MADISON, Wis. -- About 34,000 people made their way to State Street on Saturday night for the second annual Freakfest, but many of them weren't just spending $5 on their admission.

VIDEO: Watch The Report

In past years, violent behavior at State Street during the annual Halloween celebration caused damage to businesses, even forcing some to leave the area.

But for the most part, businesses have stuck around and have become some of the biggest advocates for keeping the party alive, WISC-TV reported.

Given the event's infamous reputation in the past, many people would think businesses wouldn't hope for this crowd on the street their shops call home. However, it's a night some longtime downtown business owners said that they look forward to.

Kelly Meuer, owner of State Street Brats, said that he's one of those who enjoys the night.

"It's a good night but it's more fun than anything else because the costumes are great," Meuer said. "And seeing all the different things makes the night go so fast. All of a sudden, you look up, 'Oh, 3 in the morning,' and you go home."

State Street Brats is located in the heart of the action, where problems haunted the Halloween bash in years past. He said that he thinks since the event was remade as Freakfast, things have changed.

"This feels very different than in years past," he said. "There was an electricity two and three years ago, like something was going to happen. You just got to hang around and wait for it. Now, it's like, 'OK, let's go down and have some fun and we'll just go home."

Many said it's a fun atmosphere that businesses and their employees live for.

"It's crazy, that's what it is," said bartender Katie Disher. "It's fun. I've never had so much fun working on a night in my life. It's worth it though."

Freakfest might be worth the bottom line for many businesses. Downtown Madison Inc. estimates that it's the sixth best event for businesses on the street and October is the third busiest month of the year.

Charlie Rogers has worked at the Sacred Feather hat shop for years and he said that he can testify even during the troubled times when they'd stay overnight to watch the store.

"The reality of it is, they were talking about canceling everything, so this is the next best option that they had and every year it gets better," Rogers said.

Business saw a boost from Halloween as a weekend event, he said.

"For businesses, it's a profit thing. You have to staff higher, you have more expenses but you make more money, too," he said.

It's the expenses that State Street vendors know the community is paying attention to. Thousands of dollars in city resources are spent on the street, but businesses want residents to understand there is money coming back to the economy.

"It would be great if it made money as opposed to drained money, but I think as it goes on, if it's successful this year, I think it'll be less of an impact every year," Rogers said. Meuer said the financial implications of Freakfest extend beyond just Saturday night for businesses.

"I know (for) a lot of people, it's the biggest night of their year. Not only us, but these guys don't only come for tonight. They're here all weekend and staying in hotels, in the coffee shops during the day, the restaurants during the day," he said.

These businesses know better than anyone that it's an event that's not going away any time soon, WISC-TV reported.

"It's going to happen whether we sponsor it or whether we gate it or whether we patrol it," Rodgers said. "It will happen. You just have to make the best of it."

"You try to manage it, you try to keep it contained but you just deal with it and move on," Meuer said.

While Halloween is a big weekend for many businesses downtown, it's not the biggest. At the top of the list for retailers is Maxwell Street Days in July. For many sports bars, the big nights are Badger home games. Meuer said that the Iowa games are usually huge nights for them.

Some area business owners said that they support the idea of limiting the number of people on the street during Freakfest. They said that they believe in the long run, having it be a structured event makes people more responsible.

However, the owner of one unidentified late-night food place on State Street said it might hurt her business because people were asked to leave the street so early and they're usually open much later.