BELMONT, Maine — Last weekend, more than 1,000 people came to the small Waldo County town of Belmont from all over New England and eastern Canada to enjoy themselves at a festival dedicated to music and art.
But this year’s 10th annual Beltek celebration left some local law enforcement officers with a headache, and not from the thump of the electronic dance music played by DJs there all night long. State police responded to several drug- and alcohol- related emergency medical calls at the private Lincolnville Road property that hosted the celebration, and Belfast police reported that they had a “spillover” drug issue in their community, too.
“I don’t want to say anything too negative against it, but if it were in my town, I wouldn’t want it there,” Maine State Police Trooper James MacDonald said earlier this week. “There was a lot of drinking and a lot of hardcore drugs that I dealt with [including] LSD. I’m sure there was a little bit of everything.”
Belmont does not have its own police force, and MacDonald and another state trooper were scheduled to patrol there as well as in several other towns over the weekend. In addition to the handful of medical emergencies that required calling for an ambulance, MacDonald responded to several noise complaints from upset neighbors.
“I think if it happens again, there will probably be more of us out there working to control it,” he said of Beltek.
Festival organizers hired a private security firm and were cooperative with police, the trooper said.
An organizer who did not wish to be identified said that members of the state police and Waldo County Sheriff’s Office were welcomed on the property throughout the event.
“We work very hard to make this a safe environment for everyone who comes. We hire a private security company. We enforce a strict no-drug policy,” the organizer said. “We are always looking at, and will continue to look at, how to make a safer event.”
Chief Mike McFadden of the Belfast Police Department said that some Beltek attendees were apparently staying at the Comfort Inn on Route 1 when one of them called police over the weekend to report that a New Hampshire man in the room was being combative.
Officers Eric Kelley and Brian Lund responded, and as soon as they opened the door the man tried to attack them.
“He ran into Eric Kelley and bounced off him,” McFadden said. “He landed on the ground, and [the officers] subdued him.”
The man, who has not yet been charged in relation to the incident, continued to be “assaultive and combative” to the police and appeared to be on some type of illicit substance, McFadden said. The man’s friends said that he had taken LSD while at the festival.
Police brought him to the hospital, where he was treated. They also sought permission to search his vehicle, and found white powder residue and $2,000 in cash, according to the chief.
“Once we get the results back from the test on the white powder, [he] may be in trouble,” McFadden said.
In regards to Beltek, the police chief also said that he heard a lot of negative reports in regard to the festival.
“It seems dangerous,” he said. “I know there were a lot of ambulance calls this time around. A lot of reckless behavior.”
Belfast Fire Chief Jim Richards said this week that he could not comment on the type of ambulance calls his department responded to because that is confidential information.
Chief Deputy Jeff Trafton of the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office said that his agency is working on investigating the theft of a motorcycle that reportedly had been parked at Beltek.
Belmont First Selectman Barbara Bubar said Wednesday that in the last few years the town has rejected ordinances on noise and large gatherings that would have governed Beltek.
“It wasn’t well-received by the residents of Belmont,” she said. “Without an ordinance, it ties our hands.”
She said that while she has had concerns about the celebration in the past, her concerns are as a private citizen and not as a town official.
“The town really has no authority over private property and private parties,” she said.
The Beltek organizer said that the event gives an economic jolt to Belmont and Belfast every year.
“The majority of the town supports Beltek,” he said. “They come every year and tell us that.”
Bath salts
Yeah but the kids still have trouble with good old fashioned LSD
if this event was so copacetic and above board, why would the organizer choose ” not to be identified”??
Unfortunately a few bad apples provide the focus for the media and the state police. The festival is unique and adds to the wide mix of activities available in Waldo County, even helps the economy. I’m heartened to hear the residents of the town think in general it is a good thing.
And festivals will always attract substance-abusers, in fact I heard there was substantial beer consumption at the Celtic festival in Belfast?
“So sarge, there’s a festival in town where people are using drugs to bond with music and each other in an atmosphere away from the general populous, what should we do?”
“What else is there to do? Let’s go protect them from themselves! Grab the rifles and billy clubs, and a fat stack of citations!”
“Aye, aye sarge!”
Especially the “billy clubs” because up close and personal is much more gratifying.
Using drugs to “bond” with the music and each other? Were there children there too, or did they have someone checking ID’s and only adults allowed?
The cops only want the doughnut shop and peaceful evenings, this event surely messed up there numerous high speed trips up Swan Lake Ave. on there way to swanville. I slept well for a change as did many others.
Regardless of what this article is implying, beltek is great fest, where you will find thousands of people, a few drunk, a few high, and 99.999$ of them are surprisingly happy campers. its to bad that a few ambulance runs puts such a bad name on thousands of peoples fun.
Not my kind of scene, but let’s face it, the police are afraid of large groups of people stomping their feet in the night, and flashing lights that are not on top of a police car.
I don’t care for those things either, which is why I steer clear. But they just can’t… that’s not how heroes operate.
LSD is so hardcore, man.
Beware-
Free thinkers.