Chapelfest, earlier referred to as Chapel Round-The-World, has become increasingly popular over the years. Darren Kane, a 1995 university graduate, was not as familiar with Chapelfest as university students are today.
"Wilburfest was the annual party for a long time," Kane, the author of the book "Glory Days at Delaware," said. "It was almost like an annual UD Woodstock."
He said when he was a student at the university, Wilburfest was at its peak.
"Newark was really working hard to kill it with legislation," Kane said. "'94 was the last real Wilburfest in a lot of people's view."
Kane said Skidfest, before he was a student at the university, was started in 1990 by Kevin Francis.
"When I was at UD, Skidfest was getting big, but still Wilburfest was the be-all, end-all," Kane said.
He said Chapel Round-The-World was not as big of a deal in comparison to the other two events.
"But then Wilburfest went away, so I guess there was this opening to have another big spring bash, and thus, Chapelfest started to get huge," Kane said.
His book covers 20 years at the university and includes 70 chapters. These chapters include first-hand accounts of Delaware's partying past. It has specific sections dedicated to popular events and places such as The Stone Balloon and Wilburfest.
"In the book, I wanted to give Chapelfest its own dedicated chapter, but I couldn't get anything for it," Kane said. "I think it was because people were too drunk to remember the stuff that happened."
Nonetheless, Chapelfest has become an annual event. Because of the number of students who have started flocking to the party, police security has also increased. The promise of packed backyards now includes surveillance.
Mayor Vance A. Funk III said Chapelfest was not too out of control in the first couple of years.
"But two years ago, the city police were not prepared and we had a number of problems with people running into the Chapel Street theater and disrupting the play," Funk said. "Last year, we had a police presence right off the bat and it was fairly well-controlled."
The easy access to Chapelfest brings in all people. This includes not only students and Chapel Street residents but also people from out of town, Funk said.
He said last year at Chapelfest approximately 50 percent of attendees and the majority of troublemakers were not from Newark.
"It is one thing when you are dealing with university students because you have the judicial code to help you out with those situations," Funk said, "but when you are dealing with people from out of town, it's a bad situation."
Newark Police Chief Paul Tiernan has been on patrol during Chapelfest.
"Last year, at 2 in the afternoon, hundreds of people started flooding the streets," Tiernan said. "Fights started to break out, and we have learned from the things we did last year."
He said every year the Newark Police Department has jurisdiction on the streets. The department has also asked the University Police and the state police to be there.
Tiernan said landlords will send letters to their tenants to remind them of the rules in their leases.
"Also they remind tenants that they are liable for any damage that occurs," he said. "People shouldn't just walk out in the street with a six-pack of beer."
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