SXSW was bigger! But was it better?

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Thousands have watched YouTube videos showing out-of-control crowds and fights at several South by Southwest shows and concerts.

Organizers are now rethinking if free shows should be a part of future festivals.

"We're going to have to re-examine our approach to free events," said SXSW Managing Director Roland Swenson.  "There are so many free events out there. I think it's starting to attract an element of people who are troublemakers."

On Thursday night, thousands who wanted get in and watch the Strokes at Auditorium Shores were kept out at the gates, so some people started hopping right through and crashing the show.

Late Friday night at Stubb's, a big piece of unauthorized camera equipment collapsed, sending four people to the hospital. Also on Friday a few blocks away from Stubb's at the Scoot Inn, singer Ben Weasel of the band "Screeching Weasel" got into a fight on stage.

He punched a woman in the crowd before then pushing another woman who wrestled him off the stage.

Early  Sunday morning, there was a small riot outside Beauty Bar. Fans tried to force their way into the full venue. Police riding horseback interrupted a reunion show for Canadian punk band "Death from Above 1979."

"One of the things about South by Southwest that people love is all the parties and free stuff," said Swenson. "I think you reach a point: How much is too much? And I think we're there."

Austin city leaders had a sit-down post incident meeting Monday morning.. Some of the problems leaders noticed was the larger crowd. An estimated 200,000 people attended the festival, an estimated 40% increase from last year.

"When you have 200,000 extra people in the city over a 10-day period, you hope for the best," said Martinez. "It did not go without blemish, but to be able to pull it off with no major incident and no major injury, the city manager and his staff are to be commended for their hard work.

Police Chief Art Acevedo says while more people posed a challenge, it was social media that kept them in a reactive mode. Many promoters tweeted about free shows at the last minute forcing officers to scramble to maintain order and peace. But it was the free shows and free flowing alcohol that tested his officer's patience. From now on, Chief Acevedo says his office will require an advanced copy of a list of shows, their venue and it's capacity.

"There's a direct correlation between alcohol consumption and behavior and so that is something that's a challenge and that's something, whether it's free or not that's something we need to look at," said Acevedo.

"It's almost like when South Padre use to be the destination for spring break. Now it's Austin and that's kind of hard to control and manage but we're gonna do our best and I think we did a fair to decent job," said Martinez.

Overall city leaders and South By Southwest organizers agree, 2011 was a successful year.

"You think about it there were no stabbings, no shootings, just a bunch of drunk people that do stupid things." said Acevedo.

48 people were arrested during South by Southwest mostly for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Compare that to 75 arrested during Mardi Gras.