the band and what do they play?

Ethan: Kristin Dupre sings. Jude Kingston plays keyboards and sings as do I. Jeff Washburn plays drums.

Eric: Where did the name come from?

Ethan: During the gold rush the quality of the gold was judged by how long it took to schmelt it down. The longer it took to schmelt, the higher the quality gold. Thus The Slow Burning Nuggets were the best stuff available… I made that up and I don’t think schmelt is a word…

Eric: Why you little…how did the band start?

Ethan: Jeff was living at Jude’s house at the time and he wanted to work on his drummin’ feet. His drummin’ hands were top notch as he spent years competing in marching bands but his drummin’ feet needed some work. I needed work on everything so we started playing together about once a week. Jude, being home with child, would have to listen to our racket all the time. One day he says he was hearing some bass lines he’d like to throw down if that would be alright with us. We did not mind at all because Jude is good. Like real good. Great even. I started inviting all sorts of singers over to sing and through people being too busy or not really seeming like a great fit, they were weeded out and we were left with Kristin. We like Kristin.

Eric: That’s so nice. I do too. Any future plans?

Ethan: All I can think of is recording and writing. I’m not in love with playing out right now, but I do it often.

Eric: Any recordings in your future?

Ethan: Funny you should ask. We are currently working on our first and second album. The first being a collection of songs that are vocal driven and the second being an outer space concept album that is instrumentally driven. Hopefully we’ll have the first one out by the end of the year.

Eric: What does the band sound like and what are the influences?

Ethan: The band has an electronic, psychedelic-pop sound. Everyone brings their own influences to the group. Kristin and I are really into The Fiery Furnaces, Jeff is more into hip-hop, and Jude is into a little bit of everything from Sun Ra to Oscar Peterson to Tool to Rick Wakeman. The sound, like with any band that is moving in the right direction is morphing into its own self-referential thing. Which is groovy, man.

Eric: I know you play and coach basketball, and the playoffs just wrapped up. If you had a choice (and you do) would you rather be a rock star or play with the Celtics?

Ethan: Am I scrub like Sasha Pavlovic or am I The Truth? Can I do both? I feel like Greg Stiemsma could put out a pretty dope prog album but I’m probably wrong.

Eric: Thanks Ethan. Check out the Slow Burning Nuggets soon at No Problemo, Pour Farm, Black Watch Pub, and beyond. You can also follow them on their Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Slow-Burning-Nuggets/212394435446257

This article could haven easily been titled, “How to Lose 100s of Customers in 1 day,” or “How Not To Run A Facebook Page.”

The Tipsy Seagull in Fall River recently announced some new rules/policies on their Facebook page. Here is what The Tipsy Seagull posted:

Besides the rules, one of the first things that will jump out at you is the 182 comments in three days. What is almost as bad as the new policies is that NONE of the 182 comments are from the Tipsy Seagull. With 182 mostly negative comments, they didn’t respond to any of the criticism for THREE days and counting. A clear no-no in the business customer service world.

The rule that received the most criticism was the “no hats of any kind” rule. The Tipsy Seagull is a floating outdoor bar that has most of their patrons sitting in direct sunlight. Bald patrons will be the most upset about this rule and so will those that purchased a Tipsy Seagull hat for $18 that they sell on their online store.

Not sure if it’s new or a modification to the existing rule, but the second rule that will upset the college crowd is “25+ age restriction after 7 pm Monday-Thursday.” This means they will be turning away most college students, and under 25 year-old police officers, military, firemen, EMS or anyone else that is under the age of 25. Can you imagine serving three tours in Iraq, or fighting crime in Fall River all day, only to be told that you are not old enough to enjoy a drink or meal at their bar?

Third, is the “no baggy shorts” rule. This is the most broad rule you can come up with. Webster dictionary defines baggy as loose, puffed out, or hanging like a bag. Besides spandex, are there shorts that aren’t loose?

