Night fell in Athens and several students were headed out to the bars, ready to socialize and leave their stresses and worries at home. However, this night is particularly out of the ordinary, as locals and students appeared to have gone totally bananas.
The Banana Bar Crawl took over Court Street for an unforgettable night of socializing and bar hopping Friday.
The Banana Bar Crawl is North America’s largest banana bar crawl, visiting over 30 college towns in Canada and the U.S. With appearances at the University of Florida, the University of Tennessee and eventually a pit stop at Ohio University, thousands of bananas have roamed the streets of their beloved college towns, making several memories along the way.
The first crawl took place in November 2023 at the University of Canada, and tickets sold out almost immediately. Aiden Tighe, the Banana Bar Crawl co-founder, was born and raised in Toronto and said a TikTok inspired the crawl.
“We had seen a video on TikTok of a few friends who went out to a bar and they were all dressed up in banana costumes,” Tighe said. “We thought the concept of that was really funny and our next idea was how can we kind of scale this up.”
Tighe said after the crawl’s initial sellouts, he and the other founders decided to travel to additional cities and they never expected it would be such a hit.
Fashioning a hilarious costume for the night can seem daunting to some, but a plethora of Bobcats thrive when encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and express creativity.
Riley Brown, a junior studying environmental science and sustainability and communication studies, said the crawl was the perfect event for those who enjoy spontaneity.
“I love it,” Brown said. “I want the questions, I want the pictures.”
Brown said she was looking forward to participating in what she believed to be OU’s first bar crawl and hoped the event motivated other local businesses to continue the idea.
“I think the number of people that have dressed in a banana suit and traveled around for a bar crawl is 3,000 … I feel like we have a lot of people that go out on the weekends (and) we can potentially beat that,” Brown said.
Tickets cost $22 with the inclusion of a banana costume, access to the participating bars, possible drink deals and fun challenges to complete.
According to Nik Robinson, a junior studying communication studies, some of the tasks included forming a conga line and doing the worm. Although he is normally reserved, Robinson said connecting with other students was comforting.
"It is funny to see the bananas walking around … it was a strong sense of banana unity,” Robinson said.
Joining the crawl were some of Athens’ popular Court Street destinations, including Lucky’s Sports Tavern, Broney’s Bar and Grill, North End Kitchen and Bar, The J Bar, Stephen’s on Court, The OverHang, Cat’s Corner, Courtside, Pawpurr's Bar and The Red Brick Tavern.
Tighe said he encouraged the bars to create fun flavored drinks and deals. However, some did not agree to this.
“We do not own the bars or really deeply work with them … we have tried in the past to make them offer a drink deal but some people do not want to,” Tighe said. “We just urge all of the bars to offer, we say, ‘A banana-inspired drink deal,’ so they can kind of do with that what they wish.”
Lucky’s advertised a banana shot the night of the event. However, Robinson said he was unaware of other deals.
“I would love it if some more of the Athens bars offered … drinks special for the occasion, I think that would make it more enticing,” Robinson said. “I also know some people who were kind of a little ‘too cool’ for the banana bar crawl … (and) I think regret that decision.”
As bananas flooded the streets and drinks were poured, Bobcats made everlasting memories, forming stories that will be told for years to come. Robinson said he hopes the crawl will return to Athens, as it catered to a variety of students.
“It did not encourage anyone to take a drink at every stop,” Robinson said. “So if you are not a fan of heavy drinking, this was a great bar crawl to be a part of.”
