Thrills and thrills in the city center – The Jambar

By AnnaBelle Boone / The Jambar

Over 200 guests gathered this Halloween weekend to take part in the Youngstown Bar Crawl.

Presented by Crawl With Us, the country's largest bar crawl company, partygoers from cities across the U.S. celebrated All Hallow's Eve on October 26 from 4 to 10 p.m. The Halloween crawl was themed “Thrill the World” and included even more cities like New York, Atlanta and Seattle.

The afterparty began at 10 p.m. at Ryes Craft Beer & Whiskey, chosen for having the best late-night atmosphere according to Crawl With Us.

Check-in began at Penguin City Brewing Co. and guests received a bottle opener lanyard, badge and a DIY crawl. Penguin City also included a photo op with an official Crawl With Us photographer, whose photos will be published in the Youngstown photo album.

Accordingly Crawl with usDuring a “make-your-own-adventure” crawl, participants were able to choose the order in which bars they visited.

Participants were also able to vote for their favorite costume. The photo that receives the most likes by November 4th will receive four tickets to next year's Crawl and a chance to win $1,000 in the national Crawl With Us costume contest.

Participating businesses included Avalon Downtown, Gringos, Imbibe Martini Bar, Noble Creature Cask House, Ryes and Penguin City. Several bars served Halloween drinks like zombie martinis and caramel apple shots.

Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, co-owner of Penguin City, said official members of Crawl With Us were in attendance to host the event.

“(Crawl With Us) was the company that organized the event and there was a team at the registration table,” Lyras said. “It was a very fun day for downtown Youngstown.”

Sierra Arnal, a third-year YSU student, participated in the downtown bar crawl.

“I enjoy these big community events,” Arnal said. “They are good for everyone and help bring the community together.”

Arnal started the crawl with a group at check-in and then walked down the stops until they ended up at Noble Creature.

“I loved the atmosphere. It was just so much fun to see so many people dressed up,” Arnal said. “Anything Halloween-themed was so much fun for me and everyone else.”

Arnal dressed up as the character “Puss in Boots” from “Shrek”.

“I don’t think I’ll win the Youngstown costume contest, let alone the national one,” Arnal said. “But I don’t think winning the competition is always the main goal. The main goal is to spend time with friends and just enjoy each other’s company.”

Although the Halloween weekend festivities have ended, The Octave and Penguin City are both hosting karaoke today. The Octave event starts at 8:00 p.m. and Penguin City's event runs from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m