Here is a nice gallery off images of patrons and musicians wearing hats on the Tipsy Seagull’s website.

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I had a conversation with Mike Brunetto from the New Bedford instrumental band Maritime Pilot about the band’s recent activities.

Eric: Who Is in the band and what do they do?

Mike: Michael Brunetto: guitar, Mark Arruda: guitar, Michael Connor: guitar, Nick Vuona: bass, and Henri Chandanais: drums.

Eric: How did the band form?

Mike: Maritime Pilot came to be following the end of Wood For Fire in July 2011, which Henri, Nick and myself were members of. Henri and I wanted our next band to be more along the lines of the post-rock/instrumental music that we loved and were influenced by, without being just a rehash of what we had done in Nature/Nurture. Nick texted me and asked if we had a bass player yet, and having played for the prior year in Wood For Fire with him and knowing what a good bass player he was it was a no-brainer. We played for a few weeks as a trio, and decided we needed something else to add to the music, and asked Mark if he was interested in playing. Even with two guitars we didn’t feel like the picture was complete. Connor joined up about month before our first show. Henri and I had been planning on asking him to be part of Nature/Nurture just before that band ended, and we were really into the idea of having a third guitarist. As luck would have it, he was available and interested in playing. We played our first show in November 2011 with this line-up.

Eric: Where did the name of the band come from?

Mike: It was Henri’s, though you should see the epic band-naming email we had while we were trying to come up with it. It’s equally massive and ridiculous.

Eric: How are the songs written? If they are not “about” something as instrumentals, do you try to convey different feeilings for different songs?

Mike: Sometimes they come out of jams, but normally someone has a riff and build off of that. Other times one of us has the bones of a full song demoed out and we start by learning that, and then forming it into a final piece. I don’t know if they are particularly “about” anything, but we consider them to be more like a soundtrack to an imaginary film. Since they have no vocals, I think anyone can apply their own feelings or moods or imaginary visuals to them. Maybe that adds to their enjoyment of them. Vocal-less bands can sometimes be tedious to listen to, but maybe leaving things open to your individual interpreation helps you connect with it more.

Eric: What are some of the main influences on the band?

Mike: We all love lots of different things. This band seems to be bringing out our love of Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, etc. Less angry riffs, more collective sounds and ensemble playing.

Eric: Why is it instrumental and will you add vocals at some point? If you do, will it be a new person or will one of you sing?

Mike: I think we all just like instrumental music a lot. I probably listen to more post-rock/instrumental stuff than anything else these days. Not being much of a singer or lyricist myself, I find I relate to it more than other types of music. I don’t see us adding vocals but who knows…it would most likely come from one of us than from adding another person. With three guitars, things are already pretty dense.

Eric: Thanks Mike. Maritime Pilot will be playing a free show at the Blackwatch Pub on Saturday, July 21st. You can follow them on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MaritimePilot.

The second annual Fishing For A Cause charity tournament to benefit the children of the Schwartz Center that took place out of the Pope’s Island marina in New Bedford, MA this past weekend, June 15-16, grossed over $105,000, with net proceeds to benefit vital programs at the Schwartz Center.

The Father’s Day weekend event featured a seaside dinner and an awards barbeque under a tent at Pope’s Island Marina. Nearly 400 people attended the activities associated with the tournament, with 49 anglers participating in the Striped Bass, Bluefish and Fluke contest.

Winning results were as follows: in the Striped Bass division, the first place winner was first time participant Patrick Long with total weight over two days of 60.64lbs; in second place was Corey Pietraszek with a total weight of 50.41lbs; and in third place Steve Pickup with a total weight of 28.94lbs over two days.  In the Bluefish division, first place also went to Patrick Long with a total of 22.56lbs; second place was Lt. Corey Pimental with total weight of 11.31 lbs; and in third place was Rick Bobole with a total weight of 10.55lbs. In the Fluke division, first place went to George Martin with a total weight of 4.06lbs; second place was David Cameron with a total of 3.94lbs; and third was Ted  Merriman with a total combined weight of 3.86lbs. No one won the million dollar prize this year.

