In 2014, Georgia lawmakers passed a bill allowing bars in Savannah to be open on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day.
The law won’t apply this year, however, because of the narrow way it was written. Savannah bars can open if a Sunday falls on March 16, 17 or 18, but this year the pre-holiday Sunday is March 15.
The law also placed a strict limitation on hours of operation. Bars had to close at midnight Sunday even though restaurants that serve alcohol could stay open later.
At the time, this column noted that the new law wouldn’t apply in 2015. And it has always seemed clear that the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day will likely once again be the hardest partying day of the extended holiday.
Last year, when St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Monday, there were more wristband sales on Saturday than on Friday, Sunday and Monday combined.
So there was no reason for anyone to be surprised that the organizations that most benefitted from sale of wristbands — City Market, the Waterfront Association and the Savannah Downtown Business Association — would request a four-day festival.
Still, when the idea was raised earlier this year, a city staffer claimed we hadn’t had a four-day festival in many years, even though we had four days of wristband sales in 2014.
The $5 wristbands allow folks to drink outside from to-go cups within the “control
zone,” which includes not only River Street but also the City Market area and much of Broughton Street.
Wristband sales over four festival days raised about $400,000 in 2014, almost exactly the same amount raised in two festival days in 2013.
But consider that in 2001, when the festival was also two days and the control zone was limited to River Street, sales of $5 wristbands netted $424,000.
Perhaps the decline in 2014 compared to 2013 can be blamed on wet, chilly weather, but the numbers suggest a long-term decline in festival attendance.
As I said in this space last year, I think the wristband requirement discourages local residents from going into the “zone” during the holiday period. Folks just don’t like paying to do something that they can do for free throughout the rest of the year.
Some influential people around town were livid last year when I shared that idea, and I’m sure they’ll be mad again now. But it’s a pretty straightforward observation.
I should also add that it’s likely that future wristband sales will be compromised as more revelers realize how lax enforcement is.
After the 2014 parade, I wandered into the zone with a to-go cup. The first wristband location that I passed had already been closed, and, once I made it to the Ellis Square area, I saw literally zero effort at enforcement.
Simply put, police officers have better things to do during the festival than asking people who are clearly of legal drinking age to prove they have purchased wristbands.
So here we are again.
The holiday is a month away. Local leaders are once again lobbying lawmakers in Atlanta, who have lots of contentious issues already on their plates, to amend the language that was passed just last year.
Bar owners, many of whom have large staffs and many of whom like to book entertainment, will likely be waiting again until the last minute to know whether they will be allowed to open on March 15.
If the law is not changed, Savannah bars will have to remain closed on the Sunday of the festival period even though temporary vendors will be allowed to make outdoor alcohol sales. Which seems crazy.
So what are we going to do in 2016, when St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Thursday? Will we again be lobbying state legislators to allow bars to open on Sunday? Will we expand wristband sales to six days to capture that lucrative pre-holiday Saturday?
Even though we’ve seen a long-term decline in wristband sales, will we continue to chase revenue by expanding the festival zone farther and farther south?
Is it really so hard to find and enact policies that are consistent from year to year — ones that don’t require such last-minute scrambling?
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga. 31401.
By Bill Dawers