Alive After Five Organizers Mull Booze, Music 'Cool-Down' Period

PATCHOGUE, NY — Talk about a buzzkill. Organizers of Patchogue's wildly popular Alive After Five festival are mulling over a new requirement that bars and restaurants stop selling booze and pause the music for at least half an hour after the festival ends in order to cut down on rowdy spillover.

As many as 25,000 people attend each of the four-part summer events, which offers a bevy of arts, crafts, games, live music, diverse cuisine, beer and booths for local organizations. David Kennedy, executive director of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce, told Patch on Wednesday afternoon that the plan is more of an idea in its early stages. He plans to talk to police and village officials about it in the coming weeks.

"It's a starting point of discussion that I put forward for restaurants to consider," Kennedy said.

The cool-down idea stems from public safety officers telling Kennedy they were concerned with what happens after the event, when intoxicated attendees hit the local bars and restaurants. Kennedy lamented there was a stabbing following the third Alive After Five of the summer. It's reasonable, he said, that police are saying things get "a little rowdy" after 9:30 p.m., when the event ends.

"We are the gasoline," said Kennedy. "We are the fuel that's energizing the rest of the night on Main Street. I feel we do have a responsibility to do something."

Adrenaline runs high after Alive After Five, he said. Kennedy thinks that restaurants and bars can help calm things down by refraining from blasting loud music and selling alcohol for a short time.

In the coming weeks, he hopes to meet with Patchogue-based Suffolk County police officers and village officials to talk about how the summer series went and what can be done to keep people safe.