Philly Bar Crawl 101: Dos and Don’ts

Philadelphia, the City of brotherly love, is rich in American history. It’s also rich in the number and quality of bars available for residents and visitors to the city. With so much nightlife activity in the offering, Philly is a great place to have a fun bar crawl.

If you have taken the reigns to organize/sponsor a bar crawl in Philly, you want to do it right. With that in mind, some certain dos and don’ts warrant your attention. Hopefully, the following info will help you create a fun and exciting bar crawl experience.

The DOs

The bar crawl organizer is responsible for making sure that all participants get lots of bang for their money. Here are a few dos that will ensure that happens.

Commemorate the Activity With Gifts

After a fun and exciting night on the town, partygoers don’t want to go home with nothing to show for the evening. As the bar crawl organizer, there is one thing you can do to make sure participants will never forget the experience. That one thing is to give them gifts or souvenirs to commemorate the night. Giving gifts or souvenirs shows you care about the people who came for the ride.

For what it’s worth, not giving bar crawl gifts or souvenirs might be considered cheap in some party-going circles.

Keep Crawling Distances Short

Most bar crawlers are interested in visiting as many cool bars as possible in the time allocated for a Philly bar crawl. What they don’t want to do is waste a lot of time getting from one bar to the next.

You can minimize travel time by organizing a bar crawl that features several quality bars that are located within a few blocks of each other. By minimizing the travel time, there will be more time for fun and spirits.

Make Reservations When Possible

Many of the best Philly bars and pubs have limited seating. If your group numbers more than a few people, there’s a reasonable chance some of the bars on your route might have trouble accommodating your group. You can avoid this by calling ahead, announcing the group’s intentions, and making reservations when possible.

Hire a DJ

If you plan on visiting smaller venues, you might encounter situations where good music is not available. Music is an essential part of the bar crawl scene. Be prepared and take your own DJ on the crawl. The places that don’t typically provide good music might be thrilled to give your DJ the floor for an hour or two.

The Don’ts

As is usually the case, bar crawl organizers have to be careful not to make mistakes that will remove the joy of a bar crawl experience. Here are a few don’ts that will ensure that doesn’t happen.

Don’t Organize Bar Crawl When Other Local Events are Available

When organizing a bar crawl, it’s never a good idea to try to compete with other festivities that might be going on in the area. It could result in more bars being unable to accommodate your group because of too many patrons taking up space. Also, it’s harder to secure participants who have other entertainment choices they can make.

Don’t Forget to Limit the Freebies

Bar crawlers are notorious for expecting freebies. Sure, you want to give some freebies to ensure the participants feel like they are getting value for their money. However, you have to limit the freebies. Doing so will help you balance providing value without draining resources for future bar crawls.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk

Every bar crawl has a participant or two who drinks a little too much to drive. As a good bar crawl host, you should be contemplating this issue prior to the event. You can serve your party-goers well by making sure they have immediate and easy access to a safe ride home from a company like Uber or Lyft.

Conclusion

A night out in Philly can be fun and exciting. If you organize a bar crawl, it’s up to you to do all you can to make the experience memorable. It’s a great way to ensure repeat customers.