Pub crawl
A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of one or more people drinking in multiple pubs or bars in a single night, normally walking to each one between drinking.
Origin of the term
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term (including variations like "gin crawl" and "beer crawl") has been in use since the late 19th century.
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English defines 'pub crawl' as both a noun and a verb with the noun (dating from 1915) being defined as "a drinking session that moves from one licensed premises to the next, and so on", and the verb (1937) meaning "to move in a group from one drinking establishment to the next, drinking at each." The term is a combination of "pub (a public house, licensed for the sale of alcohol) and a less-and-less figurative sense of crawl".[1]
Details
Many European cities have public pub crawls that act as social gatherings for the local expat communities and tourists. These pub crawls focus on the social aspect of meeting new friends and being introduced to new bars in a strange city. The city that held the Guinness World Record for the largest pub crawl ever held was London, England (2,278 people) in an event organised by Tim The Tourman.[2]
As well, many cities in the United States have had pub crawls in recent years. In the greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, thousands of people have attended the Wolski's Pub Crawl, the Bay View Pub Crawl, and the zombie pub crawls. The Rich and Bennett Annual St. Patricks Day Pub Crawl in Charlotte, NC claims to be host to the largest Pub Crawl in the World. The annual event was host to 3,581 crawlers on Saturday March 15th 2008. San Diego held 3 annual "Stay Classy" pub crawls in which the proceeds go to charity. The event grew in popularity so fast, that the old format had to be changed for 2008 to a "Jam".[3] In Iceland, a “runtur” is a popular way of getting to know the various bars and beers in the area during the celebration of Beer Day every year on March 1st -- many bars and nightclubs are open until 4:00 a.m the next morning[4].
Distinctive crawls include Otley Run, Hillsborough Hike, Evening Standard Pub of the Year, and Mumbles Mile.
Variations
There are also some pub crawls which attract many participants each weekend. The Glasgow Subway "sub crawl" requires participants to drink from a pub near each of the stations on the circular route. Two similar events are the Circle Line Pub Crawl involving London's Circle Line[5] (attracting expatriate New Zealanders on Waitangi Day) and the Metro Pub Crawl from Birmingham to Wolverhampton on the Midland Metro. A Monopoly Pub Crawl, involves the participants visiting the nearest pub to each stop on the London Monopoly Board.
Pub Crawls need not be officially organized events. Pub Crawls, such as the Louisville, KY "Bambi Walk", can be undertaken by friends when the desire strikes. According to Stuff,[6] the "Bambi Walk" has been crawled, unorganized, since the 1980s.
Pub Crawling has become a popular tourism category, with many UK tour operators offering weekend pub crawls to former Eastern Block countries, and Australian touring company Thirsty Swagman offering a round-the-world pub crawl tour. [7]
Santa Claus theme
In Wollongong, Australia, a Santa Claus Crawl occurs each December to raise donations of children's toys for local charities. It is the longest-running such event in the world[8] with more than 900 participants[9] dressed in Santa Claus costumes thronging roads and pubs.[10]
In the United States, The Running of the Santas is an annual December event in which some Americans dress as Santa Claus and venture from bar to bar consuming alcoholic beverages. The first American Running purportedly took place on December 23, 1998[citation needed] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with forty participants. Other American cities have since staged similar Runnings but not with universal approval. In 2008, for example, the Boston Herald commented on Boston's scheduled Running: "Scores of beer-sodden, booze-soaked pub crawlers dressed up like St. Nick plan to hit the Hub’s streets during tomorrow’s “Running of the Santas” - an annual, nationwide drinkfest that has infuriated parents and watchdog groups. "Santa Claus is a treasured icon for children,” said Eric Helmuth, spokesman for Join Together, a Boston University health group that is fighting the jolly pub crawl. Helmuth said he’s concerned about the effect on kids who see “Santa careening through the streets drinking or going from pub to pub.""[11] The international SantaCon is another event that sees seasonal crawls.
References
- ^ Dalzell, Tom. The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. TF-ROUTL, 2005.
- ^ Tim The Tourman
- ^ [1]
- ^ Beer Day from worldeventsguide.com
- ^ "The Circle Line Pub Crawl".
- ^ Stuff Magazine
- ^ Thirsty Swagman
- ^ Oldest Santa Crawl - Santa Crawls
- ^ The Santa Claus Pub Crawl 2007
- ^ Santas on pub crawl - Local News - News - General - Illawarra Mercury
- ^ Heslam, Jessica, and James Hinton. "Running of the Santas bad for kids, groups say Ho, ho, hold it! Boozefest slammed". Boston Herald, December 12, 2008. Accessed January 17, 2009.