As throngs of people flocked to campus during the weekend, Veishea went off without a hitch.

The main events of Veishea, Iowa State’s annual spring festival, were held for the first time this weekend since rioting near campus tainted the 2004 celebration and led to its cancellation in 2005.

Crowds stretched from Welch Avenue to the Forker Building to enjoy the night’s entertainment, with no major disturbances reported Saturday night.

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Ames Police Cmdr. Randy Kessel said police officers’ attitude of enforcing regulations while remaining open with the public helped maintain the peace.

“We’ve been firm, but friendly – not many large-scale problems at all,” he said.

Students and visitors seemed to take heed of organizers’ and administrators’ warnings last week that any hint of late-night riots would mean a definitive end to the student celebration, which has occurred since 1922.

Riots have marred the festivities four times since 1988.

“We have just concluded a highly successful Veishea, perhaps one of the best in the 84-year history of the event,” ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said in a statement released on the ISU Web site early Sunday morning.

“I congratulate the Veishea co-chairs, Jessica Lecy and Eric Peterson, for their extraordinary leadership, enthusiasm and commitment to Veishea and to Iowa State,” Geoffroy said. “The Veishea organization this year was much broader, and involved more students and student organizations than past celebrations. And thanks to faculty and staff – particularly Student Affairs staff – who worked countless hours to help make Veishea 2006 a safe, successful and memorable event.”

He said he looks forward to Veishea 2007, which will serve as the kickoff for Iowa State’s sesquicentennial celebration.

Veishea co-chairwoman Lecy said although she didn’t have a “real good estimate” on how many people attended the festivities throughout the weekend, she was impressed with how the festivities went.

“I think everything went absolutely amazingly,” she said. “We were glad to see the people out and about enjoying the celebration.”

Although it appeared many people brought their own alcohol to festivities on campus, they did not seem to feel discouraged by the increased police presence.

One group of gentlemen enjoyed a few tallboy cans of beer in front of the Campanile, just after the midnight fireworks show concluded.

“If you’re not causing problems, they’re not going to bust you up,” said Kyle Mueller, senior in construction engineering.

Daniel Frohardt, senior in construction engineering, said drinking beer on campus wasn’t a big deal.

“The cops probably have bigger concerns right now,” Frohardt said.

Ryan Ferris, senior in construction engineering, said enjoying a beer on campus shouldn’t be a concern.

“If you can’t get drunk and laid on campus, what can you do?” he said.

Although some were enjoying drinks on campus, others found pure enjoyment from the celebrations’ wide array of entertainment options throughout the late night and early morning on campus.

Alissa MacInnes, senior in architecture, said she thought moving the entertainment from Welch Avenue to campus worked well.

“It has everybody here on campus enjoying [Veishea],” MacInnes said, while an unidentified man, who appeared intoxicated, fell into the bushes near the stage north of the Memorial Union. “Apparently there’s plenty of other people drinking.”

Luke Van Gorp and Jordan Dinkla, student officers for the Department of Public Safety, said they saw few ruffians during their patrols of campus.

“[Veishea] seems like it’s going well,” said Dinkla, sophomore in political science. “I don’t think there are many problems.”

According to Ames and ISU Police reports, 48 people were cited for underage possession of alcohol Friday and Saturday. Eleven people were arrested for public intoxication or operating while intoxicated by ISU Police. Ten nuisance parties and two public urination complaints were cited by Ames Police.

By 1 a.m., the bar lines on Welch Avenue had diminished compared to the lengths earlier in the evening.

Casey Webb, who was working the door at Cy’s Roost, 121 Welch Ave., said when the bar was busiest, patrons had to wait “one-and-a-half to two hours.”

The larger police presence alongside precautionary enforcement and Frank the Flamingo shirts helped maintain the peace, Webb said.

Kessel said no major problems were reported where parties helped fuel the disturbances during the 2004 celebration.

“We’ve gone out in the neighborhoods and there’s nothing where parties usually have been,” he said.

Kessel said moving attractions such as live music and the Taste of VEISHEA to campus took “a lot of pressure off of Welch.”

“We’ve seen busier weekend nights this spring,” he said.