The evolution of the Mifflin Street Block Party from 1969 to today

The first Mifflin Street party in May 1969 turned into a protest by UW-Madison students who were denied permission to hold an anti-war "street dance."

Police responded to a noise complaint and three days of rioting ensued. Seventy people were injured and 100 were arrested, including then-Ald. Paul Soglin.

Following the riots of 1969, the city of Madison passed an ordinance legalizing block parties and street use permits on Jan. 20, 1970.

On March 21, 1970, between 600 and 1,000 attended the second block party on Mifflin Street, billed as Madison's first legal block party. With no police in sight, the event was a peaceful contrast to the previous year.

"Mifflin on the Mall" continued for a few years into the 1980s, and the Mifflin Street Co-op began organizing the annual party.

Attendance waned a bit in the early 80s, but by the end of the decade upwards of 12,000 people attended the party each year.

In 1990, following years of mostly uneventful parties, the police presence was removed. The Mifflin Street Co-op hired four off-duty police officers, and the event went off peacefully.

However, in 1991 the city cracked down on alcohol concessions at block parties, requiring the Co-op to limit alcohol to an enclosed beer garden. The co-op decided not to organize the block party that year, fearing it would lose money. Houses hosted parties anyway with bands performing on porches, though police prohibited open alcohol on public sidewalks and streets.

The block party attracted just a few thousand people in 2000 and 2001, but in 2002 the city rejected a proposal by a group of students to close the street and revive the block party. As many as 20,000 people showed up anyway.

In 2003, after dealing with vandalism and tear gas at the 2002 Halloween event on State Street, Madison police sent more than 100 officers, including its Special Event Team. A record 30,000 people attended the block party. 

In 2011, open drinking in the street was allowed for the first time. The ensuring mass of inebriated young people resulted in two stabbings, three injured police officers and a furious Mayor Paul Soglin. 162 people were arrested in the loudest and drunkest block party in recent memory.

In 2012, UW-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam posted a video to YouTube imploring students not to go to the 2012 Mifflin Street Block Party. A much-smaller group of about 5,000 people attended house parties anyway. Police arrested or cited more than 400 people during the relatively uneventful block party.

UW-Madison students appeared on Saturday to have listened to warnings not to attend the Mifflin Street Block Party for the sake of social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, police said.

“As of early this afternoon, residents in the Mifflin Street area have shown a commitment to public health and safety by foregoing to the annual block party,” Madison police Sgt. Blake Hoefs said Saturday. “At 2 p.m., usually peak party time, the neighborhood was quiet.”