Spring Break is an annual celebration of spring—and of school vacations—by an estimated two million college students who whoop it up, sunbathe, party, drink, fuck, dance, and listen to loud music.
From the early 1950s until 1985, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was a prime destination. In 1960 the movie, Where the Boys Are (based on the Glendon Swarthout novel of the same name), featuring Connie Francis, George Hamilton, and Yvette Mimieux, was all about spring break. It gave Fort Lauderdale great national exposure. But the hordes of students got to be too much; by 1985, 350,000 people took over the city for six weeks and tied up not just traffic but the legal system. Fort Lauderdale started clamping down, and now only about 20,000 students visit.
Popular destinations today include Panama City Beach, Fla., Daytona Beach, Fla., South Padre Island, Tex., Palm Springs, Calif., the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Mexico. To lure the spring breakers, various towns and resorts spend millions of dollars and offer an abundance of free activities, including beach sports, concerts, movie premieres, and contests.
