As plans for Freakfest 2007 continue to be finalized, the city of Madison will hold a news conference this afternoon to outline the changes made to this year’s Halloween celebration.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Dave Maynard of Frank Productions and several representatives from the Madison Police Department will convene at the City County Building at 1 p.m. to discuss the coming weekend’s events.
Among the most noticeable changes this year are private management by Frank Productions, corporate sponsorship from Mountain Dew and Milio’s Sandwiches, and national bands such as Lifehouse.
“This is a glimpse of what future Halloweens are going to look like,” said MPD Lt. Joe Balles. “It’s going to be about fun and music — it’s not about the dark days.”
While the MPD hopes this year’s celebration will end peacefully, Balles said the department will be ready for any problems that may arise.
“If we have troublemakers that come down to State Street, we have more than enough Madison police officers to deal with any situation that develops,” Balles said.
According to Cieslewicz, there will be officers from all around the state of Wisconsin in Madison throughout weekend to help manage both Homecoming events and Halloween celebrations. While the MPD, the University of Wisconsin Police Department and the Dane County Sheriff’s Office will take most of the responsibility for the events themselves, State Capitol Police, Wisconsin State Troopers and Middleton police officers will all lend a hand to manage traffic.
Cieslewicz said there will probably be officers in Madison this weekend from two other local municipalities as well.
Despite the tremendous police force, however, the mayor said he hopes to keep the city’s expenditures for Freakfest below last year’s numbers. In 2006, the city spent approximately $600,000 for the Halloween event, most of which went toward policing State Street.
“If all goes smoothly, we actually think that our costs will be reduced just because of the way they’ve handled the schedule — there will be fewer people on overtime,” Cieslewicz said. “We’ll have the same number of cops out there, but with fewer people needing to work time and a half, the cost will be reduced.”
To assist police officers, the MPD will monitor eight new security cameras in the downtown area throughout the weekend, all of which were up and running this week. There are currently two cameras on University Avenue at the Frances Street and Lake Street intersections, and six on State Street.
With new Wi-Fi technology, officers will be able to monitor the cameras from their squad cars anywhere in the area.
With the new changes to Madison’s Halloween festivities, Balles said he hopes Freakfest is on its way to becoming a big-time event.
“What happened a few years ago was not a true event,” Balles said. “It was bunch of people showing up looking for an event, and sometimes making the event happen.”
Balles said he hopes UW students will stay together in groups, use their heads and respect each other, but also hopes attendees will enjoy themselves.
“So much as this is a chore [for the MPD], there are a lot of officers who have a lot of fun down there, too,” Balles said. “This is a night for Madison to shine.”
