Is Spring Break Tradition 2000 Years Old? - as part of the travel series by GeoBeats.
When you think of spring break - what comes to mind?
I bet it's the crazy MTV beach parties. While those marketing geniuses at MTV did their job, spring break's history goes all the way back to the Roman and Greek Empires.
In those ancient times, young Roman and Greeks would celebrate the arrival of spring with festivities. Now here's the best part - this was also considered the season of fertility and they'd honor the God of Wine.
Well, doesn't seem like much has changed over 2000 years.
While the basic idea has remained same, in the modern times, spring break got started in 1930s with college students getting together in Fort Lauderdale for swim meets and not surprisingly, drinking became a big part of it.
In early 1960s, after the release of "where the boys are", starring George Hamilton, tradition of sprink break was firmly implanted. Gradually, it spread to daytona beach, panama city beach, then to others part of US and eventually to Mexico and Caribbean.
Ofcourse, something this fun without any strings attached has to be prevalent in other parts of the world and indeed it is.
In the US alone, it is said to be a $1 billion industry.
How do you plan to spend your spring break?
