Bartender Appreciation Day Date in the current year: December 6, 2024

A bartender is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic beverages behind the bar. Back in the day, it was usually public drinking house owners or innkeepers who served drinks, and bartending was a profession with a low reputation, especially in places where alcohol consumption was frowned upon by the church.

Bartending began to establish itself as a serious profession in the 19th century, but even today a lot of people see it as a transitional work for students and young people to make money to pay the bills until their main occupation starts bringing in enough income. However, the situation has begun to change over the past few years; today, more and more people are choosing bartending as a long-term career. They attend special schools to study mixology (the art of mixing cocktails and other drinks) and participate in professional competitions to hone their skills.

However, bartending is more than just mixing and serving drinks. In addition to professional skills and knowledge (drink recipes, serving techniques, etc.), a career bartender needs good social skills to put new customers at ease and build cordial relationships with regulars. Bartenders deal with all kinds of people, sometimes acting as a therapist of sorts, sometimes calming unruly customers or helping people get out of a date that went wrong. They play an important social role, and Bartender Appreciation Day was created to highlight it.

It was decided to celebrate Bartender Appreciation Day on the first Friday of December for a reason. The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is one of the busiest times of the year for bartenders, and Friday night is one of the busiest times of the week, since lots of people go out for drinks to celebrate the beginning of the weekend.

The best way to celebrate Bartender Appreciation Day is to visit a bar where your favorite bartender works, wish them a happy Bartender Appreciation Day and leave a generous tip to show your appreciation (a significant portion of a bartender’s income is made up of tips, so tipping a little extra is a really nice gesture).

Bartender Appreciation Day is also a great occasion to learn more about the profession by attending a flair bartending competition, watching a documentary, or reading about notable bartenders. Finally, you can try your hand at mixing drinks by throwing a cocktail party.