The Banana Bar Crawl is set to make its Tucson debut on March 29, bringing a wave of costume-clad revelers fueled by equal parts potassium and booze.

Founded nearly two years ago by a group of friends in Canada, the idea was born after they witnessed a bunch of people at a bar dressed in banana costumes.

“We said how fun would it be if there were 2,000 people in the bar in banana costumes?” said Luke de Haas, CEO and co-founder of Mosea and the Banana Bar Crawl.

They ordered 100,000 banana costumes and sold 10,000 in the first month. The first Banana Bar Crawl, where patrons don banana costumes and bar hop, took place in Canada in November 2023 and quickly spread to college towns across the Great North before turning south to the United States.

With the allure of American college culture, the Banana Bar Crawl team packed their bags, secured their visas and came down to the States in 2024 in pursuit of more opportunities.

The inaugural crawl took place that September at the University of Iowa. Other events that fall were held at the University of Indiana, Penn State University, the University of Michigan and other Midwestern college towns.

The Banana Bar Crawl had officially arrived in the United States.

Since then, nearly 30 college towns across America have been flooded by thousands of intoxicated “bananas” taking over party districts.

The event has secured partnerships with brands including Barstool Sports, Happy Dad Hard Seltzer, Fetti and Red Bull, further cementing its place in the American bar scene.

This year’s U.S. tour includes 33 stops nationwide, including Tucson. Participants who purchase a $27 ticket receive a banana costume, free entry into participating bars, exclusive drink specials and access to a scavenger hunt, with prizes from participating sponsors.

While bar crawls are nothing new, few have embraced the sheer absurdity of dressing hundreds of partygoers as bananas. For organizers and attendees alike, that’s precisely the appeal.

De Haas says that the Banana Bar Crawl is so successful because of the humility you experience dressing up like a banana on a night out.

“You get all different walks of life, like people in fraternities, people who drink, people who don’t drink. It’s just a really, really, inclusive event,” said de Haas.

Not only is the event a fun and unique experience for all attendees, it’s a great way to give back to a great cause. Each bar crawl event has several teams of promoters that sell tickets. Whoever sells the most gets 5% of the total proceeds donated to a charity of their choice.

Participants can pick up their costumes at The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave., between noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 29; the bar crawl starts at 3.

In addition to the Hut, Sky Bar at 536 N. Fourth is participating. For an updated list of participating bars, visit https://www.thebananabarcrawl.com/usa/tucson-az/ or The Banana Bar Crawl Instagram at @thebananabarcrawl.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.