Tournament Co-Directors Craig Kauffmann and Beatriz Oliveira are already planning Fishing For a Cause 2013, and with a desire to keep improving the way the tournament is run, they are seeking feedback from those that participate as well as those that didn’t. A short survey will be posted to the event’s website by July 1^st.

Proud sponsors of Fishing for a Cause included: SeaStreak; Greenberg Traurig LLP; Hodgson Pratt, Pratt & Saunders, PC; Russell Morin Fine Catering; Design Principles, Inc.; Eden Garden and Flower Shop; Michel Cullum Associates, Inc.; Rock Street Studios; Whaling City Sound; On The Water; Chase Canopy; Murray Outdoor Communications; among many others.  Event organizers can be contacted at ffac@schwartzcenter.org or by phone at: (508) 996-3391 ext. 392.  For more information, go to the event website www.fishing4acause.org.

Main Card (Pay-per-view):
190 lbs.: Wanderlei Silva (34-11-1 1NC) vs. Rich Franklin (28-6 1NC) wins by Unanimous Decision!
185 lbs.: Cezar Ferreira (5-2) vs. Sergio Moraes (6-2) wins by Unanimous Decision!
145 lbs.: Rony Bezerra (11-3) vs. Godofredo Pepey (9-0) wins by Unanimous Decision!
265 lbs.: Mike Russow (15-1 1NC) vs. Fabricio Werdum (15-5-1) wins by TKO in RD1!
145 lbs.: Yuri Alcantara (26-3) vs. Hacran Dias (20-1-1) wins by Unanimous Decision!

Preliminary Card (FX Channel):
145 lbs.: Rodrigo Damm (9-5) vs. Medeiros Anistavio (15-7) wins by Rear Naked Choke in RD1!
185 lbs.: Francisco Trinaldo (10-1) vs. Delson Heleno (23-6) wins by TKO in RD1!
185 lbs.: John Teixeira (13-0) vs. Hugo Viana (5-1) wins by Split Decision!
185 lbs.: Leonardo Mafra (5-0) vs. Thiago Perpetuo (8-2-1) wins by TKO in RD3!

Preliminary Card (Facebook):
145 lbs.: Marcos Pancini (19-4-1) vs. Wagner Campos (11-3) wins by TKO in RD3!
145 lbs.: Felipe Arantes (14-4 2NC) vs. Milton Vieira (13-7-1) is ruled a Draw!

Ultimate Fighting Championship 147 takes place on June 23, 2012 at Estádio Jornalista Felipe Drumond in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The original headliner was to be Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva II, but this was moved to UFC 148 on July 7, 2012 in as Vegas, Nevada. Facebook Prelims start at 7 p.m. EST before switching to FX Channel for the rest of the prelims at 8 p.m. EST. PPV begins at 10 p.m. EST. To watch the FREE prelims on Facebook simply visit their Facebook page and “like.”

Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin
Silva and Franklin first faced each other at UFC 99 on June 13, 2009 in Cologne, Germany, at a catchweight of 195 lbs. Franklin won a unanimous decision then, and in spite of the decision was a well-fought, entertaining and closely contested battle. Similarly, they will compete at a catchweight, however this time at 190 lbs. Both are no strangers to catchweight bouts, apparently carrying frames that make them “caught” in between weight classes.

Both fighters are older, and different fighters since their first meeting. Legend and veteran Wanderlei Silva has gone 2-1 since, beating the likes of Michael Bisping and Cung Le, having been KOed by Chris Leben before he could get started. At his age and with his inactivity, you have to wonder how it will affect his performance. Wanderlei was made famous by his intimidating appearance and equally if not more intimidating, in-your-face, aggressive fighting style. This has led to a career of wars, that while exciting and fan-friendly, can age a fighter quickly.

