While the popular theatrics surrounding the Freakfest event are expected to remain largely unchanged in 2011, students making plans for Halloween can expect to pay more for their ticket in the upcoming year.
At Thursday’s Downtown Coordinating Committee meeting, members were able to confirm that while a ticket price increase was recently approved in collaboration between the mayor and the production company, no members could confirm what the adjusted price would be.
Madison Parks Community Events Coordinator, Kelli Lamberty, said while the format of the event will be the same as in previous years, a ticket price increase has been negotiated, a development the majority of the committee, including City Council members present, were not previously made aware of.
“The event will be essentially the same as last year,” she said. “The admission price is going to go up, but at this time, I’m not sure by how much.”
Although the new ticket price is not yet widely available, Lamberty said more information on the event would likely be made available when Frank Productions, the Madison-based agency behind booking the event, releases the entertainment lineup for the event on Sept. 26.
Another change that could alter the face of the student-friendly event is the absence of police officers from the University of Wisconsin force, which typically join the Madison Police Department in providing law enforcement services for the event. City officials were uncertain of the exact reasoning for UWPD’s absence.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said this would likely lead to MPD having to provide additional manpower to cover the event, though there have historically been no major incidents in conjunction with the event since sponsorship of the event began.
The committee also voted to dip into the city’s Contingent Reserve Fund, a practice that is common for the event, for $35,018 to cover the event.
While many students consider Freakfest a priority event for the holiday, Verveer said the city of Madison has yet to break even financially on the Halloween festivities.
Verveer added the extent to which the city is subsidizing Freakfest has been on a decreasing trend since its inception.
He also said the Freakfest resolutions approved in the meeting mark the third and final committee before the details of the event come before the City Council on Tuesday.
“The Council was not consulted on the price increase,” Verveer said. “I just hope the price increase is reasonable for the quality of entertainment available.”
The committee also made the decision to offer roughly the same number of complimentary tickets to State Street area business owners.
In addition to unanimously approving a resolution to establish the event space as a glass-free zone and formerly authorize a city contract with Frank Productions, who the city has worked with since the second year of the event’s formal sponsorship, members voted to support the 2012 Operating Plan for Madison’s Central Business Improvement District.
Mary Carbine, executive director of Madison’s Central Business Improvement District, said the city also looks to expand the downtown trick-or-treating program in response to “overwhelming” turnout in the event’s second year. Nearly 800 children and their families collected candy from downtown businesses during the event.
