Unofficial

A one, and recently two-day celebration created by Champaign-IL bar owners when they realized they were missing out on St. Patrick's Day-related money from students at the University of Illinois. Every year, these owners buy the services of several advertising companies to start Facebook groups that pose as student-created, touting how they will break the rules and flout convention by drinking alcohol all day on Unofficial St. Patrick's Day. Gullible students are all too happy to oblige, believing they are doing something rebellious. Bar drink prices are jacked up, many citations and arrests are made, and sometimes a person or two dies. It is also the source of much argument between squabbling Midwest schools, as to who has the more "out of control" party.