Dear Sir,

My wife and I have been coming to Bermuda from San Francisco for years.

Bermuda is our favorite vacation destination and one of only a few places we keep going back to.

Today, we happened to ride our scooter into Hamilton and then take the ferry to Dockyard, intending to ride back to our hotel from there. It was impossible.

While we knew that there was a carnival being held at Dockyard this weekend, absolutely no information was provided indicating that the roads into and out of Dockyard would be closed for most of the afternoon.

So when we arrived at Dockyard we were stuck. The police officers had no idea of when the roads would open. There were people there who were heading to a wedding and missed it.

Certainly, there could have been signs up at the ferry terminal in Hamilton, and elsewhere on the Island, warning people that the roads to/from the Dockyard were closed.

Compared to the organisational planning that’s going to be required for the America’s Cup events, this Carnival at Dockyard was trivial.

If an event like this weekend’s can’t be planned competently, the America’s Cup will be a disaster.

We’re from San Francisco and experienced the America’s Cup event first hand.

The facilities and planning for crowds was extensive and the event was organised such that life in the city was able to continue functioning relatively normally.

What’s going to happen here? If Bermuda can’t organise a festival without closing the roads so no one — regardless of whether or not they were participating in the festival — could enter or leave (in essence everyone was held prisoner at Dockyard), then what’s going to happen when 1,000 times the number of people arrive?

Today, cars were parked such that they blocked roads. Entertainment trucks moved slowly and required that the road in/out of Dockyard be closed for hours. The police had no idea when the roads were going to open or what would be happening next.

No one in authority seemed to know what was going on. Bermuda should be proud to be hosting the America’s Cup, but that pride can turn into embarrassment very quickly unless people who know how to properly organise a major event don’t start working on the details now.

Sincerely,

Dan and Barbara Friedman, San Francisco, CA