CHAPEL HILL - Multiple Soulja Boys escorted scantily clad Playboy Bunnies up and down a flooded Franklin Street as inebriated sumo wrestlers thrust their chests in the air above the numerous cowgirls at their feet.
Between 50,000 and 75,000 other costumed partygoers joined in the annual Halloween celebration-the so-called "biggest party in the state," an event that has grown increasingly more popular since its launch in the 1980s.
Festivities for Duke students, however, started earlier in the evening on the West Campus Quadrangle.
Duke University Union and Campus Council joined forces to plan the first-ever Devil's Eve, an evening of free kegs, T-shirts, food, music and transportation to and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Campus Council President Ryan Todd, a senior, said he believes the effort was a success.
"I think everyone just hanging out on the main quad in their costumes,-just having a good time-is the best part of this event," he said.
The availability of transportation to Chapel Hill was another added feature of the night, said DUU President Katelyn Donnelly, a senior.
"I personally think it's really exciting that we have buses. Being a senior, every year, trying to get to Franklin Street has been a transportation hassle," she said. "This is going to make it much more of a community event and really facilitate people going over to Franklin Street."
Students' excitement over free transportation, however, soon turned to frustration as swarms of costumed students pushed and shoved their way onto the buses at the West Campus bus stop.
"Dukies turn into animals when it comes to getting onto buses," said freshman Karna Mital.
Many students found themselves in the bushes or missing pieces of their costumes because of the disproportionate ratio of students to available space on buses.
"I thought the buses were a little crowded," freshman Zack Abzug said. "I'll admit I had to push a bunch of people out of my way to get on [the bus]. But I'm on it now, and you know what? I don't really care about the people that I pushed out on the sidewalk."
At Chapel Hill, a partygoer dressed as a Transformer that turned into a car when he bent down aroused fascination and solicited many camera flashes.
Even so, Jay Stevens, a freshman from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said he was "not especially" impressed by the event.
"Franklin Street was kind of the same as it's been every year," he said. "It was pretty fun, but it's pretty cold when you're wearing a cheerleader outfit."
Chapel Hill police controlled traffic for blocks and more than 20 officers lined the steps alongside the United Methodist Church on Franklin Street.
Because no major incidents called for their attention, the officers made use of their time by photographing costumed nuns who stumbled across their paths and the Tetris shapes that fit together perfectly when lined up.
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