The Rotary Club of Dunedin Waterside hosts a biannual Beer Olympics event in Downtown Dunedin. All proceeds from the event go directly back to Rotary’s mission to eradicate Polio as well as some of our favorite local charities: The Backpack Lady Project, Homeless Empowerment Program, Chi Chi Rodriguez Foundation and Random Acts of Flowers, to name a few. 

In the process of raising money, we also want our attendees to have fun while enjoying our favorite venues in Downtown Dunedin. In order to ensure everyone has a safe and entertaining evening, we’ve pulled together some tips on how to make the most of your Beer Olympics experience.

It’s Not a Race

In past years, winners at our Beer Olympics event were chosen based on which teams completed the games fastest. But not this year! All of our games will have a point system – meaning players get to actually spend time enjoying Downtown Dunedin without the need for running or chugging. Slow down and enjoy the night!

Respect Your Referees

Since Beer Olympics is a fundraiser, we rely heavily on our amazing volunteers to help keep the event organized. Our referees and registration team are made up of mostly volunteers who are spending their Saturday night ensuring you have a blast. Sometimes, they don’t know all the answers. But please be patient – they are trying the best they can. At every event, we will also have a Rotarian handy to ensure players get the most out of their experience.

Stay Safe on Sidewalks & Trails

Main Street in Downtown Dunedin will likely have heavy car traffic on the evening of Beer Olympics. As you are making your way between venues, please stick to the sidewalks and the Pinellas Trail. There are multiple crosswalks with pedestrian lights, and we encourage all players to cross at these locations.

Practice Makes Perfect

This year’s Beer Olympics will consist of the following games: corn hole (or bag toss/baggo), beer pong, flip cup, orange pass relay and stein hold. Just like football, it’s important to know who to put in your starting lineup. It doesn’t hurt to practice a few rounds of beer pong the night before the big games, either.

Dress to Impress

Our theme for the Fall 2016 Beer Olympics is 80s Flashback – and the team with the most creative outfits gets an awesome prize. So dress up in your best 80s attire and join us for a night of fun on the town!

Know Your Coordinates

The entire event is held within a small, 4-black radius. However, it’s still possible to get a little lost. So we’ve pulled together a handy map of the five bars participating in Beer Olympics. Feel free to save the map to your phone for later use!

Respect the Bars & Tip Your Bartenders

Our Beer Olympics wouldn’t be possible without the help of our venues and their amazing service staff. Each location (Sea Sea Riders, House of Beer, Dunedin Brewery, Rosie’s Tavern and the Dunedin Smokehouse) contributes to the operating costs of our Beer Olympics to help our club raise money for our community. We urge every player to treat the host venues with the utmost respect – they deserve it!! This includes only drinking in designated areas, no fights and no littering.

On tipping: gratuity is included in your ticket price for one (1) drink at each venue. If you drink above and beyond your included beverage, we recommend tipping your bartenders as you would on any other evening out. They have a long night ahead of them, after all.

Get Home Safely

Last, but certainly not least, make a plan to get home safely – DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! Our friends at Uber and Lyft have setup promo codes for any new users who want a safe ride home during Beer Olympics (more info here). Find a friend to pick you up, walk home if you live nearby or hail a taxi – they sit in the lot to the right of the Beer Olympics registration.

Also, Pinellas County recently passed a law that goes into effect October 1st preventing cars parked at drinking establishments from being towed. The law states that any car parked at a venue where alcohol is served cannot be towed between 9pm and noon the following day.

Best of luck to our Fall 2016 Beer Olympians!