Holders of licensed firearms will not be allowed to take their weapons into Independence Park during Vincymas 2026 event.
Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police, Trevor “Buju” Bailey, announced at a Carnival Development Corporation press conference this week that licensed firearm holders will have to store their weapons before entering the park for carnival shows.
“Patrons who are entering Victoria Park will notice a mobile station will be placed on the outside, and those licensed firearm holders who have their firearm, you will not be allowed to enter Victoria Park to patronise any of the shows with your firearm with you,” he said, using the name of the park before it was changed last October.
He said the mobile booth will be staffed by police officers.
“You go to the mobile booth, officers will be there, you lodge your firearm, you will sign the book, they will take custody of your firearm. Whenever you’re ready to leave, you go back to the booth, you’ll sign out, you collect back your weapon,” Bailey explained.
He urged firearm owners to verify their weapons on collection.
“Make sure that you collect the same weapon that you hand over. Verify your serial numbers, get your weapon, and you go home and you’ll be safe,” he said.
“The only persons who should be carrying firearms in the park for the event are the police officers,” he said.
Bailey used the press conference to outline the police approach to security during the festival.
Vincymas 2026 is the first carnival since violence between the “6ixx” and “7even” gangs has popped up across the country.
Bailey said the police have ensured that the rural carnivals across the country have been conducted without incidents of violence.
He said CDC officials had referred to the police as their “number one partner” in delivering a safe festival — language Bailey echoed with his repeated emphasis on collaboration.
“CDC knows that they have a very senior partner in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, [we’ve] been working together well over the years. This year is no exception,” he said.
Bailey’s comments at the briefing framed safety as the foundation of Vincymas 2026 — from crowd control and behavioural management to glass‑bottle regulations and firearms restrictions — while sending a direct, public warning to anyone who might seek to test the security forces during the country’s biggest annual event.
“If you bring any 6ixx and 7even violence into Kingstown, you will come head on [with] number one,” he said, referring to the police force.
“We get serious when it comes to that,” the senior police officer said.