George Asbury is a young graduate living in Harrogate who has been working as an intern with the Stray Ferret  

As young people drink less and nights out become more expensive, the tradition of the pub crawl is quietly fading. In towns like Harrogate, nights out are changing—and I’m not convinced it’s for the better.

There was a time when a night out in Harrogate followed a fairly predictable formula:

You’d start in a pub just off the edge of town — somewhere cheap enough to justify a couple — then gradually work your way in. A few more drinks in Wetherspoons, another round or two in one of the bars tucked down Harrogate’s famous Ginnel, maybe a cocktail in Revolución de Cuba, before ending the night with a bang in the Viper Rooms.

But those nights were never just about drinking. They were about moving, exploring, and discovering everything the town had to offer as the night unfolded.

Now, it feels like there’s been a real shift in Harrogate’s nightlife culture. Part of that is physical, with venues disappearing from the map left, right and centre.

Revolución de Cuba closed its doors recently, and the Viper Rooms, once the town’s only nightclub, has been shut since 2022, left to slowly fade away.

I'm 24 years old and the Viper Rooms was always the focal point of a night out. No matter where you started, people would eventually converge there at around 1am from all corners of the town for a late-night dance. Without that shared destination, nights out feel more fragmented—less like a collective experience and more like small, separate gatherings.

But there’s a reason these places are disappearing. 

In a nutshell, drink prices are rising, and young people are drinking less.

The cost-of-living crisis has completely reshaped how people spend their money. 

A few years ago, a pub crawl night would set you back no more than £50. Now, you’re easily looking at triple figures.

Nights out are often the easiest thing to cut back on. When a single pint can cost £6 or £7 and a round of drinks pushes past £30, the idea of moving between multiple venues starts to feel less like a carefree tradition and more like an expensive commitment.

That’s where “pre-drinks” come in. Drinking at home has become the norm — not just as a warm-up, but as a way to keep costs down. And once people are out, they’re far less likely to move on and spend more. The spontaneous, free-flowing nature of the pub crawl where the night evolves as you go has been replaced by something more static, more planned, and ultimately more restrained.

At the same time, attitudes towards alcohol itself are changing.

I am too young to have witnessed first-hand the drinking culture from decades ago. However, I’ve already noticed just how different nights out look now compared with even a few years ago.

People my age seem to be becoming more health-conscious than previous generations. Whether it’s focusing on fitness, being mindful of calories, or just taking mental health more seriously, excessive drinking isn’t worn as a badge of honour anymore.

That doesn’t mean young people don’t go out or drink at all—it just means it’s no longer a weekly ritual. Instead, it’s become more of an occasional event, saved for birthdays, celebrations, or big nights.

And maybe that’s not entirely a bad thing. But for me, something has definitely been lost along the way.

The pub crawl wasn’t just about drinking—it was about the unpredictability, the energy, and the shared experience of a night that could take you anywhere. Without it, nights out feel a bit more controlled, a bit less exciting, and a lot less memorable.

What do you think? Are the glory days of the pub crawl behind us? Let us know in the comments.