After last spring’s fest season left Athens with a charred reputation, law enforcement and public officials are citing the cooperation of partygoers as reason for newfound calmness.
This year, law enforcement arrested 266 people — down almost 25 percent from 353 in 2012 — during fest season.
This year’s fests — High, Mill, Palmer Place, Palmer and 11Fest — all saw the presence of the Ohio Investigative Unit, part of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. The unit sends undercover cops into town during fests.
Both Ohio University and Athens Police Departments made arrests at Mill and Palmer fests, and the Athens County Sheriff’s Office made arrests at 11Fest, which was hosted outside city limits.
Fests have changed in both expectation and presentation, and the nuisance-party ordinance was the main factor in a smoother fest season this year, said Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle.
“I would call it a success. There is no comparison to last year’s fest season,” Pyle said. “This year was calm and there was a lot of cooperation; last year we didn’t have that.”
Ohio University Police Chief Andrew Powers agreed.
"Overall I would say it was less disruptive than years past,” Powers said. “People were fairly compliant and cooperative overall."
Both the OUPD and APD mobilized their entire departments for Mill and Palmer fests, and both put forth a significant presence at High Fest, Powers said.
“This is consistent with what we’ve done over the past two or three years,” Powers said. “I’m reluctant to speculate because two years ago Palmer Fest was pretty benign and last year we had a house fire. I’d want to have two or three calm fest seasons before I say something significant changed."
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl — who declared Palmer Fest a riot last year following a house fire that would later be declared arson — is also happy with this year’s massive block parties.
“The idea is to get ahead of it before it gets out of hand,” Wiehl said, adding that this year, “at Palmer (Fest), most houses were shut down after repeated warnings and I think that's a good way to do that.”
From what Wiehl saw of the parties, he said they all fell under the nuisance-party category, whether it was because of noise, litter or level of intoxication.
“There's a lot you can be cited for, but not everyone gets arrested,” Wiehl said. “I think we did OK.”
Wiehl added that the shift to semesters also contributed to a calmer fest season.
“This is all new to everybody,” Wiehl said. “Every year there will be an adaptation on how to deal with this. Maybe they'll plan their parties differently, but we may have to change our strategies too.”
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