A student group introduced its effort to legitimize Madison Halloween festivities Thursday, marketing it as ""Freakfest,"" an open-air music festival.
""We're calling Halloween on State Street ‘Freakfest' this year to kind of go along with the freaky scary costumes students wear on State Street,"" said Tom Wangard, co-chair of the HAC.
Wangard and his group, calling themselves the Halloween Action Committee, worked together with AD2 Madison, a group of young advertising professionals, to develop the new marketing strategy.
AD2 Madison President Lindsay Ostrowski said she thought branding the event would help tame crowds and protect the event's future.
""With the students helping with this event and taking more ownership of it, I think that the students that are coming in that really want to riot or party or get into trouble—those numbers will go down,"" she said.
The new Halloween, the HAC hopes, will be a festival where students can listen to music on two different stages located on State Street.
Local acts would play on the stages, followed by a big name national act.
A main concern for the HAC and the city is finding a sponsor for the event.
""We're just looking into sponsors who have had a presence on campus before, and who have a national presence,"" said Brandon Sivret, the group's other co-chair.
Wangard said he is going to approach Associated Students of Madison about providing funds to supplement the $5 they will charge for admission to help defray costs.
Jay Potash, a UW-Madison sophomore who attended the HAC's unveiling of their plans, said that he thinks the idea of legitimizing Halloween is gaining popularity.
""I think everyone wants to have a safe, fun Halloween so that it can keep going in the future,"" he said.
Ald. Austin King, District 8, who also attended the event, said the HAC has great potential for relaying students' opinions to city officials.
""Whether we agree with the mayor's plan or disagree with the mayor's plan, it's important we have an opportunity for input,"" he said.
Before it began its partnership with the mayor's office, the HAC was a reactionary student group on Facebook called ""Move Halloween to Langdon 2006.""
""It's no longer an us-versus-them scenario; it's all of us,"" Sivret, said.
The group decided to work with the city after they addressed the group's concerns about limits on the amount of partygoers, police presence at the entrance and quality of musical acts.
