Crate Day is an unofficial holiday in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, held on the first Saturday of December. The day consists of drinking a crate of twelve 745 ml beer bottles from 12pm until 12am the next day. Crate Day was the inspiration for Truly Friday's hit single 'Crate Day'. The unofficial holiday was originally created by The Rock radio station in 2010. There are several “commandments” that The Rock established for the day, such as participants supporting "Thy crate of origin", referring to drinking beer made in an individual's birthplace, and "Thou only beef that should attend National Crate Day is thy beef for thy BBQ". The event has grown in popularity since its creation, leading to a number of arrests and injuries. Many alcohol-related businesses have promotions for the event and numerous local councils enact liquor bans during the weekend. The radio station no longer promotes the event. In December 2022, a group of seventy 4WD vehicles were observed at the

Ashley River / Rakahuri The Ashley River (; officially Ashley River / Rakahuri) is in Canterbury region of New Zealand. It flows generally southeastwards for before entering the Pacific Ocean at Waikuku Beach, Pegasus Bay north of Christchurch. The town of Rangiora is ...

on the river bed where endangered birds were nesting, during an event to mark Crate Day. The endangered species that nest along the river bed from September to February include

banded dotterel The double-banded plover (''Charadrius bicinctus''), known as the banded dotterel or pohowera in New Zealand, is a species of bird in the plover family. Two subspecies are recognised: the nominate ''Charadrius bicinctus bicinctus'', which breeds ...

and

black-fronted tern The black-fronted tern (''Chlidonias albostriatus''), also known as sea martin, ploughboy, inland tern, riverbed tern or tarapiroe,Rod Morris and Alison Ballance, ''"Rare Wildlife of New Zealand"'', Random House, 2008 is a small tern generally f ...

. Despite signs warning of fines and imprisonment for disturbing endangered species, the drivers went ahead and entered the river bed. A study released in 2023 found that on Crate Day weekends, compared to other weekends, twice as many drunk 20 - 34 year olds needed treatment at emergency departments in Waikato. Most of these patients were male.

References

Unofficial observances Observances in New Zealand {{NewZealand-stub

See also

References