St. Patrick's Day Pub Parade

St. Patrick's Day Pub Parade, also affectionately referred to as "Pub Crawl" or even "Spring Hobo Day," is an event that takes place in downtown Brookings, SD during the weekend following St. Patrick's Day each year. It involves teams of bar patrons travelling from bar to bar in an afternoon long celebration of St. Patrick's Day. "Spring Hobo Day" refers to the event's similar crowd to that of South DAKOTA State University's homecoming, Hobo Day. The name Pub Crawl was given to the event because in many cases people are so intoxicated by the end of the event they are literally crawling to the last few bars.

The actual event is "hosted" by several bars in the area. Those who are interested in participating sign up for the Pub Crawl at their favorite bar and show up at that bar on this Saturday to find the rest of their bar's "team." The teams that represent each bar travel to the other bars at regularly scheduled, 45 minute intervals, throughout the afternoon (the event usually takes place from 12 PM until 6 PM, after which some individuals are inclined to go home for a while. Although many people do sign up at bars, more and more people have begun to participate without signing up at a certain bar and without rotating every hour. Also, even though the actual event ends at six, it is understood that Pub Crawl lasts all day. Many feel you are not a true "Crawler" unless you make it all day and close the bars at 2:00am.

Pub Crawl is the single most profitable day for many of the bars in Brookings. Although not all of the bars participate in the event itself, they do for the most part have their doors open to all. Even other businesses in the area, such as George's Pizza where you can buy pizza by the slice, profit on this day long event. While it may have had a less than appealing reputation in the past, these days Pub Crawl is perceived by many as simply a chance to relax with friends and ahave a good time . In just the past few years Pub Crawl has grow in popularity, especially amongst the younger crowd, and now rivals the real "Hobo Day" in the fall. It used to be held on the actual St. Patrick's day, and was a much smaller event.

List of bars that participate in St. Patrick's Day Pub Parade

• Ray's Corner

• Sully's (formerly the Safari Lounge)

• Main Street Pub

• Skinner's Pub

• Lantern Lounge

• Cubby's Sports Bar and Grill

• 9 Bar and Nightclub