Franklin has also had three fights since, going 1-2, knocking out Chuck Liddell at UFC 115, and losing to Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin. Franklin has a more refined style of fighting, and is a bit more calculated in his approach in contrast to Silva. With 25 of his 28 wins resulting in a finish, he is no less exciting to watch. This more calculated approach means Franklin is the younger fighter in terms of chronology and wear. For Wanderlei to win the fight, he needs to turn it into a battle, not give Franklin space and most importantly work Franklin’s Achilles heel: the thai clinch. Anderson Silva took advantage of this weakness of Franklin’s in both their previous fights. Perhaps Wanderlei’s greatest asset and “deadliest” weapon is his Thai clinch, so he needs to remember the tool that made him the legend he is if he wants to win this fight. NBG Pick: Rich Franklin.

Cezar Ferreira vs. Sergio Moraes
Since Zuffa has much success using local fighters on the previous two events in Rio, they are continuing to do so by using relative unknowns (unless you have been following TUF Brazil.) Considering MMA and fighting is in their DNA, it’s hardly takes a leap of faith. Cezar Ferreira, while having only six bouts in his MMA career is no newbie to the sport, having been competing since 2007. With three of his four wins coming by way of technical knock out, it’s probably no surprise that he will most likely work with what his strength is and be hunting looking for another, especially considering his opponent is a submission maven. It would be in his better interest to keep this fight standing. Having strung together three finishes in a row he was stalled in his last fight in August of 2011, where he was KOed in 25 seconds by Elvis Mutapcic. He’ll certainly be hungry and hoping to get back on the winning track.

His opponent is 4 time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion Sergio Moraes, who is replacing an injured Daniel Sarafian and has a contrasting style to Ferreira’s. Reflecing his decorated background, Sergio has five submission victories in his six wins. The “X” factor here is that Sergio is taking this fight on short notice, and his last fight was in March of 2010. Of course, desire and ring rust will be contributing factors to his performance. In spite of the fact that both fighters emphasize submission grappling, their culture emphasizes machismo and no one will be the least bit surprised if this fight is mostly a standing, kickboxing affair. Nor should anyone be surprised if it’s an up and down, back and forth battle that perhaps picks up Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night or Submission of the night honors. NBG Pick: Sergio Moraes.

Rony Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo Pepey
The incredibly dangerous Rony Mariano Bezerra has finished all ten of his opponents in the fights he has won. With seven submissions and three KO/TKOs, his opponents are in trouble wherever the fight goes. Only one of his thirteen fights have gone to a decision, so the fans are guaranteed an exciting fight, win or lose. Rony is currently on a five fight win streak, all finishes.

His opponent Godofredo Pepey, clearly was cherry picked by matchmaker Joe Silva, because Godofredo also has finished all his opponents. To take it a step further than Rony, he has yet to lose and only gone past the first round once. That’s eight fights, six submission, and two TKOs. In essence, this fight is a train wreck from the get-go and is the NBG pick for the Fight of the Night award and bonus. NBG Pick: Godofredo Pepey.

Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum
In a return to familiar faces, this bout is a bit of a strange match-up to say the least. American Mike Russow by appearance is easy to overlook. He lacks the Adonis build that is so common amongst fighters. However, Mike is here to remind people of one cold hard fact: muscles do not equate to fighting ability. Mike is a spoiler of sorts, winning fights he is “supposed” to lose and in the process put together an eleven fight win streak defeating the likes of veteran Roman Zentsov, the despised Jason Guida, Todd Duffee in a fight he was getting battered in, Brock Lesnar training partner Jon Madsen and BJJ phenom John Olav Einemo. Mike is a finisher and as mentioned, a spoiler, winning fights he isn’t supposed to. However, he really has the odds stacked against him.

