<![CDATA[This study examines how residents of Beleka Village negotiate the social acceptability of Tuak consumption within the Gawe Merariq tradition. The analysis focuses on the relationship between the festive setting, social experience, and standards of propriety used by residents to evaluate drinking practices. The study employed a qualitative approach with an interpretive orientation. Data were generated through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation, with informants purposively selected on the basis of direct experience with Gawe Merariq and tuak consumption. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to trace patterns of meaning, forms of acceptance, and shifts in social judgement. Three main patterns emerged. First, repeated consumption within Gawe Merariq makes tuak recognizable as part of entertainment and social interaction. Second, acceptance is conditional and depends on drinking behaviour and its consequences for the order of the celebration. Third, experiences of orderly situations or conflict shift the boundaries of propriety and shape how residents evaluate the same practice. Informal admonition, everyday conversation, rejection, and changing interpersonal attitudes operate as mechanisms for maintaining these boundaries. The findings show that the continuity of a cultural practice may rest on situational negotiation rather than uniform approval. The study proposes conditional acceptance as an analytical concept for explaining how a community maintains a culturally familiar practice while regulating behaviour considered disruptive.]]>
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