By AnnaBelle Boone / The Jambar
Over 200 guests gathered this Halloween weekend to participate in the Youngstown Bar Crawl.
Presented by Crawl With Us, the largest bar crawl company in the country, party-goers from cities around the U.S. celebrated All Hallow’s Eve from 4-10 p.m. Oct. 26. The Halloween centered-crawl was themed Thrill the World, and included other cities like New York, Atlanta and Seattle.
At 10 p.m., the after-party began at Ryes Craft Beer & Whiskey, chosen for what Crawl With Us deemed the best late-night atmosphere.
Check-in began at Penguin City Brewing Co. and guests received a lanyard with a bottle-opener, a badge and a make-your-own-adventure crawl. Penguin City also included a photo-op with an official Crawl With Us photographer, whose photos will be posted to the Youngstown photo album.
According to Crawl With Us, a make-your-own-adventure crawl allowed participants to pick and choose the order of the bars they visited.
Participants could also vote on their favorite costume. The photo that receives the most likes by Nov. 4 will receive four tickets to next year’s crawl and a chance to win $1,000 in the national Crawl With Us costume contest.
The businesses that participated included Avalon Downtown, Gringos, Imbibe Martini Bar, Noble Creature Cask House, Ryes and Penguin City. Several bars featured Halloween-themed drinks such as zombie martinis and caramel apple shots.
Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, co-owner of Penguin City, said official members of Crawl With Us were present to manage the event.
“[Crawl With Us] was the company that put the event on and [there was] a team there at the registration table,” Lyras said. “It was a very fun day for downtown Youngstown.”
Sierra Arnal, a third-year YSU student, attended the downtown bar crawl.
“I enjoy these big community events,” Arnal said. “They’re good for everyone and help bring the community together.”
Arnal began the crawl with a group at check-in, then continued down the stops until they ended up at Noble Creature.
“I loved the atmosphere. Seeing so many people dressed up was just so fun,” Arnal said. “Halloween-themed everything was just so much fun for me and everyone else.”
Arnal dressed up as the character Puss-in-Boots from “Shrek.”
“I don’t think I’ll win the Youngstown costume contest, let alone the national one,” Arnal said. “But I don’t think winning the contest is always the main goal. Spending time with friends, just enjoying each other’s company is the main goal.”
Although the Halloween weekend festivities concluded, The Octave and Penguin City will both host karaoke today. The Octave’s event will begin at 8 p.m. and Penguin City’s event will be 9 p.m. – 3 a.m.
