One year removed from an unwelcome increase in attendance at Chapel Hill’s Halloween festivities, town and University officials are — once again — seeking a smaller and safer celebration.
After the Homegrown Halloween initiative brought a scaled-down celebration of 35,000 people in 2008, attendance surged last year to a total of 50,000 people, said Jeff DeLuca, one of UNC’s undergraduate representatives for the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.
With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, DeLuca said they are hoping for a more manageable crowd of between 20,000 and 35,000 people that will further reduce incidents of gang violence, property crime and crowd panic.
But as an additional safety caution this year, the student government’s student safety and security committee will be paying about $1,000 in fees to keep the Safe Ride buses running later on Halloween night. The buses normally operate only from Thursday to Saturday.
“Students are paying for this service, so we really hope they take advantage of this to create a safer campus,” said Student Body Vice President Holly Boardman.
In fall 2008, the student government worked to reroute the Safe Ride buses, which run from Franklin Street to many residential areas. On previous Halloweens, some routes had been canceled due to the closing of Franklin Street.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp said that Homegrown Halloween has made the festivities more manageable and has helped to ensure the safety of the students, emphasizing the decision to end festivities at midnight as opposed to 2 a.m.
“They want to keep it a fun event and end it when it has historically become dangerous,” Crisp said.
He said that University and student volunteers monitor the campus to locate students who have become drunk or injured and make sure that they receive the medical attention that they need. In order to provide these medical services, the University partners with Orange County’s EMS and converts Hill Hall into a temporary emergency station.
