Madison's Halloween Bash Has New Look

From the pedestrian to the profane, costumed college students and others roamed downtown Saturday in an annual weekend party that in recent years has ended with drunken mayhem and police spraying pepper gas.

But this year, with new constraints in place — including ticket sales for the first time — police were estimating a far smaller crowd than the more than 80,000 that jammed State Street last year.

The total number arrested from Friday night through 2 a.m. this morning was 230, compared with 566 last year.

Police say one person was arrested for felony assault of a police officer. Another officer broke a wrist in a fall while pursuing a suspect.

About 35,000 costumed revelers turned out for this year's party, less than half of last year's 80,000 that jammed the party.

The crowd on Friday night was much better behaved than in years past, said George Twigg, a spokesman for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

"We had no reports of serious crime or injury resulting from crime," he said.

Several hours into the event, lines were forming to enter the street and police officers stood on nearly every corner. Costumes ranged from Waldo of "Where's Waldo" fame to Cap'n Crunch and Moses, carrying what he purported to be the 11th Commandment: "Thou Shalt Beer Me."

David Peterson of Madison said he's been to the Halloween party every year since 1976. This year he came with his 4-year-old daughter, who was dressed as a unicorn.

Peterson wasn't sure whether the new efforts at restraining the party — including charging a $5 admission fee and blocking off the street — would quell the violence of past years.

"You can't call this one," said Peterson, who was dressed as a wizard.

In the early hours last year, there were many more people on the street, he said.

As they have in recent years, police had more than 250 officers on patrol along State Street, a pedestrian-only avenue. High-powered cameras kept an eye out for lawbreakers, while officials watched from a command post a block from the action.

Playboy magazine cited the party in April as one of the reasons it named UW-Madison the nation's top party school.

This year, in addition to the entrance fee, the city imposed time limits — 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. — but the bars were staying open until the usual 2:30 a.m.

The dearth of ticket sales led some to worry that the crowds would instead spill over into neighborhoods that house mostly students. A home football game and an extra hour to party thanks to daylight-saving time ending also had city officials on edge.

Overall, though, the crowd was well-behaved and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Police Chief Noble Wray called Saturday night a success.

"We met all three of my goals for this year," Cieslewicz said. "We did not have to use pepper spray or have our police in riot gear. We reduced the amount of over-consumption of alcohol. And we recovered a significant part of the costs."

After the festivities ended at 1:30 a.m., it took about an hour for the last remaining groups of people to disperse. With police watching from the sidewalks, and atop about a dozen horses, the crowd of primarily students dressed as everything from Tigger to the Duke lacrosse team, chanted, sang and hopped around in the frigid night.

"I expected more rowdiness," said Josh Simpson of Madison. "We're expecting them to use tear gas."

There was no widespread vandalism or violence. Police reported no major incidents along State Street, where the party was centered, or adjoining neighborhoods.

"I thought it would be more chaotic," said Tom Berringer, a senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., who made his second trip to Madison for the party.

Significant problems date to 2002, when revelers threw rocks and bottles, breaking at least 12 windows and damaging police cars. In 2003, store windows were broken and at least two cars were tipped over. In 2004, a small bonfire was started and 450 people were arrested.

Last year, between Friday night and Sunday morning, 447 people were arrested. As they had since 2002, police used pepper spray to quell a crowd of about 2,000.