A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session. [1]
Many European cities have public pub crawls that serve as social gatherings for local expatriates and tourists.
In the UK, pub crawls are generally spontaneous nights out in which the participants arrange to meet somewhere and decide over drinks where to drink next. Structured routes with regular stops are rare. Most drinking sessions based around a special occasion such as a birthday or a leaving celebration will involve a pub crawl, often with the group splitting up but agreeing on meeting at the next location. It is a common sight in UK towns to see several groups orbiting the various drinking locations with little apparent coherence or structure.
In the north of Spain, around the Basque Country, the tradition for groups of male friends crawling pubs and drinking a short glass of wine at each pub, and often singing traditional songs, is known as txikiteo or chiquiteo, and can be held at night or day. By the end of the 20th century, it was extended also to women, and when it involves a wider variety of drinks, it is more often called poteo. [2] [3]
In Glasgow, the Subcrawl is a pub crawl carried out using the circular Glasgow Subway line in the city. It involves having a drink at the nearest pub to each of the 15 stops on the line. [4]
In Leeds, the Otley Run is seen as a rite of passage for students. [5] [6]
In London, the Monopoly board pub crawl is based around having a drink at a pub in each of the places on a British Monopoly board, set in London. [7] Thousands of New Zealanders take part in the annual Waitangi Day pub crawl, which takes place around the Circle Line on the London Underground. Starting at Paddington they work anti-clockwise around the line, ending at Westminster for a haka (traditional New Zealand challenge/dance). While numbers vary depending on the weather, in 2008 there were reported to be around 12,000 people involved. [8] First started by the historian Al Richardson in the 1960s, the Karl Marx pub crawl is based around various pubs the communist philosopher is reputed to have drunk at in and around Soho. [9] [10]
In York, there is an annual charity event known as the Assize of Ale. It is based on the medieval Assize of Bread and Ale and led by the Guild of Scriveners and Sheriff and of the City. [11]
The 2013 film The World's End starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is plotted around a group of friends embarking on a pub crawl in their home town.[ citation needed ]
In Adelaide, a pub crawl is run annually by The Adelaide University Engineering Society (AUES). The event attracts students from all over South Australia to as many as 34 local pubs and clubs. In 2015 the event had 6,000 participants while 2014 and 2013 both had 5,000 participants. [12]
In Brisbane, the Mining and Metallurgy Association (MAMA) at the University of Queensland have been awarded the Brisbane City Council (BCC) and University of Queensland Union (UQU) Award for Social Activities of the Year due to their well-known Pub Crawl.
A pub crawl held annually in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, attracted 4,718 participants on 14 June 2009. [13] Since the early 1990s disability advocate Des Ryan OAM has organised an annual Accessible Pub Crawl in Rockhampton during which groups of up to 40 people travel by bus from venue to venue. After visiting each pub questionnaires are filled out rating positives and negatives in terms of accessibility and information is later given to hotel management and shared in the media. [14]
A pub crawl in December is called the "12 pubs of Christmas" in which participants try to drink one drink in 12 pubs while wearing Christmas clothes. [15]
In Japan, pub crawls are called hashigozake (はしご酒, literally "Ladder Alcohol") and are a part of the night-life. Events of organized pub crawls are also common in the country. [16]
The city of Antwerp has a tradition called "elfkroegentocht" or "eleven bars walk" where a company, often friends or work relatives, will celebrate by walking from one bar to the next and have a "bolleke" of De Koninck beer at each. The figure of "11" may refer to carnival festivities.
