Freakfest, Madison’s annual Halloween celebration, has been canceled for the third year in a row due to issues with funding and support, according to an article from NBC 15.
In place of Freakfest this year, the City of Madison announced alternative activities during the week leading up to Halloween, though there isn’t anything planned for Halloween day.
Alternative activities are taking place on the Capitol Square in the late afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 26, including hayrides around Capitol Square, a family-friendly trick-or-treating event and a showing of Hocus Pocus, which will be screened at the 100 block of State Street, the announcement said.
Freakfest was last held in 2019, during which rapper Lil Yachty drew crowds despite cold and rainy conditions. In 2020 and 2021, the event was canceled due to COVID-19 precautions to lower transmission rates in Dane County, according to NBC 15.
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“The City has determined, even before the pandemic, Freakfest was failing and entailing significant public cost and declining interest by promoters,” Parks Division spokesperson Ann Shea said in an email to The Badger Herald.
This decision upset some University of Wisconsin students, especially since the majority of students that have experienced Freakfest are now seniors.
UW senior Alisha Parboteeah said she was disappointed in this decision, especially because she had already bought costumes for the event.
“I was thinking that since COVID has let up, things would be up and going again, but just finding out that it’s cancelled for unrelated reasons is just really disappointing,” Parboteeah said.
But the original organizers of Freakfest who worked with the city to book performers and handle operational issues informed officials they could not keep the show running without significant cost to the city, Adler Mike Verveer said.
The future of Freakfest is unclear. But if the Madison community is passionate about bringing it back, it could be possible, Verveer said.
In preparation for Halloween, the City of Madison announced other safety precautions, including a ban of glass bottles on State Street throughout the weekend. “Streeteries,” or restaurants who expand their outdoor seating onto sidewalks, will close at 6 p.m., according to an article from Wisconsin Public Radio.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correct an error regarding the funding of Freakfest. It was also updated to reflect that information from Verveer was received in an interview with The Badger Herald.
