State Street business owners and residents raised concerns about changes made to Madison's annual Freakfest event at an informational meeting held by Madison's Central Business Improvement District Wednesday.
Businesses open past 6 p.m. will receive the same number of tickets they received last year, but businesses that close before 6 p.m. Saturday will only receive three complimentary tickets, down from the four provided last year.
Mayor Paul Soglin's assistant Astra Iheukumere said cost concerns were the reason the city is reducing the number of tickets they allot to businesses.
""We assume that when we send out [complimentary] tickets, they're used,"" Iheukumere said. ""If they're not used, which is what we've heard in previous years, that's driving our logic to cut down where we can.""
Businesses initially limited to three tickets can request more from the city. State Street private residents, who are initially provided two tickets by the city, can also request additional tickets.
Still, some businesses said they might shorten their business hours due to Freakfest and expressed concern about having to go out of their way to obtain additional tickets when they did not have to in the past.
""These aren't a replacement for tickets that people would buy to go to the event,"" Executive Director of Madison's Central Business Improvement District Mary Carbine said. ""These are tickets for people who are trying to either give employees access or monitor the safety of their business.""
Ticket prices will also increase slightly from last year due to cost concerns. The cost of tickets purchased in advance will increase from $7 to $8, and the cost of tickets purchased at the event will increase from $10 to $12.
Frank Productions, the concert promoter for Freakfest, confirmed that the location of the entertainment venues will remain unchanged from last year. There will be a stage on the Capitol Square, a stage on Frances and State, and third state on Gilman and State.
No major changes are scheduled in regard to safety or crowd control.
A mobile cellular phone tower will be located in the Buckeye parking lot in an attempt to boost cellular phone coverage during the festival.
