To increase safety for both the bands and the audience, the Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee is looking to fundraise for a security wall.
The generator for the South Stage on the intersection of Court Street and Union Street broke at the end of the 2013 Halloween Block Party.
It sent a massive crowd to the north stage on State Street for the final musical acts. Thousands more than usual were packed into the area around the block party stage.
Eventually, the makeshift barrier to the stage became damaged, and the music stopped so the problem could be solved.
Brandon “DJ B-Funk” Thompson played that set and said the crowd got rowdy.
“No matter how you try to seal that area up with trucks and caution tape, you get a few assholes who jump on stage,” said Jonathan Holmberg, chairman of the Athens Clean and Safe Halloween Committee, which organizes the block party each year. “If someone has ill intent, it could create a real problem.”
That’s exactly what Holmberg and Thompson are trying to prevent this year.
Thompson created a campaign on Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website, to raise $4,000 to purchase an official security wall for Court Street’s north stage, similar to the ones used at concerts nationwide.
The wall isn’t something the committee has traditionally been able to afford. The north stage, near Dale’s BP, typically draws a larger crowd than the other stages, Holmberg said.
Thompson said another reason the more durable barrier is needed is because the band’s equipment, which sits behind the stage, has been left unprotected in the past.
“If someone wanted to walk off with something behind the stage, there’s not anyone to watch that,” said Thompson, the popular local DJ and Ohio University alumnus. “We need more people.”
The money raised as part of the Kickstarter campaign is separate from the traditional fundraising for the block party. For the celebration, everything is funded through donations and sponsorships. The City of Athens donates $250 for Halloween night entertainment.
Last year the city went $20,000 over the $50,000 budget to pay city officials overtime and finance other expenses such as porta-potties and dumpsters, according to a previous Post article.
The Kickstarter campaign will be live until Oct. 13. If the goal of $4,000 is not met, then the block party won’t receive any of the pledged money. The Kickstarter had 24 backers who pledged a total of $782 by press time.
Even if the money isn’t raised, more volunteers for the festivities would help keep everything under control, Thompson said.
There are typically 10 to 12 volunteers each year for two stages. When a third stage was added last year, that small group was stretched, Thompson said.
Thompson said he is disheartened by the fundraising campaign’s slow start, compared to Columbus man Zack Brown’s Kickstarter to make potato salad, which raised $55,492.
“There’s over 700 views on the video. I know people are getting to it,” he said. “If they want to see a better Halloween, they need to pitch in a little bit. … Without this money, we’ll have the same issues and do the same things.”
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