DCHP-3

bush party

especially Central Canada, rural Canada
DCHP-2 (Nov 2012)
n. especially Ontario & Yukon, Social customs

a party held in a remote area for under age drinking.

Type: 5. Frequency As Chart 1 shows, the term is more frequent in Canada than in the US or the UK. Within Canada, the term is most frequent in Ontario (and Yukon) (see Chart 2).
For 'bush', see also COD-2, s.v. "bush party", which marks the term "Cdn".
Please note that the 1948 quotation of the term has nothing to do with teenagers or those under legal drinking age, but with the scarcity of alcoholic beverages in remote places.

Quotations

1948
[...] bush - party because liquor of any kind was scarce in Cameron Bay [NWT], and it was wiser not to open the precious bottle in a crowd where it would hardly go half - way round ? The gossips had had their moment , anyway .
1966
5216.(IV..15)Charter of Rights and Freedom -- Arbitrary Detention or Imprisonment. Police offer stopped accused after accused quickly retreated from teen bush party. Officer observed open liquor bottles in accused's car and signs of impairment [...]
1988
A letter presented this week from a group called Concerned Teens in the West End urges council to establish such a club in a new recreation complex under construction on Katimavik Road. "That will help keep some teens off the streets and out of bush parties," says the letter.
1996
The 1993 collision occurred on a hill at the Forks of the Credit Rd., when a car loaded with young people leaving a bush party attempted to pass another car.
2007
Besides that, it could cost his business tens of thousands of dollars each year, he said, while increasing the likelihood of illegal booze cans or bush parties firing up.
2013
That stuff has been going on for decades, at bush parties to high school dances. Most end with a busted nose or a fat lip, not police charges and the intensive care unit.

References

  • COD-2
  • OED-3

Images


        Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 4 Feb. 2016

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 4 Feb. 2016


        
        Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 10 Sep. 2013

Chart 2: Regional Domain Search, 10 Sep. 2013