His opponent Fabricio Werdum is one of the top heavyweights in the sport. Perhaps one of the top three best submission specialists in the heavyweight division. Fabricio’s career was built on fighting top guys from the very beginning – and winning. He has strung together impressive wins against Gabriel Gonzaga (twice), Big Cat Tom Erikson, Alistair Overeem, Aleksander Emelianenko, Brandon Vera, Bigfoot Silva, a faded Fedor, and most recently against Big Country Roy Nelson. In his second fight against Alistair Overeem, he displayed a vastly improved striking ability, in spite of his decision loss and in spite of the punch stats showing him to land more strikes. Russow needs to make this a scrappy, gritty and ugly battle and keep it standing if he has any chance of winning this fight. Werdum could possibly win anywhere, but he can finish the fight much faster if he simply takes it to the ground. NBG Pick: Fabricio Werdum.

Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias
Brazilian phenom Yuri Alcantara is currently on a thirteen fight win streak, and has twelve submission and twelve TKO wins. Clearly and aggressive and dangerous opponent by these stats, they need to be balanced by the fact that his fights have primarily taken place in Brazil against virtual unknowns, excepting Arantes and Omigawa. Even these wins were not against opponents that were in the top ten and both went to decisions.

Similarly his opponent Hacran Dias has also faced relatively unknown Brazilians. To be fair, this is not to say that these guys are not top caliber, because if they are fighting for the sport’s largest organization they ARE top caliber. They just haven’t been tested or proven they can carry their performances over to beating top opponents. In the UFC, they will have no choice. Either progress and evolve or be eliminated. Dias is on an eight fight win streak and has wins by submission and striking. NBG Pick: Yuri Alcantara.

Come back for the results, updates and animated gifs. What are your picks for the headline fight between Franklin and Silva? The main card bouts? Who wins the bonuses?

Residents can recycle more items at the Shawmut Avenue Transfer Station including cooking oil, Styrofoam blocks, electronics and rigid plastics.

“We are working toward expanding recycling opportunities for New Bedford residents and businesses.  This diverts materials from the Crapo Hill Landfill” said Marissa Perez-Dormitzer, New Bedford’s recycling coordinator.  “And, the city earns money for some of these items, just like we earn money from the paper collected in the blue bins.”

• Residents, non-profits and small businesses can drop off used cooking oil in the container labeled Newport Biodiesel, located at the Shawmut Avenue Transfer Station. At this time, the City can offer this service free of charge.  Local restaurants can also order onsite containers for used cooking oil by contacting Newport Biodiesel at (401) 846-1117.
• Many types of styrofoam blocks can be accepted, with the exception of Styrofoam peanuts, cups or clamshell containers.
• In terms of electronics, the City can accept any item with a plug.  Examples of items that can be dropped off include computer towers, laptops, printers, fax machines, DVD players, VCRs, coffee pots, cell phones, paper shredders, copiers, cameras and radios.
• Most types of rigid plastics are now accepted. These include broken recycling bins, trash barrels, 5-gallon buckets, children’s toys, laundry baskets, crates, plastic tubs, flower pots and plastic chairs.  All items must be clean.

The Shawmut Avenue Transfer Station located at 1103 Shawmut Avenue is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Marissa Perez-Dormitzer, New Bedford’s Recycling Coordinator at (508) 979-1493 or recycling@newbedford-ma.gov.

Have you gotten a parking ticket in New Bedford this year? If you’ve visited downtown New Bedford or other areas with parking meters, chances are you’ve gotten several. According to The Standard Times, the city raised over $1.2 million from parking tickets, and meter and garage fees  during the fiscal year that ends June 30, Traffic Commissioner Scott Downing told the City Council at a budget hearing Monday night. In fiscal 2011, the city raised $1 million, up from $685,092 in 2010 and $276,380 in 2006.

What that translates into is a four-fold increase from 2006 ($276,380) to 2012 ($1.2 million). In just one year (from 2011 to 2012) the revenue increased by 20% from $1 million to $1.2 million. These statistics show that it is impossible to argue that the city doesn’t have an aggressive ticketing policy. As someone that has lived in downtown New Bedford going on four years, I’ve personally noticed the army of meter maids increase in numbers and urgency to give tickets.

