The World’s Largest Cocktail Party

World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party – When and Why

The gathering, coined as the World’s Largest Cocktail Party, takes place at one of the most prominent rivalry games of the SEC East. We admit we didn’t know about this before our curiosity got the best of us, and we looked it up, but this sounds like the most festive atmosphere of any college football game we’ve ever been to. 

Georgia and Florida are prominent Southeastern Conference rivals, and they play against each other in one of the biggest games of the Eastern Division. The game attracts huge crowds of college football fans, many of which can be found in huge clusters, tailgating and partying with their favorite cocktail in hand.  

As you can imagine, the Florida-Georgia game cocktail party is quite lively. At the annual tailgating event, there are crowds as far as the eye can see. Estimates are that as many as 150k cocktail-party goers/college football fans attend every year.

The school flags flying proudly through the air, music blasting, and the countless BBQs create a scene that feels more like an epic college party than it does a cocktail party, but who are we to argue with the name?

The History 

Seeing the crowds in real life leaves you with no doubt why this has been called the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party, but the name must have spawned from somewhere, right? So, when, where, and how did this happen?

It all started back in 1958, when the Georgia-Florida game was, believe it or not, a bit of a yawn. Still, even in the 1950s, there were drunk college students wandering around, as there always are at these types of sporting events. A sports editor at the time happened to see one such drunken fan approach an on-duty police officer and ask if he wanted a drink. 

Of course, a uniformed police officer couldn’t indulge, but this moment in time led to the sports editor attaching the moniker of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to the annual game between the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs.

It didn’t take long for the name to catch on, with tailgaters and game-goers eagerly living up to the expectations. 

The Florida-Georgia Football Rivalry 

The rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators dates back as far as 1904, which was shortly after the Florida Legislature voted to change the name of Florida Agricultural College to Florida State University. The rivalry has been going on ever since that first game was played. 

If you think back to everything that’s happened in our country and the world in the nearly 120 years since the first game, you’ll see that this college rivalry has withstood major events, including the great depression. There was a brief hiatus during World War II, but that has been it. 

Over the years, it has seemed to be a ping-pong game of who was dominating the Georgia-Florida game with their winning streak. In fact, it hasn’t been uncommon for one team to relentlessly crush the other for well over a decade.

When the SEC championship game was first being played all those years ago, it seemed that Georgia dominated Florida at every turn. 

Then one year, Florida won, and so began their winning streak. This went on, alternating between the two with winning stretches that would last most of a decade.

Today, both Florida and Georgia fans are more likely to be kept on their toes (balancing with a cocktail in hand). Now the playing field seems more even, with Florida winning and Georgia winning alternating in what seems to be three-game win streaks.

The rivalry and tension of who will win the Georgia-Florida game each year keep the energy of the largest cocktail party from going anywhere anytime soon.  

Does The Title of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Still Stand?

This depends on who you ask. Officials, including the city of Jacksonville, where the game is held, decided decades ago, in the 1980s, that they were done with it.

Later, in the early 2000s, the Southeastern Conference and both schools no longer wanted to be a part of it either, at least officially.

Ask the city of Jacksonville, the head coaches, university officials, or student governments from either school, and you’d get a firm head shake and maybe even a finger-wagging. 

Neither the modern university nor the city of Jacksonville wants anything to do with this image, and it’s pretty easy to understand why. A cocktail party that numbers 150K+ is going to bring a lot of drunk people to town and, with that, some unsavory shenanigans and troublemakers. 

However, for those that attend the annual event, it is still, most definitely, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party — although other universities and big rivalry games are certainly taking a stab at being the top contender for the biggest cocktail/tailgating party.

Where Does It Happen?

The rivalry game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators is one of the few remaining neutral site rivalries. This means that neither team plays on their home turf (Sanford Stadium for Georgia and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for Florida).

Instead, the game is played at Jacksonville’s Tiaa Bank Field. Yes, it’s still in Florida, but the game is not played in Gainesville, where the university is located. 

The cocktail party spans much of Jacksonville’s home turf, spreading out into downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. It’s truly one of the most amazing celebrations of college sports and showcases Jacksonville beautifully – even if a few partygoers get out of hand.  

Key Takeaways 

• The rivalry football game between Georgia and Florida is coined the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
• The event attracts approximately 150k people to Jacksonville each year. 
• The rivalry between the two teams has been going strong since 1904.
• Officials have long dropped the cocktail party tag, but fans and tailgaters keep it going strong.
• Fun Trivia – The winner of the game doesn’t get a trophy but instead gets to take home the Okefenokee Oar.
• Gainesville, where the University of Florida is located, almost lost out to Lake City as the location of the university.