Reducing Alcohol Problems at Community Events

Public festivals are an important part of community life and culture. At their best, they can be a place for kids to play and family and friends to gather. However, when alcohol is a major part of the celebration, community events are often marred by alcohol-related violence, vandalism, traffic fatalities, injuries and problems associated with underage drinking.

Recognizing these risks, many communities are taking action to protect their celebrations from alcohol-related disruptions. Rocklin, California moved to limit alcohol sales at its annual Rocklin Jubilee after dealing with several alcohol-related incidents. Rocklin City Manager Carlos A. Urrutia, wants to keep the festival "family-friendly" and prevent underage drinking. Research has found that changing the conditions of availability-for example restricting alcohol sales-can help prevent or reduce problems.¹ Such restrictions can range from eliminating alcohol sales, limiting serving sizes, reducing the hours of sale or confining alcohol consumption to a beer garden.

In the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, 53 business owners signed a petition asking event organizers to limit the number of beer gardens at the annual North Beach Festival. "A lot of people in the neighborhood want to see it deaccelerate, and not be as much about corporate sponsors and beer gardens and drinking," said City Lights Books co-owner Nancy Peters.²

Communities have the power to control alcohol-related sponsors and restrict alcohol advertising at community events. In Marin County, California a group of six community organizations called Play Fair replaced Miller Brewing Company as the title sponsor at this year's Marin County Fair.

Although organizers may worry that placing limits on alcohol will result in smaller crowds, a national survey of adults showed that over 80 percent of respondents were in favor of alcohol restrictions at events.³ Celebrations that address alcohol advertising, promotions and availability offer safe fun to families. They could also end up making community events more successful.

Policies to reduce alcohol problems at community festivals include:

• Limit the number of places to purchase alcohol at the event
• Provide alternate sponsors and no alcohol advertising
• Require servers trained in responsible beverage service for all alcohol sales
• Limit serving size and number of servings per patron per purchase
• Do not allow people to bring alcohol into the event
• Allow only plastic cups - no bottles or cans
• Offer attractive, nonalcoholic beverages at competitive prices
• Confine alcohol sales and consumption to enclosed "adult only" beer gardens
• Use trained security personnel to check IDs

¹ Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 99-3298
² J.K. Dineen. San Francisco Examiner, "North Beach Screeching," May 27, 2004
³ Wagenaar AC, Harwood EM, Toomey TL, Denk CE, Zander KM. "Public opinion on alcohol policies in the United States: Results from a national survey." Journal of Public Health Policy, 21(3): 303-27, 2000