Despite his overall impression that "things went absolutely fantastically" at this year's Freakfest, there was one thing that Downtown Ald. Mike Verveer couldn't help notice was missing, he said.

For the third year in a row — or ever since the city chose to tame the Halloween event on State Street by gating it off and charging admission — too many UW-Madison students are choosing to skip Freakfest the way they might cut an unpopular class, he said.

"You realize this event isn't exactly the magnet it once was," said Verveer, 4th District, who was heavily involved in the party's planning. "Many students did choose to attend house parties or to patronize bars that were outside the gated area. There are students who do have some issues with Freakfest and don't think it's as cool as it could be."

Verveer and other city officials were pleased with the low number of arrests from Saturday night to Sunday morning, and the event again having no serious injuries or property damage.

"It was a good night," said Lt. Wayne Strong on Sunday.

But Verveer said the city should work more closely with students to make next year's event more pleasing. Further reducing stadium lighting at the event and possible changes to how the street is cleared post-event could help, he said.

"I want to ensure we are doing everything we can to encourage our local students to attend this event," he said. "We had the facilities and the capacity to have at least 10,000 more people there for this event."