Last year was one of the calmest, smoothest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in years.
So, at the eleventh hour, we’ve made major changes for this year.
Forcing some downtown drinkers — uh, I mean festival attendees — to buy $5 wristbands to walk around outside with a to-go cup is going to have some intended and many unintended consequences.
There will be some winners and some losers.
Since the festival zone is from Broughton Street north, the winners will include establishments south of the zone that have full liquor licenses.
Many partiers, especially local ones, don’t plan to go downtown at all on Friday — a work day for many — or for any significant time after Saturday’s parade.
Many wander toward River Street or the City Market area immediately after the parade. They’ll have a drink or two outside, but they will be more or less done when the enforcement of wristbands begins at 5 p.m.
Many just don’t care to be amongst the downtown drunkenness. Many won’t feel like paying $5 to do something we can do every other day of the year for free. Count me in both those camps.
But that’s not to say we’ll just stay home. Maybe on Friday night I’ll go to a favorite downtown club or two and just stay inside.
On Saturday, folks like me are much more likely to find a comfortable spot south of Broughton.
So the new policy will almost certainly boost business at the Flip Flop Tiki Bar and Grill, Pinkie Master’s, McDonough’s, Six Pence Pub, Public Kitchen and Bar and other businesses.
The biggest losers in this decision will likely be the metro police officers who will have the new role of playing scold.
The SCMPD did a great job handling last year’s crowds. They laid low and stayed observant.
But to enforce the wristband policy this year, they will have to approach drinkers repeatedly with the same arsenal of nagging questions.
Smokers can legally go outside a bar with a drink. By law, they have to be at least 10 feet from the entrance. Crowds will gather in those smoking areas, but not all those people will be smoking simultaneously.
Nonsmokers will even take up smoking or pretend to.
And that behavior will be legal? But someone walking past that group on their way to another bar, or just walking outside to get some air, could get ticketed? Or even arrested?
Hello, lawsuits.
Our beleaguered police officers are going to have near constant negative interactions for two straight days with drinkers who don’t know the law or who try to get around it.
That hardly sets a welcoming tone here in the Hostess City.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.