It may not be Saint Patrick’s Day yet but, starting Friday night, crowds of people dressed in green flooded the streets and hit up the bars in downtown State College for the annual State Patty’s.
State Patty’s was in full swing by Saturday night. The student-made “holiday” has faced criticism over the years for people getting out of hand and for putting a strain on local police and medical teams.
Douglas Braff spoke with those taking part about the tradition and restrictions.
Asked what they were looking forward to, Saturday night, one participant named Matthew replied, “Uh, that’s a good question.”
His friend Wyatt chimed in: “Um, bars!”
The rest of their friends, in agreement, then says, “Bars! Bars. Bars.”
That pretty much sums up State Patty’s.
Penn State student Grace Yatcilla told 6 News, “It’s a national holiday here!”
Her friend Cat Altman added, “You can’t miss it!”
Matthew called the restrictions “bogus.” He argued, “We’re just— we’re just college kids. We’re just— we’re just being silly, as we do.”
Wyatt also remarked, “Let us, let us live, let us live.”
However, the restrictions did not deter the revelers, like Gavin Smith and Anthony Libero.
Asked about restrictions, Smith replied, “For me and him [Libero] and all of us, ‘restrictions,’ it’s not in our vocabulary. So, we’re gonna do what we want when we want ’cause we’re in State Patty’s!”
Libero adding: “That’s how we rock at Penn State.”
It’s why people travel from far and wide just to party in State College, like Yatcilla and Altman’s friend Matt Lowe from Michigan State University.
