Culture

Last year, we trusted the Dunedin populace to pick out their favourite bar. The finals ended up between Woof! and DSC, with DSC very narrowly edging out Woof! for the top spot. This year, the two behemoths went head-to-head again in the finals, for a rematch of the ages. And, in a triumphant return to the arena, Woof! crashed into first place with a handsome defeat of DSC. Final votes had Woof! 154 votes ahead of DSC. 

DSC made its way to the finals by dominating Zanzibar by 101 votes and edging out Poolhouse by 68 votes. It was closer in the semis, beating Mac’s by only 39 votes. Woof! was an absolute tank this year, beating Pequeno by over 200 votes, The Baaa by about 60, and The Bog by 73. Like last year, Instagram voters seemed to play a major role in Woof!’s success. 

In third place was The Bog, who beat Mac’s by 124 votes. This result was questioned by one disgruntled pollster, who asked “Who even goes to The Bog? I know they have a cult following but every time I’ve been it’s been the same group of people… plus, if you say you go to The Bog more than Mac’s you're just straight up lying.” Interestingly, both of these bars received exactly 199 votes in the previous race, when The Bog beat Carousel and Mac’s beat Vault. 

A fun neighbourly skirmish went down between Vault 21 and Mac’s, with Mac’s coming out on top by a margin of 56. The closest race this year was between The Baaa and Dog With Two Tails, which was decided by a margin of just 20 votes. 

The biggest blowout was The Bog beating The Craic by almost 300 votes, which brought a tear to our collective eye. The Bog’s total votes in this race – 401 – were the highest vote total of the entire competition. Silver lining here is that The Craic might remain secret enough that a seat is always free to play dice or cards, which, understandably, might not be the priority of an average student when it comes to the bar scene. The Craic takes home the Critic’s Choice Award for superb food, booze and staff – though the same is true for Woof!, who won that award last year.

This year, the democratic voice of the people rang loud and true in the rematch we were all hoping for. DSC had its time in the sun, and must now pass the torch to Woof!, who will look to defend their title next year against Mac’s and The Bog, both rising stars, and the ever-popular DSC, who will undoubtedly be looking for redemption in a possible best-of-three series. 

Cheers to that!