As a student at UMass Amherst, Blarney Blowout is the event of the year. For College of the Holy Cross students, that event is the Catalina Wine Mixer. Both are wild darties where you get to dress up special for the theme and both days typically end in a few arrests and fines given out by local police, a sign of a successful college party in most UMass student’s eyes. While I certainly have a bias towards Blarney being the better darty, I had the opportunity to go to the Catalina Wine Mixer this year and I wanted to give an in-depth review of both.
As UMass stands with an undergraduate population of about 24,000 and Holy Cross at slightly more than 3,000, Blarney is without a doubt going to be bigger, so therefore crazier. But, Catalina does hold its own as it seemed as though everyone I met was either visiting for Catalina specifically or had guests staying with them. I did enjoy seeing the same people in most places I went to Catalina as I was only visiting and didn’t know many people, so the smaller population definitely had its upsides.
Holy Cross is also a much more condensed campus; “the lot,” as I learned all of the students called the area where the main darty was held, was just a short walk away from the dorm I was staying in, and super close to all of the off-campus housing. But for Blarney, darties can be held all over Amherst, meaning a mode of transportation is a must which can be tricky. The PVTA certainly helped, but I do recall taking a very expensive Uber ride when we couldn’t fit on the bus.
All over the Holy Cross campus, there are signs that say “Welcome to The Hill.” I quickly learned this wasn’t an exaggeration; everywhere we went involved walking up or down major hills. At Blarney, the only walking hazard was the ice and snow that still covered parts of the ground as Amherst is still pretty frozen in early March.
Deciding what to wear is a massive debate with both events. For Blarney, you’re going to want to wear as much green as possible and likely some “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” shirts, or anything with a St. Patrick’s day or drinking pun on it. Catalina follows a style more similar to Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass. I used this guide to figure out what to wear!
Blarney offers more versatility in the fun than Catalina in my opinion. If you are from the Northeast, it’s likely you have listened to/played Rattlin’ Bog, where you take turns drinking to the length of the chorus, similar to Thunderstruck. There’s a good chance you will hear Shipping Up to Boston more than enough times, too. It’s also likely you’ll get passed a green Jell-O shot or a box of Lucky Charms at some point in the day. At Catalina, it seemed the only thing that was different than any ordinary darty was the way people dressed and the occasional passing around of a wine bag. I heard the same music you’d hear at any other darty, whereas at Blarney it’s an even mix of that and traditional Irish music.
UMass Amherst is ranked #1 for party schools in Massachusetts, and in the top 25 ranked by Barstool Sports, is going to be hard to beat for any party. While I’m glad to have had the experience of going to Catalina and did have a blast, I’m lucky to have Blarney as my home team event of the year. Maybe next I will visit Providence College for their Golf Party, yet another iconic darty!
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