Six bars in downtown Amherst, Massachusetts are voluntarily delaying their openings this Saturday in an effort to head off the drunken rowdiness that marred last year's Blarney Blowout celebrations.Three of the bars are owned by business partners who started sponsoring the pre-St. Patrick's Day event in the late 1990s.
Last year, during a series of parties on and near the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, police arrested more than 50 people. Less than half were UMass students.
Amherst Town Manager John Musante tells the Daily Hampshire Gazette the bars have agreed to open at 4 p.m. rather than 11 a.m.
“There’ll be more police visibility in the downtown and in areas where in the past some large groups have gathered,” Musante said during an interview with WAMC News last month.
The university is banning non-UMass students from staying in campus housing this weekend. UMass is also hosting a concert featuring singer/rapper Kesha free for students Saturday.
Information from The Associated Press was used this report.
