Argyle St. was in full swing on Sunday at 7am with Haligonians ready to wet their whistle as soon as the bars opened. With a number of Irish-inspired pubs on various corners of downtown, St. Patrick’s Day in Halifax is never a dull moment.
However, it seems like this year there are less attendees of the festivities across the whole country. According to the Ipsos Alcohol Consumption Tracker (ACT), young adults are consuming less alcohol than ever on a daily while consumption on St. Patrick’s Day itself is up 25% over the last 5 years.
Festivity-exclusive drinking seems to be the way to go for the younger crowd while sober-curious takes over their everyday lives.
Market researchers claim that this number is largely due to the high cost of living, in addition to a surge of immigration with new residents largely coming from cultures that don’t consume alcohol anywhere close to the extent that Nova Scotians used to, if at all.
