Madison city officials gathered Wednesday to discuss logistics and entertainment for the upcoming Freakfest, which will have its 10th anniversary Saturday.
Madison Police Department’s Central District Captain Carl Gloede emphasised that the event is safe and family-friendly and that the city is excited to hold Freakfest downtown again.
“We’ve come a long way from a public safety perspective in how this event plays out each fall,” he said.
Freakfest coincides with three other events on Saturday, as there is a Badgers football game and hockey game, as well as a production of “Wicked” at the Overture Center. However, the timing of each event will be beneficial to road closures, according to Madison Traffic Engineer Tom Mohr.
“The 11 o’clock football game is a big help to us,” Mohr said. “Traffic from the game will be pretty much from two to four, so the football traffic is pretty much gone by the time we close the streets.”
Gloede added that holding the football game in the morning, as opposed to the same time as Freakfest, is helpful to the police as well.
“A night football game drives the staffing levels up because we have to staff two events at the same time,” he said.
Greg Frank, chair of the Business Improvement District, explained that Freakfest has become a key event for downtown Madison.
“It really shows what can be done when the public and private sectors come together to take something that wasn’t that wonderful before and make it a great event,” Frank said.
Freakfest will be headlined by Timeflies and will also feature country artist Chase Rice. Tag Evers, founder and owner of concert promotion company True Endeavors, described Freakfest as “a fun, positive, safe event” for everyone.
“[It is] widely considered to be the biggest and best Halloween bash in the area,” Evers said.
