ABRA has announced revisions to the bar crawl regulations it issued on an emergency basis in January. The regulations,which many predicted would lead to the end of the bar crawl as we know it, were open for public comment this spring. After many hiccups and rejected bar crawls, organizers have figured out the system and bar crawls have not been completely eliminated, but there are certainly fewer than in years past.

ABRA issued revised regulations in response to comments from:

• the bar Madhatter (a frequent bar crawl stop)
• Lindy’s Promotions (longtime biggest player on the bar crawl scene)
• ANCs representing U Street and Dupont
• the Dupont Circle Citizens Association
• the DC police, fire, and trash departments
• the Golden Triangle BID
• the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW),

Interestingly, although the ANCs, the Golden Triangle BID, and even Madhatter urged ABRA to create a rule prohibiting more than one bar crawl at a time in the same neighborhood, ABRA declined to include this in the revised regulations (although so far ABRA has generally only approved on bar crawl in each hood in practice). The revisions to the regulations include:

• Detailing what must be included in the  litter management plan, including
  • “the cleaning of human waste (e.g. vomit);”
  • litter removal by 10a the next day;
  • removal of litter on both sides of street (including tree boxes/planters) on the route between bars on crawl;
  • Extend the deadline for pub crawl applications to 60 days (up from 45) before event);
• Allowing crawls on St. Paddy’s Day and Cinco de Mayo (pub crawls on July 4th, Halloween, and NYE are still prohibited); and
• Explicitly making it a secondary liquor license violation to participate in an unlicensed pub crawl.

These emergency regulations are still not permanent until approved by the DC Council.