No More Wristbands for River Street Revelers

Savannah City Council voted on Thursday to eliminate gating and wristbands on River Street during the St. Patrick's Day festival this year. Since 1999, the city had gated River Street and required revelers wishing to consume alcohol to purchase a $5 wristband.

Savannah Morning News article: Wristbands snipped for St. Pat's

Personally, I never saw the point in gating River Street and requiring wristbands in order to drink outside. The intent was to contain the crowds. However, open-container is allowed in the downtown area year-round, and underage people were still allowed to go down on River Street, so nothing was really being "contained." The revenue from the wristband sales was only enough to pay for the gating and the security needed to enforce the gating. Therefore, it seemed like a wasted effort and I'm glad the city made the decision to do away with it.

Below is a picture of the River Street crowd during a recent St. Patrick's Day festival.