On Saturday, Mar. 18, downtown Pleasanton celebrated St. Patrick’s day with its 10th annual spirited Brew Crawl. Adults of drinking age dressed up in festive costumes and marched from store to store refilling their cups along the way.

“[The best part of the brew crawl for me is] just seeing all the people dressed up. Everyone has kind of similar interests, we’re just having a good time,” said Haley Thaning, an event participant.

The Pleasanton Downtown Association organizes many similar events, like the Spirit Stroll and the Halloween Brew Crawl. These events aren’t just fun and festive, they’re also a way for Pleasanton’s small businesses to gain publicity. 

“We get people coming back saying ‘Oh, I saw [your store] when we were at Brew Crawl.’ It spreads awareness that we’re here and brings us customers from all over,” said Judy Wheeler, Towne Center Books owner.

Many downtown business owners see an uptick in sales after such events. The premise of the event is to go around and visit different businesses while having a good time. The process itself effectively gives more exposure to small businesses and their products.

“It’s that awareness. Some people come in and say ‘Oh, I’ve never been in here before,’ which is really cool. It’s exposing people to what we have that brings them back,” said Ami Sugiarto, sales worker at Superfly Wheels.

Most Pleasanton Downtown Association, like the autumn ‘Pumpkins on Main’ and the Easter ‘Bunny Hop’, events cater to children. The Brew Crawls give adults a place to celebrate holidays as well.

“We often participate in the Where’s Waldo [events] and the Easter events. But this [event] obviously caters to the adult crowd, which is just a different audience overall,” said Sugiarto.

The Brew Crawl provides the Pleasanton community with a different but exciting way to celebrate, keeping the fun in the city.

“It all just creates a great mood. The people that come in are really excited and happy to participate in these brew crawls,” said Sugiarto.