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Mifflin Street Block Party draws 30,000

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Thousands of Madisonians and University of Wisconsin students converged on the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin Street for the 35th Annual Mifflin Street block party Saturday.

Festivities began early and carried on into the night until partygoers left of their own accord around 2 a.m. Sunday.

A spokesman for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said before the event that he was concerned about the possibility of trouble this year, but the party proceeded without major incident.

In preparation for the event, police asked residents not to park their cars on Mifflin Street on Saturday and announced that any vehicles still on the street Saturday morning would be towed.

The city also warned residents in the weeks before the party that anyone in possession alcohol the on public property — i.e., the sidewalk or street — would be found in violation of city ordinances and could be ticketed, but by late Saturday afternoon, alcohol was freely consumed on both public and private land.

“It was huge. It looked like a giant Coors Light commercial,” University of Wisconsin freshman Tim Schultz said of Saturday’s events.

In between keeping the peace and enforcing laws where they could, police officers were seen posing for photos with partiers, some even taking pictures or videos with their own cameras.

“I couldn’t believe the cops were cool with it,” UW freshman Mike Foster said.

The Madison Police Department, Dane County Sheriff’s Department and the UW Police Department all provided officers for the event, with the city shouldering most of the personnel responsibility by deploying 100 officers to patrol the two-block area.

Police closed off a section of Mifflin at 3 p.m. when it was no longer safe for vehicles to drive down the street. The section wasn’t reopened until 2 a.m. Sunday.

According to a press release from the Madison Police Department, the crowd grew to a height of an estimated 30,000 this year, with revelers staying relatively peaceful throughout the day.

One officer noted that the size of the crowd and the sunny weather were ideal and that things seemed to go very well.

In 1996, partiers at the street spectacle received 20 injuries, set multiple trash cans and a car on fire, vandalized a city fire truck and drunkenly assaulted police with broken bottles and rocks.

A 22-year-old male was injured when he fell from a second-story balcony on the 500 block of Mifflin Street at around 6 p.m. He was rushed to an area hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.

Seven arrests were made in relation to disorderly conduct or battery, and seven drinkers were taken to the Dane County detoxification center. In all, 26 citations were made for alcohol-related violations.

Officers said that these citations were given mostly to people who attracted attention to themselves and their illegal activity.

The Mifflin Street block party was not the only downtown event this weekend. Other scheduled events included the Million Marijuana March and UW’s weeklong Wisconsin Alumni Student Board-organized All Campus Party, which was capped off Saturday night with a live performance by Arrested Development on the Union Terrace.