2016-02-29-pubcrawl
St. Patrick’s Day is less than a month away, which means the annual St. Paddy’s Day Pub Crawl is so close you can almost taste the Irish Car Bombs. The event, going into its seventh year, has been organized by Joe Don since its inception in 2010.
“You got out on St. Paddy’s Day and there might be one or two guys drinking,” said Don. “I just felt like Oxford should have something fun like this.”
As with every year, the crawl will be making a handful of stops across the Square. Starting at 3 pm on Saturday at Frank & Marlee’s, the group will then move through Proud Larry’s, Library Sports Bar, Funkys, Rooster’s Blues House, The Blind Pig, and wrap up at Locals to enjoy $5 Car Bombs as well as $3 Fireball shots and draft beer.
“We stay at one place for about an hour, hour and half, then move to the next location,” said Don. “We move together. A few people will filter out, but the goal is to make it to the end.”
The first year Don organized the crawl, he had about “twenty people. I just called some buddies to come out.” The next year he estimated the turn out to be closer to 250.
“It’s usually 200 people minimum [now],” said Don. “One year we had as high as 350 come out.”
To start off the afternoon, Frank & Marlee’s will be offering $2.50 domestic beers and a St. Paddy’s Day shot special.
“Each bar has said they’ll be offering specials for the holiday,” said Don.
The pub crawl will feature free buttons and beads for participants and a prize for best St. Paddy’s Day Pub Crawl costume.
“It’s just a fun thing,” said Don. “We usually give out a gift card from one of the restaurants [where we stop].”
Regardless of the contest, costumes have long been a large aspect of the pub crawl, with crawlers pulling out their kilts and every green article of clothing and accessory they own. Come March 19, expect to see all the bearded men in kilts Oxford has to offer.
“My favorite part is hearing all the comments once we wrap up,” Don said. “A few years ago someone came up to me saying they had lived in Oxford for ten years and that [the St. Paddy’s Pub Crawl] was the most fun they’d had on the Square since they’ve been here.”
Pub Crawl participants are encouraged to arrange a designated driver or call one of Oxford’s many reliable taxi services.
“It’s free, you just have to buy your own drinks. Anybody can show up,” said Don. “It’s open to the public. Bring your friends.” 
