Saturday’s High Fest had the good fortune of warm weather and a packed crowd, but students and law enforcement found the annual celebration to be relatively calm.
Enforcement of Athens’ nuisance-party ordinance helped to keep the fest tamer than in past years, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said.
“We used the (nuisance party law) sparingly last year, but really enforced it this year,” Pyle said. “High Fest was over by 8 (p.m.), so it clearly works.”
Fourteen of the 17 houses that violated the nuisance-party law were shut down, with the first ending at about 6:30 p.m., Pyle said.
The nuisance-party ordinance allows police to shut down parties deemed out of control.
“It just looked like a typical High Fest; there was nothing out of the ordinary,” Pyle said. “The majority of arrests happened earlier in the day and it seemed like there were less (arrests) than usual.”
Arrest numbers for High Fest were unavailable by press time.
Mathew Birdsall, a senior studying sports administration and a resident of High Street said he enjoyed the fest because he has never lived on a street with a fest before.
“(I’m) checking something off the bucket list today,” Birdsall said. “Everyone is having a great time, and we want everyone to continue to have fun.”
One Washington Street resident hired DJ Ace to perform on High Street, but Ace said he prefers to perform in bars or clubs.
“Honestly, I don’t like playing fests because of all of the drunkenness around my equipment,” Ace said. “I do it more for the atmosphere.”
Jade Garcia, a freshman, said High Fest was not her first fest, but she was surprised at the turnout.
“(High Fest) has the impression of not being a lot of fun,” Garcia said. “I got to know a lot more people. I think it’s pretty fun.”
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