Although more than 33,000 people attended this year’s Freakfest, violent incidents and arrests within the event remained relatively low and isolated.
As of 2 a.m. Sunday, the special events policing team, comprised of about 300 officers, had made 36 arrests, up from last year’s total of 32, Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain said in a statement.
The incidents mostly involved open intoxicants and underage drinking, according to DeSpain.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said crowds were noticeably larger than in recent years, due in part to the popularity of headline musical acts Big Gigantic and Mac Miller, but still behaved fairly well.
Even so, the event did not occur completely without incident. The compacted audience during Big Gigantic’s concert nearly forced police and event organizers to end the concert early, according to Verveer.
“There were concerns that it was too crammed with too much movement...but before they knew it, the set was already over and everyone was able to safely exit the area,” Verveer said.
A Freakfest staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, said event attendees were generally cooperative throughout the night and only observed one incident involving a man trying to sneak into Freakfest.
“He was super drunk and I told him ‘You can’t come in this way,’” he said. “He just looked at me, ran through the entrance and right into [a bus stop] and fell down.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison junior Sarah Neubauer, who attended the three previous Freakfests in addition to this year’s, said the large police presence and controlled environment was positive overall.
“Sometimes [the police enforcement] takes away from Madison and what our college experience is about,” Neubauer said.
But overall Neubauer said the police enforcement during Freakfest is beneficial for the public and for the State Street businesses.
Katrina Underwood, a visiting student from the University of Illinois, experienced Halloween in Madison for the first time and said she thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of Freakfest.
Despite the crowds, Underwood said she did not feel the event was too wild.
“I think it’s been pretty under control,” Underwood said.
Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said Freakfest 2012 excelled in terms of safety and entertainment, but some logistics, including the timing of Freakfest with other university scheduled events, could be improved.
“For visitors to the campus area, traffic was pretty much a nightmare,” Resnick said. “I do hope UW athletics considers the date of Homecoming and the timing of the football game in the future.”
