Mifflin Street Block Party

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The Mifflin Street Block Party is an annual celebration held on Mifflin Street in Madison, Wisconsin in late April. It is one of two large block parties held in Madison, the other being the Halloween party on State Street. The block party attracted around 20,000 participants in 2005 and features widespread consumption of alcoholic beverages, as well as many local and out-of-state bands playing on house porches and balconies.^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 1996 riot 1.2 Date change 2 Drinking 3 References

[edit] History

The Mifflin Street Block Party began in 1969 as a street dance in protest against the Vietnam War. The event arose as part of a continuing conflict between students and police in the "Miffland" area, centered on Mifflin Street.^[2] The event continued on during the war, even though the traumatic effects of the nearby Sterling Hall bombing had a dampening effect on anti-war protests across the country.^[3] Following the war, the event lost its focus on political protest and instead became a general celebration sponsored by the Mifflin Street Co-Op. In the 1990s, the co-op dropped its greater involvement in the block party and it became an entirely student-organized event.^[2]

[edit] 1996 riot

On May 6, 1996, the worst riot in the history of the block party occurred, when a crowd of several thousand people threw bottles at a fire truck that had come to put out a bonfire started by the crowd to combat the cold weather. Police were forced to use riot gear to retake the block, and the riots resulted in thousands of dollars of damage. The 1997 event was planned very carefully, but attracted few people due to poor weather. No major riots have occurred since 1996.^[2]

[edit] Date change

The block party occurred on the first Saturday of May every year until 2005, when University of Wisconsin students lobbied to have the date changed to the last Saturday in April to avoid conflicts with finals. Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz refused the date change at first, citing the additional cost and strain it would place on the city's police force. After students vowed to throw a large celebration both weekends, the mayor agreed to move the date of the block party with a promise from student leaders that they would discourage celebrations on the first week in May.^[1][4] However, the mayor requested that the Associated Students of Madison pay for the additional costs of moving the date. The 2005 event was considered one of the calmest on record, with 225 arrests and 317 citations,^[1][5] including the arrest of the University of Wisconsin football team's running back, Booker Stanley.^[6] The block party was scheduled for Saturday, April 29 by city officials in 2006.^[7]

[edit] Drinking

The nearby University of Wisconsin-Madison is frequently ranked in the top ten United States "party schools" in a wide variety of different national surveys, with Madison ranked as the number one binge drinking town in the U.S. by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Mifflin Street Block Party is cited as a contributing factor to these rankings.^[8] Alcohol is permitted anywhere outside as long as it is not in breakable containers, and drinking begins as early as 9:00 in the morning or earlier.^[9] Police in Madison are working with the CDC to try to lower the amount of alcohol consumed at the block party,^[8] and are using Facebook as a means to deter the sale of alcohol without a permit.^[10]

[edit] References