Although Halloween is more than a month away, partiers and law enforcement alike are still in the dark as to when the festivities will actually take place.
Because Oct. 31 is on a Thursday this year, it is unclear whether the revelry will ensue the weekend before (Oct. 25-27) or the weekend after (Oct. 31- Nov. 2).
This uncertainty provides the police department, city officials and bars with questions about which weekend they should expect increased crowds and rowdiness.
“I’m not only anticipating but also encouraging that the [the Halloween festivities] will take place Halloween night and the following weekend . . . I would be surprised if I saw no one in costume on the 26, but they would be in the small minority,” said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who is one of many asserting their belief that the parties will happen on the weekend following the 31. “The weekend starts on Thursday here anyway,” he added.
Madison Police chief Richard Williams offered a slightly different outlook.
“We have been debating [the issue of which weekend Halloween parties will commence] ourselves and there is no definite answer, but I’m personally hoping that it’s the weekend before,” said Williams.
Aside from law enforcement, there are also many local business owners and students who are unsure of which weekend will be the definitive Halloween weekend.
“Our take is that [the 31st] will be the biggest night of all and the weekend after that will follow suit,” said Ross Johnson, general manager of State Street Brats.
Johnson believes the party will take place twice.
“The weekend before will surely be big, too, but the second weekend will be much bigger.”
Isaac Stolen, sophomore at University of Wisconsin, owns a house with a few of his friends. He believes the weekend of Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 will be the bigger of the two as well. His friends and he will be partaking in the festivities that weekend.
“We’ll be having a party that weekend,” Stolen said.
Not only will students be throwing parties, but thousands of their friends from across the nation will be arriving, too. “I’ve got three friends coming down the weekend before,” said Matt Van Hout, freshman at UW.
All sides seem to be very well prepared for the Halloween parties this year.
“We’ll have extra staffing and training . . . Our concern is for safety and orderliness,” declared Williams.
The police department will have the Special Events Team (SET) on duty for Halloween for efficient crowd management in addition to having extra officers out on the streets.
Ald. Verveer concurred with this information.
“In addition to the SET, we’ll have an elaborate traffic-control plan in use,” said Verveer.
With expectations of over 60,000 people on State Street alone, the city must be prepared. State Street Brats has hired “a ton of bouncers who will work tightly with the police,” said Johnson. “And of course we’ll have a lot more food and drink.”
After receiving everyone’s input, it would be reasonable to assume the big Halloween bash will occur the weekends both before and after Halloween this year. When asked if the police force would be prepared if they guessed wrong about the Halloween weekend, Williams replied, “I wouldn’t not want to consider that.”
