Students, not police, will decide when the party’s over

There’s a better chance of putting an end to Oktoberfest than there is of wiping out the St. Patrick’s Day street party on Ezra Avenue in Waterloo.

Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin says he wants to stop the party within five years. But I don’t see how that’s going to happen.

The attendance numbers speak volumes. They’ve grown every year.

In 2016, there were 5,000 partiers. The following year the numbers tripled, with 15,000 in the crowd.

And last weekend — despite all the pre-party door-to-door visits, the extra police brought in from Peel Region, the cracking down on illegal behaviour, the restrictions on overnight visitors in university dorms, the dire warnings on social media — despite everything that was done ahead of time to discourage the party, those numbers soared again by nearly 50 per cent, to 22,400.

A few years ago, authorities tried to work in co-operation with the party, with Larkin wading in to take selfies with revellers. A blind eye was turned to the public drinking. The City of Waterloo co-sponsored a licensed tent, serving food.

But these measures were like sun and rain on a spring meadow. Word spread about the festivities. Busloads of students from other universities — Queen’s, McMaster, Western, Guelph, even some from the United States — started showing up to join in the fun. The crowds ballooned, to the point where police openly said they wouldn’t have control if there were an emergency.

The St. Patrick’s Day party grew organically, and it will have to shrink organically.

Between the two universities, we have 56,000 students in Waterloo. They have their own rhythm, tied to the school year. There are specific times when they’re particularly tired, stressed and in need of a break.

The middle of March is one of those times. Classes are almost over. Major assignments loom, all of them seemingly due at once.

Exams are around the corner.

No wonder then, that when a few thousand students gathered outdoors on a warm, sunny St. Patrick’s Day six years ago, they had a good time, felt better, and gave birth to a tradition.

Even today, despite the hundreds of charges laid and the dozens of people brought to hospital for alcohol poisoning, despite the crowds and the garbage and the often-chilly air, many students are drawn to the event like moths to a flame. It’s on their bucket lists. Some have told me it’s part of the reason they chose to attend Wilfrid Laurier University.

Why is it more entrenched than Oktoberfest? This Bavarian festival was once iconic for Kitchener-Waterloo. It still brings in lots of tourists. But as our German identity gets weaker with time (in 2016, for the first time, Mandarin overtook German as the second most common language spoken by local residents) it has become less meaningful for people here.

By contrast, the number of students at Laurier and University of Waterloo are expanding. By their sheer numbers, they have the upper hand. If they want to walk in the middle of Ezra Avenue, that’s what they do. An army of police can’t stop them.

We can’t prevent the party, except by making it less attractive to students.

Some people have suggested trying to draw the student party into a larger community celebration that would take over the downtown area, with a parade, streets closed to traffic and bars and restaurants getting in the spirit.

But having been at the Ezra party a few times, I think the appeal of it lies in the fact that it’s almost exclusively filled with students. They’re in their own world.

An idea that makes better sense is to move Reading Week. This is a week off classes to allow students to catch up on school work. Many stay away from the campus during that time.

Universities currently schedule it in the middle of term, after six or seven weeks of classes. But what if it were held a few weeks later, over St. Patrick’s Day? Students actually need the time to study even more at that point. And in a very natural way, they would be away from campus. It’s worth a shot.