The negatives from this aggressive ticketing policy is obvious. First, visitors to commercial districts of New Bedford get a bad taste in their mouth if they come to grab a meal or drink, visit an attraction like the Ocean Explorium, or shop at a local retail. The impact is more revenue for the City and less revenue for local business. Second, people are reporting overly aggressive behavior from meter maids. I’ve experienced and heard hundreds of reports of tickets within seconds and minutes of meters expiring. Are they hovering over nearly expired meters? Basically, it comes down to the negative feeling towards New bedford that this aggressive approach to enforcement brings. Instead of enjoying your visit to the City of New Bedford, you are constantly thinking about your meter and if you are going to get your ticket. As a visitor, you know that if you are seconds late, you may have a ticket. Third, a simple $10 ticket can turn into a $50+ ticket within months of not paying. The City starts to completely hammer you if you don’t pay your ticket within a few weeks and likely accounts for a large portion of the $1.2 million in 2012 revenue. Finally, the City doesn’t even enforce their own policy that is printed on the meters. You can read my Exposing New Bedford’s Parking Meters article to see that they don’t monitor the meters past 5pm on week days, and don’t work on Saturdays even though it states they do on the meters.

To be fair to Mayor Mitchell, this aggressive meter enforcement was established in 2006 by the Lang administration. Mayor Lang obviously saw a way to increase revenue through an aggressive ticketing policy. Some solutions would be to allow a 15-minute grace period, provide friendly warnings (happens all the time with speeding tickets) and increase the amount of periods of free parking holidays. These suggestions would be a great start in reversing the negative feelings towards visiting our commercial districts.

There is a meeting tonight at 7pm (Thursday, June 21st) at the City Hall for local businesses and concerned citizens to voice their opinion. It’s a first step and long over do. In a terrible economy, the city should be welcoming people to our city to boost our local economy, not the city’s coffers. Also, an overly aggressive parking enforcement combined with high crime, a highly visible homeless population on our streets, doesn’t help drive tourism to our city. The city can’t fix crime and homelessness overnight, but they can reverse the overly aggressive parking enforcement immediately.

Join the discussion on Facebook here.

In recognition of St. Jean Baptiste Day, Mayor Jon Mitchell, other elected officials and members of the La Ligue des Franco-Americains will participate in several events including a Canadian flag raising ceremony at City Hall and a tribute at the Franco-American Veterans Square.  The Canadian flag raising ceremony at City Hall will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 22, 2012. The ceremony at the Franco American Veteran’s Square will be held at the monument located at the intersection of Nauset Street, Mount Pleasant Street and Hathaway Road on Sunday, June 24, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.  La Ligue Des Franco-Americains is a New Bedford-based consortium of French organizations dedicated to preserving French heritage and culture and celebrates the feast of Saint Jean Baptiste annually.

The Working Waterfront Festival is pleased to announce the winner of our 2012 Design Contest – Jon Campbell of Narragansett, Rhode Island. Jon is well known to Festival audiences as a singer/songwriter, poet and all around wordsmith. “The Committee was impressed with Jon’s creative approach to incorporating the 2012 theme Fishtales: Fact Fiction and Narrative Tradition” (Laura Orleans, Festival Director). Jon’s design will appear on the Festival t-shirt, program guide, and poster.

A modified version of the design also serves as the cover art for a newly released live recording of poetry and stories from the Festival. Jon is featured on the CD along with Festival favorites Dave Densmore, Geno Leech, Moe Bowstern, Bob Quinn, Charlotte Enoksen, and others. The 21 tracks run the gamut from poignant word pictures to hilarious parodies, but always delivered with wisdom and authenticity. The CD is available for purchase through the Festival’s web site. All proceeds support the Festival and our year round programming.

The 2012 Festival will be held on the New Bedford waterfront September 29th and 30th.

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England’s commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid’s activities and more. It all takes place in New Bedford, MA, America’s #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend of September. Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.