The clock is ticking for Texans looking to ring in 2024 with a champagne toast, a boozy martini or a hot whirlwind.
Under a decades-old state liquor law, liquor stores will close at 9 p.m. Saturday night and not reopen until 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code requires liquor stores to close on Sundays and holidays, including Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Since New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve fall on Sunday and Monday respectively this year, this means that liquor stores will remain closed for 61 consecutive hours.
Texas lawmakers added Christmas Day to a decades-long ban on Sunday liquor sales in 1967, and Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day were added in 1979, the Dallas Morning News previously reported.
If Christmas or New Year's Day were to fall on a Sunday – like Christmas 2022 – liquor stores must also close on the following Monday. The Monday-to-Sunday changeover also took place in 1979.
According to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, convenience and grocery stores are allowed to sell beer and wine. However, many major retailers may be closed or have reduced hours over the holidays.
Lawmakers have tried to change the rules and pass a law that would allow liquor stores to open on Sundays and lift the ban on sales on the Monday after Christmas or New Year's.
For now, consider this upcoming ban a test run for those trying out the trendy “Dry January.”