Tom McCarthy photograph courtesy of Morgan Schick.
As a kid in the 1960s the Barnum Festival was so huge it was televised on WPIX 11 New York to the Tri-State region, New York, Jersey and Connecticut. That was the place you watched Yankee baseball, Little Rascals, Popeye, Dick Tracy, Captain Jack McCarthy, Abbott & Costello and yes Bozo The Clown.
My parents perched us corner North & Park where King Cole was the flagship market, five, six and seven rows deep, a soccer ball kick from the heart of the Portuguese community. My mom, raised in Bridgeport, my dad a Sicilian immigrant, lived on Barnum Avenue.
Mom always packed homemade lunch – zucchini or eggplant parmigiana, sandwiched not by Italian bread but by Portuguese rolls, baby, because Bridgeport is the prince of Portuguese rolls.
This year’s Barnum Festival Ringmaster Tom McCarthy galvanized a renewed spirit that captured the city’s flourishing ethnic diversity, a new route that turned the corner at North and Park to Capitol Avenue. It wasn’t just the dynamic floats, bands and pomp. Ethnic pride oozed the streets, led by Parade Marshal Gina Malheiro captivating a Portuguese community.
Viva Portugal!
The people responded. It didn’t hurt that the World Cup has kicked up interest to the front of the lines.
Bridgeport’s modern diversity teems with Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians, Brazilians, Portuguese, Cape Verdeans, Congolese, Haitians. I’ve missed some.
In this wretched world of so much division, festival organizers have hit on something inclusive – The Parade Where Is Everyone Is Welcome.
From Big Mac’s Facebook page:
When I was named the 2026 Barnum Festival Ringmaster I knew that it was a big commitment. I had watched Gregory Gnandt Ringmaster, Dr Camelia Lawrence, George Estrada, Frank Gennarini and more put together incredible Festivals. I was daunted but I vowed to give it everything I had. My theme was Family, Friends and Fun and I wanted to bring the fun to every event.
You learn very quickly that you need an army of friends, volunteers and sponsors to make it all happen. The first of many emotional and moving moments is when you see all of your friends stepping up and helping. Moving mountains to make sure that the events are successful. And this happened over and over with each event. I am good at smiling and dancing like an idiot (there are plenty of videos to prove that point!) but the real hard work went on beyond the scenes. I will forever be grateful and never be able to repay the multitudes who jumped in to make the Barnum Festival a huge success this year. Thank you to all of you!
Nothing, and I mean nothing would ever happen without the nonstop hard work, dedication and commitment behind the scenes of Charlie and Lisa Carroll. They deserve all the praise for making sure it all happens and it all works! It is amazing how many phone calls and texts they will take from a Ringmaster who doesn’t have a clue what he is doing!
The Ringmaster gets to make a few decisions on who’ll lead the Festival. One of my best decisions by far was picking Gina DaSilva Malheiro as the Grand Marshal of the Great Street Parade. She worked nonstop and I mean nonstop for months making sure we had the best parade you’ve ever seen! And we did! She proved that with hard work and dedication you can 1) get every Portuguese person in Connecticut to be in the parade and 2) folks will show up to watch the parade!
I also got to choose my Executive Aides. Elaine K. Ficarra, Maria Heller and Angelo Palmieri were incredible friends and support to making the Festival a success! Without Elaine, I literally wouldn’t have anything to wear or anything to say (she wrote my talking points constantly. Although to be fair I usually ignored them and rambled on too long!), Marie not only ran my first event she listened to me complain nonstop! Angelo is the unsung hero of the Festival. He does everything. Really everything. From managing the Barn, the floats, the signs, to always being there to help no matter what it is, Angelo is the backbone of the whole festival!
Many Ringmasters tell you that having the Royal Family is the best part of the Barnum Festival. You don’t understand that fully until you meet these kids. The Festival schedule introduces you to the Royal Family and then pushes us all to spend nonstop time together for weeks. When I met my Royal Family, that is when the Festival came alive for me. The energy, enthusiasm and absolute joy they brought to me is hard to explain. Starting as strangers and ending as lifelong family. Fraser, Liliana, Josh, Kailey, Ochin, Kody, Frankie and Caleb are a part of my heart forever. They are the best of us and they make me so hopeful for the future.
I have asked so much of my family through this journey. And they have said yes every time. It is hard to keep up with this schedule but they did and they are always there for me. It is clear that my mom is the real Ringmaster. More folks came out to my events for her than for me by far! I am lucky to have the best mom and family in the world!
My dad passed away almost three years ago and when I was asked to be the Ringmaster, I wasn’t sure if I had the joy in me to do it. But my dad has been a constant source of energy for me. If you have been at any of my events, you know that I carry something of my dad’s at every event. My dad led life with a smile and that was the inspiration for the joy I tried to bring to each event. At the parade, in my pocket I had the picture of my mom and dad’s wedding that my dad kept in his wallet. I know he is proud of me and he would have loved that parade!
Being Ringmaster has been the honor of my life! Thank you to everyone who chaired an event, bought a ticket, showed up, donated a raffle prize, wrote a check, listened to me complain, built a float, shared a Barnum post, told someone else about an event or just had some fun dancing like a fool with me. I am grateful for you all and it absolutely means the world to me!
The Barnum Festival is important because it brings light in a sometimes dark world. It plays music so we can dance. It brings a smile when we most need it. I am so proud to have been a part of the 2026 Barnum Festival.
