The city of Madison is less than a week away from enacting a Halloween plan about a year in the making. The past four such celebrations have ended with everything from violence to police using pepper spray. This year, however, police are hoping to avoid all that by shutting down the event early.
Last year an estimated 100,000 partygoers donned costumes and took to the street. This Saturday will be different in many ways. It will be a ticketed event, costing $5 to enter, and will be blocked off by snow fence. Like last year a public address system will announce the party is over. This time that will come at 1:30 a.m. daylight time, an hour and a half before bar time.