By Guy Page

The Burlington Concert Band was forced to cancel its traditional Sunday evening concert in Battery Park due to ‘circumstances beyond our control,’ according to a July 17 Facebook post. That circumstance appears to be a public safety concern for both musicians and concert goers regarding the large homeless population that occupies the park and, at times, the bandshell in the center of the historic park. 

Battery Park is located next to the Burlington Police Department central station on North Avenue. 

A Burlington resident sent a letter Monday morning to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, copied to the local media including Vermont Daily Chronicle and the Burlington Daily News, about conditions at Battery Park, saying a long-standing summer tradition is being threatened by homeless encampments near the park’s band shell.

In the letter, New North End resident Steve Ciardelli tells Burlington’s mayor that the Burlington Concert Band has performed weekly summer concerts at Battery Park since the 1870s but was forced to cancel a recent Sunday concert because of safety concerns. 

Ciardelli also claimed one band member left the group after being harassed and now performs with the Milton band. His letter argues that homeless individuals have effectively taken over the band shell area and says the situation, occurring near the Burlington Police Department, has left many regular concertgoers, including seniors, feeling unsafe. 

Ciardelli urged the mayor to restore public safety, saying Burlington residents are experiencing a different reality than claims that “Burlington is back.”

The mayor’s office responded to BDN with this statement from Mulvaney-Stanak: “The City acknowledges that summer conditions have rendered homelessness and the impacts of our state’s opioid and mental health crisis more visible in our parks and green spaces. We are working to reestablish a cross-departmental “hot spots” strategy, similar to our approach in 2024, to address public spaces with increased problematic and unsafe activity. This strategy had some success at our library, Marketplace garage, and other areas in 2025. Restarting this strategy will employ the strong partnerships between City officials and community partners to collectively problem solve and find innovative solutions to not only situations in real time, but with the goal of paving the way for better conditions for all in our community in the weeks and months ahead.”