Authorities are increasing security at a festival that draws tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics to southwest Missouri each year.
The Joplin Globe reports that Carthage police are starting roadblocks Monday — two days earlier than normal. The Marian Days celebration begins Thursday on the grounds of the Congregation of the Mother of Co-Redemptrix, a Vietnamese monastery.
Police Chief Greg Dagnan said the stepped-up policing efforts won't be obvious to most of the participants. But he said the added measures are being planned because "of everything that's going on around the country and the world."
The event began in 1977 as a way to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus. The celebration also reunites families and friends separated after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
