Arthur's Day
| Arthur's Day | |
|---|---|
To Arthur!
|
|
| Dates | 24 September 2009 23 September 2010 22 September 2011 27 September 2012 26 September 2013 |
| Location(s) |
Dublin, Ireland Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Lagos, Nigeria New York, United States Yaoundé, Cameroon |
| Years active | 5 |
| Website | |
| http://www.guinness.com/en-ie/arthursday/ | |
Arthur's Day was an annual series of music events worldwide, originally organised by Diageo in 2009 to promote the 250th anniversary of its Guinness brewing company.
The 2009 events took place, internationally, in the cities of Dublin, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, New York and Yaoundé on 23 September 2009. The event was broadcast internationally on Sky TV, ITV2 and DirecTV. €6 million was pledged to the Arthur Guinness Fund at the time. The so-called celebration was endorsed by several high-profile names, such as rock star-turned political activist Bob Geldof, director and screenwriter Guy Ritchie, footballer and Guinness football ambassador for Africa Michael Essien and British celebrities such as Peter Crouch and Sophie Dahl.
Notable high-profile names who later spoke out against Arthur's day include: director Lenny Abrahamson, singer-songwriter Christy Moore, and musician Mike Scott of The Waterboys. The event was also dubbed "Diageo Day" by The Huffington Post to promote a boycott of the event. The Royal College of Physicians Ireland highlighted a 30% increase in ambulance call-outs on each successive Arthur's Day and a doubling in alcohol-related liver disease over the previous decade, associated with drink promotion and the relative cheapness of alcohol.
Guinness drinkers were asked by the brewing company to raise a glass to the memory of Arthur Guinness at 17:59 (5:59 pm), a reference to 1759, the year the Guinness Brewery was established. An 82c stamp of an Arthur Guinness portrait was also released by An Post to commemorate the anniversary.
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Wikipedia