What Is Blackout Wednesday?

Every year, as Thanksgiving approaches, you might start seeing posts, memes, or invites about “Blackout Wednesday.” It’s that unofficial celebration the night before Thanksgiving many treat like a mini holiday. Blackout Wednesday often involves heavy drinking and reunion-style bar nights with friends or former classmates converging in hometowns. But what seems like harmless fun can carry serious risks. Learn what Blackout Wednesday really is, why it’s become popular, and why normalizing it can be dangerous.

What Is Blackout Wednesday?

At its core, Blackout Wednesday (also known as “Drinksgiving” or “Thanksgiving Eve”) refers to the night before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday when people head out to bars, pubs, or parties to celebrate before gathering with their families the next day.¹

It’s not a formal holiday, but for many it becomes one of the busiest bar nights of the year. Bars see sharp increases in liquor, beer, and cocktail orders compared with a typical midweek.²

On the surface, heading out with friends before Thanksgiving might look like a fun, nostalgic ritual. But normalizing Blackout Wednesday and framing it as an accepted “holiday” also normalizes binge drinking and the risky behaviors that can follow.

Dangers of Blackout Wednesday

While it might feel like a harmless social tradition, treating Blackout Wednesday as a holiday encourages heavy drinking or binge drinking and often leads to dangerous consequences. Common among these are binge drinking, alcohol poisoning, impaired decision-making, injuries, and a spike in drunk driving, making it a particularly risky night to normalize and encourage.

Risks of Binge Drinking

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), binge drinking is defined as a pattern of drinking that raises a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent or higher. For most adults, this typically happens when women consume four or more drinks or men consume five or more drinks within about two hours.³

Binge drinking is common among many age groups, including teens, young adults, and even older adults. Rates have been decreasing in some populations, but they remain high among people ages 18 to 25.³

Even a single episode of binge drinking can increase the risk of serious acute harm. Immediate risks of binge drinking include:³

• blackouts 
• alcohol poisoning
• unsafe sexual behaviors
• greater chance of injuries from falls, burns, drownings, or car crashes

Repeated episodes of binge drinking can contribute to long-term problems such as liver disease, heart conditions, and several types of cancer including breast, liver, colorectal, and cancers of the head and neck.³ 

Signs of Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol poisoning, also called an alcohol overdose, happens when someone has so much alcohol in their bloodstream that parts of the brain responsible for basic life functions begin to shut down. These areas control breathing, heart rate, gag reflex, and temperature regulation. When these systems slow or stop working properly, the situation becomes life threatening. Alcohol poisoning can lead to permanent brain damage or death.⁴

Drinking too much and too quickly can overwhelm the body’s ability to process alcohol. Even after a person stops drinking, their blood alcohol concentration can continue rising as alcohol already in the stomach and intestines enters the bloodstream. This is why “sleeping it off” is extremely dangerous and why an unconscious person may still be in severe danger.⁴

Common signs of alcohol poisoning include:⁴

• Mental confusion or stupor
• Trouble staying conscious or being unable to wake up
• Vomiting
• Seizures
• Slow or irregular breathing
• Slow heart rate
• Clammy, pale, or bluish skin
• Low body temperature

If you suspect someone has alcohol poisoning, call 911 right away. Someone who passes out from drinking can die if they are not helped quickly.

While waiting for medical help:⁴

• Stay with the person and do not leave them alone. They are at high risk of choking or falling.
• Try to keep them in a sitting position. If they must lie down, roll them onto their side with one ear toward the ground to help prevent choking if they vomit.
• Help them if they are vomiting by having them lean forward.
• Be prepared to tell emergency responders how much the person drank, whether they took other substances, and any health conditions you know about.
• Do not give them food, coffee, cold showers, or try to make them walk. These actions do not reverse an overdose and can make things worse.

Binge Drinking and DUIs

Another major risk associated with Blackout Wednesday is impaired driving. With holiday travel and partying coinciding, there’s a dangerous combination of heavy drinking and driving. Many people drive after parties to get home or continue their holiday travel which can lead to tragic consequences.

Data from recent years shows that between 2019 and 2023, there were 868 deaths from drunk-driving crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday period — that’s more than a third (35%) of all traffic-crash fatalities during those holidays. Drivers between the ages of 21-34 (37%) had the highest rate of involvement in drunk-driving crashes that resulted in fatalities on Thanksgiving in 2023.⁵

In 2023 alone, 174 people died in crashes where one or more drivers had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher during the Blackout Wednesday/Thanksgiving holiday window.⁵

Moreover, nighttime crashes are especially dangerous. Drivers involved in fatal crashes at night are about four times more likely to be impaired compared to daytime crashes.⁶

With binge drinking and drunk driving risks, Blackout Wednesday is a dangerous night for going out. 

Related Articles: Sober Tips for Thanksgiving

Alcohol Abuse Treatment in Atlanta

For some, what begins as a night of “fun” drinking can spiral into repeated patterns of binge drinking, dependence, and addiction. If your drinking patterns are causing harm physically, mentally, or socially, it may be time to consider professional help.

Here in Atlanta, our drug and alcohol rehab facility offers structured addiction treatment programs of varying intensity, tailored to meet individuals where they are. Our rehab admissions team is ready to answer your questions about addiction treatment programs, payment options, and insurance coverage. We understand that the decision to seek help is personal and often difficult and we’re here to support you through it. 

If binge drinking, “holiday drinking,” or recurring alcohol use has started to interfere with your life, or if you’ve experienced blackouts, DUIs, or dependence, contact Empowered Recovery Center in Atlanta.

References

1. Wikipedia. (n.d.). Blackout Wednesday. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout_Wednesday
2. Newsweek. (2025, November 26). Blackout Wednesday: The worrying trend ahead of Thanksgiving. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from https://www.newsweek.com/blackout-wednesday-thanksgiving-binge-drinking-11112104 
3. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (n.d.). Binge drinking. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/binge-drinking
4. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (n.d.). Understanding the dangers of alcohol overdose. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/understanding-dangers-of-alcohol-overdose
5. U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (n.d.). Thanksgiving: Buzzed driving is drunk driving. Traffic Safety Marketing. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from https://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/safety-topics/drunk-driving/buzzed-driving-drunk-driving/thanksgiving 
6. NKyTribune. (2025, November 25). Motorists reminded of driving risks during ‘Blackout Wednesday,’ and throughout Thanksgiving weekend. NKyTribune. Retrieved November 26, 2025, from https://nkytribune.com/2025/11/motorists-reminded-of-driving-risks-during-blackout-wednesday-and-throughout-thanksgiving-weekend/?utm_source=chatgpt.com