Drinks giant Gosling’s is gearing up to “paint the town black” today as part of a worldwide celebration of the birth of Guinness stout.And Quin-sae Smith, marketing manager at Gosling’s, said Arthur Guinness Day, named after the founder of the famous Dublin brewery in 1759, and whose signature still adorns bottles and cans, is getting bigger every year.She added that local bars, supermarkets and gas stations were all preparing to celebrate the day with a host of special events and offers.Ms Smith added: “It’s become an annual event — we are the local distributors for Guinness on the island so we like to take part in what is now a worldwide celebration.“Over the years, people have become more aware of Arthur’s Day and it’s definitely getting bigger.”Ms Smith said that Guinness, now part of the Diageo group, supply special signs and posters on a different theme every year — and that this year the slogan is “paint the town black”.And she added: “I anticipate we will have good sales this year, especially as we are promoting the bottles as well as the traditional pint.”Ms Smith said: “Guinness is very popular in Bermuda — especially with people involved in sport, like football, rugby and cricket. It’s not as fattening or as high in calories as many lagers.”Flanagan’s Irish bar, Bermuda Bistro and Docksiders bar, all on Front Street, are getting into the spirit of Arthur’s Day with promotions of Guinness.And Warwick Rubis gas station and Harrington Hundreds grocery store are doing a “buy two, win two” promotion on six packs of the Irish pint.Ms Smith said: “One thing we are promoting this year is that, even if you can’t get out on the town, you can still toast the founder of Guinness at home with a bottle.”The event is being celebrated in nearly 40 countries around the world, with Guinness lovers urged to raise a glass at 17.59 (5.59pm) to mark the year the first Guinness brewery opened in the Irish capital.The original brewery, which still operates, was taken over by Arthur Guinness on a 9000 year lease — at just GBP45 ($72) a year.And — despite the slogan — Guinness isn’t actually black. It’s ruby red and a pint has fewer calories than a pint of semi-skimmed milk.From it’s Irish beginnings, Guinness is now enjoyed in more that 140 countries around the world and the Dublin brewery alone now produces eight million kegs of the stout a year to help satisfy demand.Around ten million glasses of Guinness are drunk every day — with the perfect pint taking an estimated 119.5 seconds to pour.Guinness was the first company to use the traditional Irish harp as a trademark and when the newly independent Republic of Ireland adopted the harp as its symbol in the 1920s, it had to reverse it to avoid a copyright clash with the brewer.