Downtown Dirty Shirley Crawl brings book series to life
Alex Pellerin, the event coordinator for Bookery in Manchester, said that while it is perfectly possible to take part in Saturday’s Dirty Shirley Bar Crawl without knowing any of the cultural references behind it, there is an actual literary theme to the event.
“There is a really popular book series called Dungeon Crawler Carl,” Pellerin said. “It’s recently exploded in popularity. ln the books there’s a cat named Princess Donut who talks, and at [a bar called] the Desperado Club she finds out she really likes Dirty Shirley Temples [very similar to the popular non-alcoholic drink Shirley Temple, with grenadine and ginger ale, but with a vigorous slug of vodka]. She eventually gets cut off from them and can only have regular Shirley Temples.”
“So we are hosting this event in conjunction with [Granite State] Comicon,” Pellerin continued, “to give folks who are going to Comicon some things to do after the event. [Comicon] will end around 5 p.m. and we want to continue the celebration and community-building. We thought it would be fun to connect people to other businesses in the area while celebrating the book series and Comiccon. We’re [organizing] a Dirty Shirley Bar Crawl to find the best Shirley Temple in what we would call The Dungeon, but really on Elm Street.”
Each of the participating bars and restaurants will serve its take on a Shirley Temple, both “dirty” and traditional. Crawl participants will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites, and the bars will earn bragging rights.
Pellerin said the Dungeon Crawler Carl series is popular with readers of all ages and interests, and the Dirty Shirley Crawl will reflect that.
“It’s 100 percent inclusive,” she said, “whether you drink or not. And we know that doing a bar crawl isn’t everybody’s thing; [ Bookery] is going to actually be staying open later. Typically we’re only open till 7 p.m., but that night we’re going to be open until 9 p.m., and in the store from 5 to 9 p.m. we’ll be doing Dungeon Crawler Carl-themed activities, games, giveaways and raffles. We’ll have a bunch of fun Dungeon Crawler Carl merch for people to purchase too. So for anyone not interested in doing the Crawl there’s still stuff going on here they can participate in, or they could do both. We’re turning this whole place into a dungeon, which will be very, very exciting.”
“For instance,” Pellerin said, “we’ll have a High Rollers Roulette Wheel, which is a classic in the Desperado Club, where people can win different prizes — or maybe not win some prizes — based on what the wheel gives you. We’re going to have a photo booth, There will be some voting activities for readers’ favorite book, and we’ll build a ‘Mob’, which is like building monsters that people get to collaborate on. It’s going to be really fun. We’re really excited.”you’re satisfied, but there can always be a little bit more satisfaction.”
Dirty Shirley Bar Crawl
When: Saturday, Sept. 19, from 5 to 9 p.m.
Where: along Elm Street in downtown Manchester. A statement from Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester, 836-6600, bookerymht.com) reads, “While we anticipate that most participants will visit locations individually, a larger group will depart from the bookstore at 6 p.m. following a specific route. Below is the complete list of participating bars, with the locations on the main group route being underlined/bolded.”
Diz’s
Stashbox
Without
The Shaskeen
Boards & Brews
Bad Brgr
Strange Brew
Thirsty Moose
Shoppers
Industry East
Hop Knot
Critical Mass Coffee
Manchester Distillery
Featured photo: Photo by John Fladd.