Unofficial St. Patrick’s day is the University of Illinois’ most revered and notorious holiday. A full day of binge drinking takes place every year on the first Friday of March, an early celebration of St. Patrick’s day, and this holiday is glorified by the massive consumption of alcohol by students on campus. The infamous drinking holiday is almost synonymous with “U of I,” so freshman should know what to expect to see at this spectacle.
“I am really looking forward to seeing whatever Unofficial brings for me,” MaryCate Most, freshman at UIUC, said. “Because the holiday attracts so many students from out of town to our campus, it also attracts even more media attention. Since this will be my first experience with Unofficial, I really don’t know exactly what to expect. Part of me is eager to see the energy and excitement on campus, and the other part of me is nervous to face huge crowds of drunken out-of-towners.”
So, why all of the hype? Obviously every student knows what Unofficial is, but how did this craziness come to be?
Unofficial began when the St. Patrick’s day holiday started to fall on a day during U of I’s spring break during the 90’s, and bar owners decided they wanted the extra revenue. They created a day where students could make up for their lack of excessive beer-drinking and green-wearing on the actual holiday, and thus “Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day” was born.
A tradition like this obviously stuck, because who doesn’t like to skip classes and begin drinking at 6 a.m.? Not only the students love it, but with the influx of out-of-towners and the commercialism of the “holiday,” Unofficial is probably a wonderful boost for the local economy. However, the campus bars, which normally permit adults 19 and over, become exclusive 21+ bars Unofficial weekend.
“I think the bar scene is big for upperclassmen because they are 21 and over all weekend, so it’s nice to be surrounded by people who are all around your age,” Carly Wylde, senior at UIUC, said. “I think that the amount of people that participate pretty much stays the same. However, as we have gotten older, we have different responsibilities and I believe we then go about Unofficial very differently.”
Wylde will be participating in her first unofficial as a legal 21-year-old, so she was unsure of how exactly the bar scene will be that weekend. She also mentioned what freshman can expect to see as they roam the streets of Urbana-Champaign.
“People will be everywhere,” Wylde said. “You will be walking somewhere and see people from high school or someone you know that that you had no idea were coming. It is huge for visitors.”
So whether you’re a anticipating your first Unofficial experience or your last, it is important to remember so be safe and healthy this weekend. The legal drinking age is still 21, and underage drinking is a crime.
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