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Holidays That Are Really Just Excuses to Drink

Holidays That Are Really Just Excuses to Drink

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Holidays are a time to gather with family, celebrate significant historical and religious events, and ….get drunk! Let’s face it, a vast majority of our holidays involve some kind of booze. And why shouldn’t they? There’s nothing that says celebration like a few adult beverages, and you probably have the day off work anyway. But there are those among us who take it to the extreme: 10 holidays that are really just excuses to drink.

Sources: Steve-Lovelace.com, Beer.About.com, Content.Time.com, Jezebel.com, Esquire.com

Rentini.Wordpress.com
Rentini.Wordpress.com

St. Paddy’s Day

Honoring the death of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved (or devolved, depending on how you look at it) into a massive drinking fest. You’ll be hard-pressed to find many celebrations that don’t include masses of partygoers donning green shamrocks and downing beer all night.
Drink of choice: Guinness

HDNux.com
HDNux.com

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla back on the fifth of May, 1862, but ask anybody celebrating the holiday outside of Mexico about it, and you’ll likely receive blank stares. Though Mexico defeating the invading French army is definitely a reason to cheer – if you’re Mexican at least – downing tequila in every form possible isn’t exactly the best way to do it.
Drink of choice: Margarita

SoFakingDrunk.com
SoFakingDrunk.com

Halloween

Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, is traditionally the Day of the Dead in Mexico, but has turned into a varied celebrations involving costumes, candy, and booze in the rest of the world. Getting drunk and going trick-or-treating is always a good laugh, or just getting drunk and dressing up is another solid option. Either way, you’re drunk.
Drink of choice: Hard apple cider

TheDeadHub.com
TheDeadHub.com

Christmas

Jesus’s birth, but also the time that you’re forced to visit your crazy extended family for days on end. Good luck getting through that experience without a little fermented holiday cheer!
Drink of choice: Spiked eggnog

IziSmile.com
IziSmile.com

Purim

Though the little-known Jewish holiday isn’t celebrated widely outside the Jewish world, Purim remembers the story of Esther saving the Jews in the ancient Persian Empire. But, as it intimates in interpretations in the Biblical Book of Esther, it is also an opportunity to get so drunk that you can’t tell the difference between Mordecai (the protagonist of the story) and Haman (the villain). Even if you’re not Jewish, it’s definitely worthwhile to get in on the festivities.
Drink of choice: wine

RollingOut.com
RollingOut.com

National holidays

In particular, the U.S.’s Fourth of July and France’s Bastille Day are prime examples of times to celebrate national pride with a bottle of something tasty. For the U.S., it’s the signing of the Declaration of Independence, signifying the birth of the modern nation. For France, it commemorates the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. Other countries have opportunities similar to this, such as Great Britain’s Guy Fawke’s Day and China’s New Year.
Drink of choice: Anything patriotic

AmazingTrinidadVacations.com
AmazingTrinidadVacations.com

Carnival

Before you give up smoking/alcohol/unhealthy foods/what have you/ for Lent, Carnival is the time to get all the debauchery that you would have saved for the next 40 days out of the way. Hit any parade in Brazil or elsewhere in the world, and be sure that you’ll be boozing before long.
Drink of choice: Caipirinha

TradingIdeas.OrientalTrading.com
TradingIdeas.OrientalTrading.com

Mardi Gras

Fat Tuesday wasn’t necessarily designed as a drinking holiday, but when you’re finally freed from the restrictions you placed on yourself during Lent, it’s unlikely you’re going to want to hold back. Especially if you happen to be in cities such as New Orleans, it’ll be hard to resist joining in the booze-filled festivities.
Drink of choice: Hurricane

Esquire.com
Esquire.com

New Year’s Eve

One year ends, and another begins. It’s a pretty straightforward process, but somehow we’ve turned it into the time to get glammed up and down far too many adult beverages. So hopefully you can start the new year with some drunken decision that you’ll regret for the next 12 months.
Drink of choice: Champagne

BigEales.com
BigEales.com

Oktoberfest

Partially, it’s a celebration of Bavarian/German culture, but more honestly, Oktoberfest is a celebration of German beer. From the pilsners to the hefeweissbiers, and spatens to ambers, there’s a delicious plethora of choices to get involved in this glorious holiday.
Drink of choice: Really, any beer you can find