Excuses that won't work:?""I left my ticket in my house.""?""I'm from out-of-town and my ticket is in my car which got towed.""?""My girlfriend is dressed as Cookie Monster and she ate it.""?""Officer, please: I'm a stripper for Halloween, it's in my underwear and it's part of my costume.""?
Forgot your ticket to State Street Halloween 2006???Do not plan on getting an exception from the city or Madison police. Rightly so, considering all the planning and publicity invested in this year's ""Freakfest"" celebration.
Accordingly, it is necessary for all revelers—UW-Madison students, permanent residents and non-Madisonians alike—to play by the rules this Halloween.?
Over the past four years, Halloween evolved from an open free-for-all to a ?blocked-off block party. The reason, according to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, ?is that each time the city finds a solution to the unruly behavior, the rule is reinstituted the following year.
Thus, students will find the high-beam lights from 2005 shining on their celebration Saturday. But if this year's ticketing policy?doesn't work, what's in store for next year???
The city has been a bit extreme by bringing in professional security at the nine entrances and employing more police than last year, but last year's partiers pushed the limits too.??
Police also overreacted in past years, so let's not give them a reason to deploy the pepper spray. If we students want the right to party, we must play by the rules.
Don't climb over the collapsible barriers, don't bring a hammer if you are dressed as ?a construction worker and don't protest the $5 ticket rule by ?inciting a riot. And if you dress as a firefighter, do not start a fire.
Cieslewicz said the police arrest people based on the ""Pick Me"" ?Syndrome, meaning those who are wantonly unruly. When entrances to State Street close at 1:30 a.m. and the party begins to phase out, be sure to contain ""pick me"" tendencies. Tell your out-of-town friends to take the party elsewhere without getting rowdy.
To help curb crowds and lessen the length of lines, buy your ?tickets from one of the four booths early—do not wait until Friday night ?or Saturday to purchase your right to enter State Street. Chances are, if you wait, the ?narrow entrances will back up and create a riot-friendly environment.?
And remember: Cash and local checks are the only forms of payment taken at ?the booths. Party by the rules—doing so will be the ticket to more relaxed celebrations in the future.