In Finland, pub crawls are a common student event, usually by the name of appro. The best known appro events attract students from all over the country: Hämeenkadun Appro in Tampere has roughly 10,000 participants every year, Kauppakadun Appro in Jyväskylä has c. 8000. [17] [18]
Often the participants of the event receive a jacket patch, which is then sewn onto the student boilersuits worn by many in the appro events. Normally, the colour of the patch depends on how many drinks one has had during the pub crawl; for example, in Kauppakadun Appro, getting the golden patch requires 17 drinks from women and 19 drinks from men. [19]
The annual Talk Like a Pirate Day pubcrawl is run in New Plymouth every year. [20] It started in 2005 with only three pirates and over the years has grown to hundreds.[ citation needed ]
The Running A Tab Pub Run takes place monthly in San Antonio, Texas, and is hosted by WeRunSanAntonio. [21] The original Running A Tab Pub Run covered 5 miles in downtown San Antonio. The starting point was the historic Sunset Station and finished at the Blue Star Brewery and Art Complex. The event is held in conjunction with San Antonio's First Friday Art Walk. In 2009 the route was modified to accommodate the more than 500 participants every month. Running A Tab now consists of a 3-mile downtown loop and 5 bars/restaurants. A theme is selected every month and participants dress in costume in accordance with the theme. The event is free and open to the public. [22]
In Charlotte, North Carolina, there is a yearly pub crawl on the Saturday nearest to Saint Patrick's Day sponsored by Rich and Bennett. According to the Rich and Bennett website it is billed as the World's Largest Pub Crawl with over 20,000 participants all wearing the event t-shirts. In 2020 it was postponed due to the coronavirus Pandemic. It was rescheduled for 27 June. [23]
An annual Saint Patrick's Day bar crawl, LepreCon, takes place in Hoboken, New Jersey. The 2016 event, held in the evening 5–6 March, degenerated into a violent brawl. Fifteen people were arrested and 35 hospitalized, including two police officers. The officers were injured when one of the participants was seeking to flee the scene. Hoboken police responded to 432 calls from service during the event and issued 54 tickets, mostly for public drinking. [24] The 2015 event resulted in 93 summonses and 11 arrests. [25] The 2016 LepreCont cost the City of Hoboken $110,000 in police overtime. [26] Two hundred officers were deployed for the event. Hoboken's police chief, Ken Ferrante, said he was "disturbed by the repeated behavior that is occurring on these types of themed events," and said he "will not tolerate having any of our officers injured, for the purposes of a few to make a financial profit at the expense of our residents." [25]
In Louisville, Kentucky, the "Bambi Walk" [27] has been underway since the 1980s.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a zombie-themed pub crawl commenced in 2005 and had grown to over 30,000 participants in 2012. [28]
At Epcot in Walt Disney World, guests often do a form of bar crawl known as Drink Around the World, where visitors attempt to drink at all eleven countries of World Showcase.[ citation needed ]
The SantaCon pub crawl originated in San Francisco in 1994 and has since spread to 300 cities in 44 countries, including New York City. London, Vancouver, Belfast and Moscow. [29] [30] The New York SantaCon is the largest, with an estimated 30,000 people participating in 2012. [31] [32] Other events were much smaller and more subdued, with 30 participating in Spokane, Washington. [33]
In New York City, where it has taken place since 1997, it has come under widespread criticism for rowdiness by participants, with drunken behavior that has disrupted parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and led to calls for the event to be ended and for participant misbehavior to be curbed. Former Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that despite "some rowdy actions by a small handful of people in the past," SantaCon was "an event that we support. It's what makes New York New York." [34] [35] [36] During the New York City SantaCon in 2012, participants "left a trail of trouble" through Hell's Kitchen, Midtown Manhattan, the East Village and Williamsburg. [37] Residents complained revelers vomited and urinated in the street and fought with each other. [38]
In London, the London Santa Pub Crawl has been held each December since 2004. [39] The event sees participants dress up as Santa Claus, and visit a selection of London pubs along a pre-planned route. From just 25 participants in its first year, the event now sees more than 300 Santas take to the streets to enjoy the festivities. Participants are asked to donate to support the event's nominated charity, and more than £5,000 has been raised over the years for the British Red Cross and St Christopher's Hospice. The 2014 London Santa Pub Crawl took place on Saturday 13 December 2014. [40]
In Brisbane, Australia, the Christmas Pub Crawl runs each year on the first Saturday following the end of the school year in December. This event has been running annually since 1982 and is now "the world's longest running pub crawl".[ citation needed ] Santa-themed pub crawls also take place each December in the towns of Wollongong and Grafton, with proceeds donated to charity. [41] [42] [43] [44] In 2015 local police announced cancellation of the Grafton event, [43] but were opposed by the mayor. [45]
Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned at some institutions, particularly colleges and universities.
