LAHAINA — With no permit for an organized event for the second year in a row, attendance and arrests were down Halloween night in Lahaina town.

At sunset, Banyan Tree Park and Library Park, where throngs of people had gathered in Halloweens past for a costume contest and live music, were nearly deserted. There were empty spots along Front Street sidewalks and seawalls where more than 40 police officers were on alert for trouble that was largely absent Saturday night.
"I think it was safe. I think it went smoothly," said police Capt. Charles Hirata, commander of the Lahaina Patrol District. "There was sufficient room for people to walk.
"It seemed a lot tamer this year. I think people still enjoyed themselves."
Police coned off a portion of Front Street and adjoining side streets to allow more room for the flow of pedestrians while keeping one lane open for southbound traffic for much of the night.
Officers assigned to roving arrest teams spent much of the night directing pedestrians off the open roadway and keeping people moving along the sidewalks. Citing a ban on amplified music, police told two people dressed as the Blues Brothers to turn off the music after an impromptu performance near the Pioneer Inn attracted a crowd that began to spill over onto the street.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m., when it became clear that larger crowds wouldn't materialize, police opened Front Street for traffic in both directions. Some officers, who were scheduled to report for regular work shifts at 6:30 a.m. yesterday, were sent home early.
In the more than 20 years that he has worked on Halloween in Lahaina, "this was probably the fewest people I've ever seen," Hirata said.
Compared with estimates of 15,000 to 20,000 last year, at most 10,000 people showed up, Hirata said. Others estimated the crowd this year was even smaller.
The decline this Halloween followed a drop in attendance last year after the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission unanimously denied a LahainaTown Action Committee request for a permit for a costume contest, live music and vendors along Front Street.
The commission acted after Native Hawaiian groups complained that the event, with its increasingly risque costumes and "Mardi Gras of the Pacific" billing, was culturally inappropriate in the historic district.
Some in the crowd bemoaned the change.
"No porta-potties," said Waikiki resident Browning Clark, who spent a more bustling Halloween in Lahaina in 2006. "We'll see how it goes."
Her friend, Julie Nemec, flew in a day earlier from Chicago to be in Lahaina for Halloween. "Hopefully it gets better," she said.
Her father, Florida resident Bob Nemec, said he and his wife were happy to be celebrating their anniversaries as cancer survivors. "We love it here," he said. "This is going to be great."
Some Lahaina residents had other opinions.
"It's shameful," said Julie Dicker, who walked with her husband along Front Street, where people in street clothes appeared to outnumber those in costumes. "In these hard times, we should be doing everything to benefit the community.
"This is an event that benefited the community, and to take that away from the community and businesses and stores — our community should be thriving."
Dicker said she usually spends months planning elaborate Halloween costumes, dressing as Britney Spears to her husband's Kevin Federline one year. "We usually go big," she said. But this year, she threw together in a day the couple's costumes that included dunce caps.
She questioned why police didn't close the road to traffic, complaining about the line of "looky-loos" in vehicles that streamed down Front Street to costume-watch without stopping to patronize bars and restaurants.
"It is very dangerous," Dicker said.
From the corner at Papelekane Street, Lahaina resident Donna Brown and her father, Harry Liddicote, dressed as pirates, said they enjoyed Halloween more when more people showed up for the organized festivities.
"It's so much nicer when they have the road closed," Brown said.
"I kind of don't like the cars running up and down," said Liddicote, a Crescent City, Calif., resident who has visited Maui for Halloween in Lahaina for the past 15 years. "Seemed like it was more people then."
But along with pajama-clad Lahaina resident Marti Wukelic, Brown and Liddicote said they were enjoying the evening.
After living in Hana for 20 years, "I'm just so happy to finally get to see Front Street on Halloween," Wukelic said. "It's been a lot of fun."
She took photos of passing Draculas, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike and others, posting the pictures on her Facebook page.
After extending her vacation by a day to be in Lahaina for Halloween, Lake Tahoe resident Fran Robinson was disappointed to learn Front Street wasn't being closed.
"It's a shame," she said. "It's kind of died off a bit. Usually, by the time it gets dark, there's a whole crowd here. We'll start walking and see if more people show up."
She said her group missed the afternoon keiki parade, which one observer timed as taking 11 minutes for all of the entries to hit the street.
Many stores along Front Street were closed before dark, and there were few lines at restaurants. As the street was being reopened to traffic in both directions, employees walked up the street handing out flyers announcing no cover charge at one establishment.
By midnight, Hirata described Lahaina town as "almost empty."
Police reported arresting six people for 15 offenses during the night, starting shortly after 8 p.m. when a 37-year-old man dressed as the devil shouted at officers to close Front Street. He was arrested for disorderly conduct.
Three others were arrested for drunken driving and driving without a license, including two illegal immigrants. One, a 35-year-old man with no local address, was stopped at 9:16 p.m. at a DUI roadblock. He was also charged with having an open alcohol container in his vehicle. The other man, a 31-year-old Lahaina resident, crashed into a signal light at Leialii Parkway below the Lahaina Police Station and Lahaina Civic Center shortly before 10 p.m. Both men were held on immigration detainers.
At 1:30 a.m. yesterday, a 25-year-old Lahaina woman was arrested for drunken driving, driving without a license and having no insurance.
Two other men were arrested for disorderly conduct, with one also charged with resisting arrest and the other also charged with harassment.