The annual Halloween celebration that draws thousands to State Street for music and merrymaking, could be settling into a pleasant adulthood after a long, turbulent youth.

Fires, broken windows and fighting were the hallmarks of the old Halloween on State Street, with crowds coming from around the Midwest to be part of the excitement, including the inevitable street-clearing tear gas and riot-equipped police to top off the evening.

Since 2006, the city has turned the Saturday closest to Halloween into Freakfest, a ticketed event with limited entry gates and professional musical entertainment.

Arrests dropped from 566 for the weekend in 2005 to 181 last year, and officials have declared their approach a success.

Police, though, still remember the wild years, and they will be out in force Saturday. They say if things go well for the third year in a row, they may consider fewer officers next year.

"We took something that was a black eye for the community and turned it around 180 degrees," Madison Police Lt. Joe Balles said.

"Freakfest has become less and less a police event and more a festival," said Balles, the lead police planner for the weekend. "So long as we continue to provide a safe, secure, workable entertainment venue, I only see it continuing to move in that direction."

A more popular band, O.A.R., is expected to attract more people — Ticketmaster has reported sales are ahead of last year's — but police say they still expect less trouble this year.

Complications

Complicating the event this year, said Balles, are three things:

• Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, turning the clock back one hour and meaning that bars will have an extra hour to remain open.

• Halloween is Friday, the day before Freakfest, so police will need to have enough officers on duty in case things get rowdy.

• The Badger men play a basketball game at the Kohl Center on Saturday night, adding to traffic congestion.

On Saturday, barricades to close State Street will start going up around 6:30 p.m., so basketball ticket holders should plan accordingly to make tipoff, especially anyone coming from the east.

Police will control vehicles attempting to enter Downtown from the east, giving some motorists access if they are heading for their homes or the Kohl Center.

Event details

There will be a dozen gates to the event where tickets will be taken and hands marked, he said.

Freakfest-goers will be able to come and go from the event as long as they have their hand stamped, he said.

Friday night, no streets will be blocked, and police expect the crowd to be more local. Fewer officers will be deployed, but there will be enough, Balles said.

"We do have the capacity to implement traffic closure if we need to," he said.

Here are the numbers, according to Balles:

• More than 400 members of law enforcement have been assigned to handle Freakfest, including 200 officers for State Street, 90 for arrest processing and 50 for traffic management. Officers will be drawn from the Madison Police Department, the State Patrol, the Dane County Sheriff's Office and other agencies.

• About 120 private guards, hired by a Milwaukee security firm, will be on hand.

• Seventeen cameras will be activated on top of light posts and buildings on State Street, University Avenue and the Capitol Square.

• Two staging areas will be used to process arrests. Those arrested will be taken from the staging area to the basement of the City-County Building where citations will be written and, for some, bail posted.

• Police expect fewer arrests. "It's trending downward," Balles said.

• Police will start closing stages and other activities at about midnight, working from the foot of State Street toward the Square, where the headline act, O.A.R., is scheduled to perform at 12:30 a.m.

• Last year, 35,000 tickets to Freakfest were sold. A total of 50,000 tickets have been authorized for the 2008 event, and Balles said ticket sales are ahead of last year.

• Tickets will be sold at five locations in the State Street area on the evening of Nov. 1. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 the day of the event. Advance tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, as well as at the following State Street outlets: B-Side Records, Chin's Asia Fresh, Clary's Popcorn, Dobra Tea, Goodwill, Knuckleheads, Lands' End, Pacuigo Gelatto & Café, State Street Cash Mart and University Book Store.