As the first Saturday of summer approaches, that can only mean one thing, Crate day. An unofficial Kiwi holiday that many are campaigning to make official.
A celebration started by the Rock FM radio station back in 2010 a group of University students have taken it upon themselves to petition to make “crate day” officially recognised and turn the first full weekend of summer into a three day holiday.
Hugo Speight, the architect of this movement said it has been years in the making but finally its gaining speed.
“We’ve been trying for the last couple of years to bring it up to speed, but Kiwis love public holidays and feel that crate day should be an official holiday”.
However, there is staunch opposition towards this movement as many believe it will promote further dangerous binge drinking and mischief.
In 2023 a study found that on crate day weekends twice as many drunk 20-34 year olds needed medical assistance compared to any other weekend with two thirds of patients being male.
Speight responds to this by saying not everyone has to do a whole crate and many just drink a regular box, the rules aren’t as traditional as they used to be.
“Traditionally you would drink 12 750ml bottles but now most people just drink standard sized bottles from a standard box, its all about knowing your limit whilst having fun and being safe”
Crate day has been a Kiwi tradition for over 10 years now, is it time to officially recognise it?
