- Green Beer Day
Green Beer Day is a holiday celebrated by students at
Miami University inOxford, Ohio . It is celebrated on the Thursday beforeSpring Break every March. The holiday begins at 5:30am when the bars open to serve green-colored beer, shots, and cocktails to waitingMiami students. (Thestate of Ohio forbids bars from serving alcoholic beverages before 5:30am.) Many students wake up early to go to the Uptown bar district.The holiday is thought to have begun in the early
1950 s when theUnited States was experiencing grain shortages afterWorld War II [ [http://www.greenbeerday.com/history.html "GBD ORIGINS".] "Miami Student", March 14, 1952. "the day was celebrated by Oxford restaurants selling "traditional dark green beer" on March 17".] A1952 Miami UniversityStudent newspaper article says that students would not be imbibing dark green-colored beer due to the lack of grain available to breweries for beer production. It is held on the Thursday before students depart campus forSpring Break . This is because of the long-standing tradition ofMiami University scheduling the break duringSt. Patrick's Day .Student s at Miami keep the holiday alive because they cannot celebrate aSt. Patrick's Day like most other college students.The bars and restaurants in
Oxford, Ohio support Green Beer Day by opening as early as 4:30am to servegreen eggs and ham and green bagels to hungry students. They book a full day of live music from Irish bands,DJ s, and local musicians. Some parties continue all night long as students will often go home to sleep it off in the afternoon in preparation for another round in the evening.Television news crews from
Cincinnati andDayton often make an appearance to capture footage of the festivities.Students wear Green Beer Day themed t-shirts and hats. Green is the color of the day. Students often begin their search in late February to early March to find green shirts, wristbands, caps, beads, bandanas, etc. to wear on Green Beer Day. Shirts are especially prized and students often snatch up as many different designs as possible as souvenirs.
References
External links
* http://www.greenbeerday.com
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