It’s almost that magical time of year when downtown residents herald in the arrival of spring and the end of the school year by drinking beer out of a hollowed-out plastic yard flamingo.

The Mifflin Street Block Party has long been a staple of campus life since its origins during the tumultuous Vietnam War era of the late ’60s. In fact, recent Mayor-elect Paul Soglin was among the first attendees of the Block Party, intended as an anti-war protest event, and managed to get arrested twice. That’s definitely the kind of tenacity I like to see in an elected official.

Of course, the Block Party has tamed down since its activist origins and evolved into the day-long drinking festival we see today. But as it still consists largely of illegal activities such as open intoxicant violations and underage drinking, the city is always looking for ways to make Mifflin at least somewhat palatable for them.

This year, control of the Block Party switched hands when campus radio station WSUM pulled out of its sponsorship, and the owners of Majestic Live, along with Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc., stepped in with a new vision for Mifflin.  Among the proposed changes are lifting the ban on drinking on the streets and sidewalks, having several beer stands throughout the street instead of a beer garden and an increased focus on musical acts.

I can hear people scoffing already:”They’re trying to corporatize Mifflin and turn it into some stupid, lame music festival just like how they ruined State Street Halloween.” 

But in reality, Mifflin has been “corporatized” since the former Mifflin Street Co-op decided to help legitimize the party back in the ’70s.

What’s more, once the Co-op stepped in to sponsor Mifflin, the police presence finally eased up a bit on its “hippie busting” bender and allowed the party to flourish and attendance to grow. So in all fairness, having some form of sponsorship behind Mifflin has been a good thing overall.

This year also marks the first time since 1991 the city will overlook its open container law in order to complement the idea of open beer vendors along the street. I’m a pretty big fan of this decision since people won’t just get arrested the second they step off a yard and onto a sidewalk like in years past.

I just have to wonder what else the police will find to do since they aren’t worried about open containers. I highly doubt the city will cut back on police presence that day, so their attention could focus more on house raids and underage tickets.

It’s also strange that CNI, the neighborhood association that has previously been the Rex Banner of Mifflin celebrations, would agree to take up the mantle of beer vendor this year. I guess the spirit of capitalism is alive and well, even among those with rigid collective morals.

But it will be tough to limit people to drinking just the beer from vendor carts, which CNI and Majestic Live are banking on to help cover sponsorship costs. Even if it’s something like $3 per cup, it’s just so much easier and less expensive to carry in your own booze.

And with the suspended open container law, there’s really nothing anyone can do to stop you from taking out your pocket flask in the middle of the street to toast the police officer you just took a picture with.

Mifflin gets expensive, so I understand the need to make some money wherever possible, but I’m just not seeing how practical it is for the new sponsors to try paying live music costs on top of typical Mifflin expenses.

In fact, organizers recently scaled back plans for this year after Madison Police rejected their idea of hiring a private security company to “compel” people to only drink vendor beer. MPD rightly acknowledged having someone with no legal authority trying to tell drunken students what they can or cannot drink will just lead to a heap of unnecessary problems.

With ideas like that one, I’m just hoping those future plans for a “mini Lollapalooza” don’t include wristband and gating fees, which will surely meet protest from partygoers.

I am not denying how hard it must have been for Majestic Live and CNI to hammer out Mifflin plans when they admittedly got a late start after WSUM pulled out, but I’d say there are still some lingering questions – both short and long-term – about what Mifflin will look like,  and I would like to see them answered.

But hey, Mifflin has changed for the better before, so I’ll try to be optimistic and raise at least one glass of vendor beer to the sponsors.

Alicia Yager ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and French.