Santa Claus parades, also called Christmas parades, are parades held in some countries to celebrate the official opening of the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus who always appears in the last float. The parades usually include themed floats, dancing or marching groups and bands playing Christmas songs. They are moving pageants that typically end near the centre of a city. Often sponsored by department stores, they may reinforce the store's brand recognition during the important Christmas shopping season.
SantaCon is an annual pub crawl in which people dressed in Santa Claus costumes or as other Christmas characters parade in hundreds of cities around the world. The event has sometimes been characterized by drunken behavior, sparking community resistance.
A ute muster is an Australian festival which brings together large numbers of utes and their owners. These events typically include competitions and other side events, occur annually, and normally last several days and are held in rural and regional areas of Australia and New Zealand.
The Undie 500, originally named the Under 500, was an annual student-run car rally between Christchurch and Dunedin, New Zealand with multiple stops at drinking establishments along the way. The name comes from the original rule that a vehicle is purchased for less than NZ$500, and optionally decorated.
A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales.
The Otley Run is a pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The popular route covers Far Headingley, Headingley and Hyde Park areas and commonly continues towards Leeds City Centre.
The Brides of March is an annual event that takes place in San Francisco, California, US and other cities around March 15. Started by the Cacophony Society, the event's name is a pun on the term Ides of March, and is a parody of weddings in western culture. The event, which began in 1999, is part pub crawl and part street theater while wearing a thrift store wedding dress.
A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes. Participants usually meet in an urban center and make their way around the city streets and public spaces in an orderly fashion. Zombie walks can be organized simply for entertainment or with a purpose, such as setting a world record or promoting a charitable cause. Originating in North America during the 2000s, zombie walks have occurred throughout the world.
Chumley's was a historic pub and former speakeasy at 86 Bedford Street, between Grove and Barrow Streets, in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1922 by the socialist activist Leland Stanford Chumley, who converted a former blacksmith's shop near the corner of Bedford and Barrow Streets into a Prohibition-era drinking establishment. The speakeasy became a favorite spot for influential writers, poets, playwrights, journalists, and activists, including members of the Lost Generation and the Beat Generation movements.
Christmas in Ireland is the annual festival which marks the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus and its related observances, but also incorporates some pre-Christian customs. These customs range from the traditional food and drink consumed, decorations and rituals, as well as more modern phenomena such as the Christmas day swim and annual television and radio events. The modern Irish Christmas has become more similar to that of the British and American festive period, with emphasis on gift buying and parties.
Litquake is San Francisco's annual literary festival. Originally named Litstock, the festival events took place in a single day in Golden Gate Park in the spring of 1999. It now has a two-week run in mid-October, as well as year-round programs and workshops.
Black Friday, Mad Friday, Frantic Friday or Black Eye Friday is a nickname for the Friday before Christmas Eve —that is, the Friday after 16 December—in Great Britain.
Carnage UK is a company that organises pub crawls for students in the United Kingdom. It hosts events in 45 towns and cities each year. The company's events have been criticised for encouraging binge-drinking and wreaking havoc on communities. Drunken participants have gained notoriety for urinating on war memorials, as well as beating homeless and elderly people. Several student unions have banned the company from advertising on campus.
The Matzo Ball is an annual Christmas Eve nightlife event and party held in a number of major cities in the United States targeted primarily at young Jewish singles and organized by Mazel Events, LLC.
Pub golf or bar golf is a pub crawl and drinking game involving a selection of either nine or eighteen pubs or bars, creating a "course" to be played by two or more people. Each pub or bar is regarded as a hole on a golf course, with a pre-agreed number of swallows per assigned drink for that "hole", making up a par number.
The Twelve Pubs of Christmas, popularly known as TBOX, which stands for Twelve Bars Of Xmas, is an annual pub crawl held in Chicago, Illinois, United States, since 1996. The event now draws tens of thousands of participants annually.
The No Pants Subway Ride is an annual event where people ride rapid transit or subway while not wearing trousers. Beginning in New York in 2002, the event had spread to as many as sixty cities as of 2013.
This is an index of drinking establishment-related articles.
There are many ways in which the Christian holiday of Christmas is celebrated in the American city of Portland, Oregon. Annual traditions include the Christmas Ships Parade, Peacock Lane, the Pioneer Courthouse Square Christmas tree, and the art installation Santa Clones. The city hosts many other displays, concerts, and other performances related to Christmas annually.
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