Brat Fest to close carnival two hours early Sunday night

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV)--- The carnival at Brat Fest will close two hours earlier than originally planned Sunday night in order to ensure the safety of attendees.

Organizers and the Dane County Sheriff's Department addressed the issue of fights that broke out at the event Saturday night, that caused them to close the carnival about 10 minutes earlier than scheduled. In a noon news conference, organizers determined it was best for the carnival to close at 7pm rather than 9pm.

During the news conference, Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney said there were about ten minors involved in the fight that caused Saturday night's early closure.

"We're talking about middle, high school aged kids who got involved in a disagreement," Sheriff Mahoney said.

He said around 100 people gathered around the incident in the carnival area. He said the big crowd along with videos posted to social media lead to rumors about the incident.

"There were a lot of rumors last night on social media about weapons and gang activity and at this point we've determined that none of that was true," Sheriff Mahoney said.

As a precaution, there are additional deputies on duty at Sunday's event.Organizers say they typically don't see incidents like this at Brat Fest.

"I want to make sure that we don't blow this out of proportion. Young kids are going to be kids. Kids fight in school, kids fight in after school programs and I think in this day and age we see things on social media and we begin to jump to conclusions," CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, Michael Johnson, said.

"I want our families in Dane County to be reassured that this is a safe family event. It has been for years and nothing changes. this was an anomaly that occurred last night," Sheriff Mahoney said.

No other scheduled events at Brat Fest are affected by the incident.