As Halloween weekend is shaping up to be an even bigger event than usual with the actual holiday on Friday and the city's annual Freakfest party on Saturday night, officials are speaking out on how to minimize trouble and inconveniences during the celebration.
Madison Police Department Central District Captain Mary Schauf said bigger crowds are expected on State Street Friday night because it is the official holiday and Saturday night for the major headlining act O.A.R. As a result of a tamer celebration during recent years, Schauf said there will be 20 to 40 less State Troopers on State Street this year, however, there will still be the same number of police patrolling on Friday as Saturday.
According to Schauf, the number of Freakfest arrests was cut in half from 2006 to 2007, a trend police hope will continue. She noted that 65 percent of people arrested at Freakfest last year were affiliated with a university, many of whom attend UW System schools and other Big Ten schools besides UW-Madison. When arrests do happen, however, some out-of-town partygoers or people unfamiliar with the city may not know what to do.
For Freakfest 2008, Schauf said police are considering handing out cards to people detailing the process of reuniting with friends who get arrested or escorted off State Street. The cards would tell people to meet up with their lost friend at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Doty Street in order to reduce hassles for police and Freakfest attendees alike.
Otherwise we get inundated with people trying to figure out where their friends are going,"" Schauf said.
To make the party easier for Madison residents, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the city is giving free tickets to people who live and work on State Street. Verveer said the only complaint he has heard from residents is that they are sometimes unable to make it home when cleanup crews take over the streets at the end of the night.
Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, said residents of the private dorms Statesider and Towers have been pushing for free tickets to Freakfest for years. Despite their proximity to State Street, Judge said those residents do not currently receive free tickets because their address is technically on North Frances Street, but negotiations are still in the works.
