Thousands of students filled Court Street Saturday night for Athens’ annual Halloween weekend celebration, but the crowds were calmer than in years past, according to the Athens Police Department.
“It was definitely mild,” APD Chief Nick Magruder said. “I definitely think the students and the population have just changed. I think the students have really just kind of calmed down a little bit, and it's just not as much of an out-of-control party, (it’s) more or less just a community event.”
Arrest data from Saturday night highlights the shift over the years. This year's event saw a total of 54 citations, which included various offenses such as arrests and excessive noise, according to the APD. In comparison, there were 51 arrests reported in 2009 and 210 in 1994.
Drew Howard, a junior studying finance, spoke about how APD has affected the student party scene.
“The Athens cops are all over the parties,” Howard said. “They shut them down as fast as they can. I’ve even seen one get shut down in 10 minutes.”
Magruder said enforcement practices have remained consistent over the years, despite perceptions of heavier policing.
“I've never instructed our guys, like, ‘Hey, you need to be out there doing this, you need to be out there doing that,’“ Magruder said. “I just think we're doing the same thing we've done for the last 10 years.”
The decline in arrests may reflect larger cultural changes, as fewer students drink heavily or attend large house parties, according to a previous report by The Post. Others point to the city’s efforts to make the event more structured.
Brandon Thompson, known locally as DJ B-Funk, is an event planner for the Halloween block party and said crowds have shrunk dramatically.
“The crowds have definitely shrunk since the crazy times of the 1990s-2010s,” Thompson said. “But whether you have thousands of people or several hundred in front of the stage, the energy is always wild.”
In previous years, the block party featured two stages with performers: one next to the College Book Store and one next to the Sunoco gas station. This year, there was only one stage next to the bookstore.
Andie Walla, an associate professor of instruction at the School of Media Arts & Studies, performed with her band The Wallabeez at the 2009 Halloween block party and said the celebration once felt bigger and more spirited.
“There were a lot more people, I feel like, and it was actually Halloween,” Walla said. “I think there was a little bit more passion, too, when it was actually Halloween we were celebrating on.”
Walla also recalled earlier years featuring a beer garden where people could drink openly.
“The biggest thing that I've noticed since COVID is that more people are hesitant to be in crowds, I guess, and I think the city of Athens and folks have really kind of tried to embrace a family-friendly block party,” Walla said.
However, the idea of the block party not being as good as it used to be is nothing new.
In a 1985 opinion piece for The Post, OU alumnus Sean Flynn wrote that after attending several years in a row, “walking around in a mass of 15,000 paper-mache weenies for more than 20 minutes is boring.”
Flynn wrote that as he went through college, the Halloween block party became less and less fun.
“Instead, I’ve found a nice uptown balcony where there will be a party with people somebody knows, people I may even know,” Flynn wrote. “I’m going to have fun at that party.”
Although Flynn did not become disillusioned with the event because of the lack of activity, he stopped liking the block party because he said it got old.
“Historically, the first time you attend the block party always seems like the craziest because you’ve never seen anything like it, and every subsequent year is always living up to in your own mind what your first one was,” Walla said.
