A beer-Olympics-style event is fun way to enjoy drinking games with friends, fraternities and drinking buddies (and new-found friends) down at the bar. In addition to the games, choose a party theme and dress up in DIY costumes to enhance the friendly competition of your local USA drinking team. Go wild with the costume ideas, ranging from the gods and goddesses of beer to sports teams to cosplay movie or comic book characters—they're all an opportunity to wrap yourself in a toga or an American flag and have some summer or winter Olympic fun.
Pull inspiration from world mythology
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Fraternities and sororities hosting a beer Olympics party may look to the original events in Greece for costume inspirations. While actual nudity might be off the table, especially for unisex events and parties held in public venues, participants might dress up in:
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- White or skin-tone body stockings
- Leggings or shorts and crop tops
- Greek chitons or Roman togas
- Green or gold leaf crowns
Don't forget white and gold sneakers if running is incorporated into the party games. Naturally, the judges should be dressed as the Greek Dionysius or Roman Bacchus, the gods of the grape harvest, fruitfulness and drinking.
In fact, you can choose which set of mythological gods you prefer and choose sides before commencing with the beer games. Don't limit yourself to traditional mythologies; there are other traditions that you can incorporate into your beer Olympics team costumes. Gods, goddesses and patron saints of beer and brewing from all over the world include the:
- Celtic god Sucellus
- Egyptian deities Bes or Nephthys
- German kobold Biersal
- Irish patron saint Brigid of Kildare
- Norse god Aegir
- Sumerian goddess Ninkasi
- Zulu fertility goddess Nokhubulwane
Dress up as your favorite character (sans brown or blackface and Afro wigs, which may come back to haunt your future career) and compete against the other deities in the beer lover's drinking contests.
Compete in sports outfits
An obvious choice for sports fans is to gather in groups that symbolize their favorite teams or sports. Baseball, basketball, hockey, football or soccer fans can dress up in team colors, jerseys or actual uniforms. T-shirts or jerseys and baseball caps work well for casual events, while helmets, footballs and other gear fulfill a larger fan identity and add to the competitive spirit of the games.
A diverse group of fans may team up according to their favorite sports—for example, soccer versus football, basketball versus baseball or hockey players versus ice skaters. Have fun choosing teams, suiting up and deciding how to pit the players against each other.
DIY cosplay costumes
Wrap the beer Olympics party around a theme taken from a role-playing game, video game, television show or movie. Cosplay costumes that feature the best zombie or vampire television shows and movies like The Walking Dead, Blade or the latest vampire flick would be suitable for beer drinking parties centered around Halloween. You can also dress up as characters from cult classics ranging from Rocky Horror Picture Show to The Big Lebowski to Donnie Darko. Don't limit yourself—if your favorite TV show is The Bachelorette, the central theme might be women's attire ranging from formal to bikinis, with one or three gender-bending bachelors to liven up the party.
Comics are always fertile ground for costumes and friendly drinking games, such as:
- Clean-cut preppie Archie and the gang
- Stone-age Flintstones
- Dark supernatural drama of The Crow
- Cyberpunk dystopia of The Private Eye
All have a multitude of costume options, including T-shirts and jeans, elaborate masks, fake fur tunics and/or stark all-black outfits with black and white makeup.
Other considerations for your beer Olympics
While bouncing or throwing ping pong balls to splash into plastic cups, chug-a-lugging the brews in flip cups, flipping quarters and other games are fun ways to liven up the beer Olympics or a Halloween costume party, make sure there's plenty of food and alternate beverages for the moderate drinks and nondrinkers. In addition, when hosting your own beer Olympics, make sure there are designated drivers or arrange for cabs or rent hotel rooms.
Careful planning, creative beer Olympic costumes and plenty of kegs ensure that you and your friends will be ready to drink up and enjoy your next beer bash, Fourth of July event or Halloween party.