After an entire day spent in airports, a long car ride to Grandma’s, and an afternoon spent being cordial to your aunt’s weird boyfriend, having a couple of beers before the chaos of Thanksgiving Day starts to look very appetizing.
And, let me just say, you wouldn’t be alone at the bar—you might not even be able to find a seat, to be perfectly honest. This phenomenon, which falls on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, is known as both ‘Blackout Wednesday’ and ‘Drinksgiving’ to revelers all around the country. Typically marked by out-of-towners returning to their hometown haunts to reconnect with high school friends, the day has now morphed into one of the busiest days of the year for bars, rivaling that of St. Patrick’s Day and New Year’s Eve. So much so that establishments around the country advertise their “Blackout Wednesday” drink specials, ticketed events, and extended hours on the day.
On one of the busiest nights for bars nationwide, a recent study even found that bar liquor orders will increase up by 156% as compared to the Wednesday before, while beer sales and cocktail orders both rise by over 60% each.
Even if you only have a pint or two, Drinksgiving is often the ultimate watering hole event. In Orlando, where I grew up, the World of Beer was the prime spot for idly snooping on people from high school, looking on in shock and awe as the most unlikely pairings (Tyler and Kayla?!) made out sloppily at the bar. But there’s a darkness to the day that should not go unnoticed, as one drink can easily turn into one too many.
As the name suggests, ‘Blackout Wednesday’ is a night when drinkers may find themselves “blacking out” due to excessive booze. With no work and plenty of time on their hands (or a need to get out of the house and away from family), a cozy bar can become the ideal third place. Along with spirits being high (or very low) during the holidays, heavy drinking and driving is all too common between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, with Blackout Wednesday marking the start of the so-called “DUI Season”. Nationwide, local police ramp up efforts with DUI checkpoints as early as the week before Turkey Day to curb the spike, when your risk of coming into contact with a drunk driver becomes 55% more likely than on average days.
There are also, of course, health risks off the road. Blackout drinking also doesn’t just involve a lapse in memory and a huge hangover, it can also lead to vomiting, seizures, depression, and accidental injuries in the short term even if the blackouts are only occasional. Long-term effects of binge drinking to blackout also include more dire health issues such as liver damage, high blood pressure, and even mental health disorders
Blackouts aren’t just caused by heavy drinking: alcohol-induced blackouts can also occur more rapidly after just a few drinks, especially if you are taking certain medications, drink on an empty stomach, or have a low body weight.
So while it’s often very necessary to leave the house to blow off some steam (or get out of chopping celery), with the advent of actually-delicious mocktails, NA beers, and ride-shares, there’s very little reason to put yourself—or others—in danger, especially during the holidays. Hosts and guests alike can benefit from making a plan for keeping everyone safe until well after New Year’s Day by providing plenty of non-alcoholic options at gatherings, opting in on a “Dampsgiving,” checking in with loved ones (and designated drivers) before they hit the road, and always making sure there’s a spot on the couch for anyone who helped themselves to a few too many eggnog espresso martinis.
Mackenzie Filson is a food writer and contributing digital food producer at Delish. Her favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate-pine and if wine was an astrological sign she’d be a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. She’s never met a bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos she didn’t eat in one sitting.