Vegas Day

Vegas Day is an unofficial U.S. holiday that occurs in January on the Thursday and/or Friday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The holiday is in observation of what is known as The Party of the Unknown Bachelor. Vegas Day is often celebrated with groups of friends meeting in the city of Las Vegas and enjoying the many activities that the city has to offer.

There is not universal agreement among historians on Vegas Day's origins, but most trace it to the early 2000s. It was then that a rag-tag bunch of college friends looked at a calendar and realized that, for the first year in many, a bachelor party was not on the schedule. Rather than simply accept the absence, these men of vision decided to have a Vegas bachelor party on behalf of all those poor souls who have to settle with a short trip to the local strip club, or worse yet, no bachelor party at all. They chose the weekend of MLK Day because, like the great Dr. King, they had a dream. (That, and it was also a three-day weekend that came with no familial commitments and playoff football.)

There is now a movement to make Vegas Day an official holiday. In 2009, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, "The United States should recognize Vegas Day because of its strong ties with marriage and family values. I mean, you can't have family without a marriage and you can't have a marriage without a bachelor (okay - except in Utah). Just as we recognize those brave men and women who give their lives in service to their country, so should we recognize those men who essentially give their lives by getting married."