Throwback Thursday: Remember Belfast’s ‘Dirty’ Sign War?

At this point last year, Covid restrictions were being lifted, but a lot of folks were still quite wary of going out to eat... or out anywhere really. We had spent most of the last year being told to stay in, stay covered, and stay alert in the wake of the Corona Virus.

But businesses, that had also been closed up for a long while, were ready to reopen and were finding interesting ways to entice people to come back.

One thing that local businesses started to do to both lighten the mood, and try to get people to come out to visit, was to engage in a fun war of words with their signs.

Belfast, in particular, took it to a humorous level with their word-play and got a little edgy.

Here's a look back at what they did:

It seems to be a growing trend, as of late; community businesses engaging in "sign wars" where they call each other out via their sandwich boards, billboards, or neon signs.

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Not only is it an interesting way to show the community around you that you have a sense of humor and that you're engaged in drumming up some business for all, but sign wars give businesses an opportunity to get quite creative with their wordplay.

In the case of Belfast, these businesses got quite cheeky; tongue-in-cheeky, if you will.

We spoke with Tina DelSanto, over at Front Street Pub and Delvino's:

"It’s mostly just for fun because at this point we all need the smiles," she said.

"Our manager Jess is just awesome and comes up with ideas that not only help our business but usually include the town as well because she knows that community makes business work. We also have the 'Belfast Restaurant Group' where all of us owners/managers can meet 3-4 times a year and chat/ideas/gain insight and she proposed it there to everyone. Jess challenged us first to get the “ball” rolling.  Most didn’t have a signboard or only had one inside but it looks like everyone seems to be loving it so far."

Jaden, over at Rollie's Bar & Grill said the group hoped its sign war would inspire folks to come and visit Belfast.

"Our first post was shared several times and reached over 4,000 people. Just another way to draw attention to our area like other towns have done."

Check this out for yourself!