Revision as of 21:56, 18 December 2013

SantaCon is an annual pub crawl in which thousands of persons dressed as Santa Claus descend upon neighborhoods in New York City and other cities. It is also known as Santarchy, Santa Rampage, the Red Menace and Santapalooza.

The event is described by its organizers as “a nonsensical Santa Claus convention that happens once a year for absolutely no reason.” Critics, however, cite widespread drunkenness and sporadic violence, with Business Insider calling it a "dreaded annual event where frat house expats wreck havoc on the city dressed as the jolly holiday icon." The Los Angeles Times reported that "some see as a way for people who live in the suburbs to come to the city and ruin the weekend."

It originated in San Francisco in 1994 and has since spread to cities around the world, and now takes place in 300 cities in 44 countries, including New York City. London, Vancouver, Belfast and Moscow. The New York SantaCon is the largest, with an estimated 30,000 people participating in 2012. Other events were much smaller and more subdued, with 30 participating in Spokane, Washington.

In New York City, where it has taken place since 1997, it as has come under widespread criticism for rowdiness by participants, with drunken behavior that has disrupted parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and led to calls for the event to be ended and for participant misbehavior to be curbed. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that despite "some rowdy actions by a small handful of people in the past," SantaCon was "an event that we support. It’s what makes New York New York."

Charitable works and giving

In many cities Santacons participants and venues have donated large amounts of money or food.

=Postive reactions

While one Santacon, NYC, has garned bad publicity and is the focus of the writer of this page, Members of the public in other parts of the USA and world have had positive interactions with participants.

Origins

SantaCon was inspired by the Danish activist theatre group Solvognen. In 1974, the group gathered dozens of "Santas" to hand out items from the shelves of a department store to customers as “presents.” The first SantaCon took place in San Francisco in 1994. Participants dress up as Santa Claus, and also as elves and reindeer. The event was described by The New York Times as "a daylong bar crawl that begins with good cheer and, for many, inevitably ends in a blurry, booze-soaked haze.

In 2012, sixty venues who participated in NYC SantaCon donated $45,000 to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Organizers said NYC SantaCon also donated roughly 6,850 pounds of canned food to City Harvest.

Participant conduct and community opposition

SantaCon participants have been criticized for widespread rowdiness and public drunkiness. During the New York City SantaCon in 2012, participants "left a trail of trouble" through Hell's Kitchen, Midtown Manhattan, the East Village and Williamsburg. Residents complained revelers vomited and urinated in the street and fought with each other. In New York City, one source of tension with residents was that most revelers resided outside of the city and the neighborhoods in which they bar-crawled and became inebriated.

In an article on the 2011 SantaCon, Gothamist called SantaCon an "annual drunken shitshow" that "has steadily devolved from cleverly subversive to barely tolerable to 'time to lock yourself in your apartment for the day.' " An op-ed in The New York Times on the eve of the 2013 SantaCon criticized it for "sexism, drunkenness, xenophobia, homophobia and enough incidents of public vomiting and urination to fill an infinite dunk tank," and said it "contributes absolutely zero value — cultural, artistic, aesthetic, diversionary, culinary or political — to its host neighborhood. Quite simply, SantaCon is a parasite."

A New York City Police Department lieutenant in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, sent an open letter to neighborhood taverns in 2013 which said, “Having thousands of intoxicated partygoers roam the streets urinating, littering, vomiting and vandalizing will not be tolerated in our neighborhood.” On the Lower East Side of Manhattan, residents posted notices telling SantaCon participants to stay away, saying “Alcohol Soaked Father Christmas-themed flash mob not welcome here. Take your body fluids and public intoxication elsewhere.” Prior to the 2013 SantaCon, city authorities demanded advance notice of the route of the pub crawl. The event was diverted from the Lower East Side and Midtown Manhattan because of complaints by residents,but went through East Village and parts of Brooklyn as originally planned.

During the 2013 SantaCon in New York City, the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and New Jersey Transit banned alcohol consumption on their trains for 24 hours.

A SantaCon organizer said that the group was "very aware of the backlash" and has sought to curb participant misconduct by the use of "helper elves" along the SantaCon route. Gothamist reported that the 2013 SantaCon was more subdued than in the past because of a greater police presence and increased issuance of summonses.

See also

• Pub crawls
• Running of the Santas

References

1. ^ Semuels, Alana (14 December 2013). "Annual SantaCon bar crawl a headache for some New Yorkers". Los Angles Times. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
2. Donaldson James, Susan (December 11, 2009). "Santa Con: Kringle Chaos is Coming to Town". ABC News. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
3. ^ "Naughty or Nice? SantaCon 2013 Storms Manhattan". TIME. 16-December-2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. Moss, Caroline (16 December 2013). "A Bunch Of Santas Got Into A Violent Brawl On An NYC Street Corner This Weekend". Business Insider. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
5. ^ Santora, Marc (13 December 2013). "Naughty or Nice? Not Everyone Is Jolly About SantaCon Coming to Town". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
6. "Pub-crawl Santas: Vancouver joins in the Christmas spirit with SantaCon 2013". The Province (Canada.com). 12-14-2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. ^ Gilbert, Jason O. (13-December-2013). "Bring Drunken Santas Under Control". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. McCabe, Lyndsay (22 November 2013). "NYPD Ask Bar Owners to Refuse to Serve Rowdy SantaCon Revelers". LongIsland.com. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
9. Gillespie, Kaitlin (15 December 2013). "SantaCon Spokane a good night indeed". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
10. Parascandola, Rocco (23-November-2013). "NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly: SantaCon is a 'peaceful event' department supports". The Daily News. Retrieved 14 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Chung, Jen (24 November 2013). "Ray Kelly Says NYPD Supports Santacon: 'It Makes New York New York'". Gothamist. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
12. ^ Del Signore, John (12 December 2011). "It's Time For SantaCon To Stop". Gothamist. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
13. http://nycsantacon.com
14. http://www.yelp.ca/biz/santarchy-and-santacon-san-francisco
15. ^ "Drunk Santas Terrorized City During Seasonal Rampage, Critics Say". DNAInfo New York. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
16. Tracy, Thomas (4 Decemmber 2013). "SantaCon organizers working with politicians, police to turn naughty event nice". The Daily News. Retrieved 14 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. Semuels, Alana (13 December 2013). "SantaCon, after last year's rowdy event, divides New York City". Lost Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
18. Stuart, Tessa (12-14-2013). "Like it or Not, SantaCon is Coming to the East Village, Lower East Side & Brooklyn". Village Voice. Retrieved 15 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. "SantaCon Nixes Lower East Side from Route After Complaints". Channel 4 New York. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
20. Goldensohn,Rosa (12-14-2013). "SantaCon Takes East Village in Flurry of Crowded Bars and Beer Lines". DNAInfo. Retrieved 15 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. Yakas, Ben (12-15-13). "Here's Your SantaCon 2013 Video Nightmare Roundup". Gothamist. Retrieved 16 December 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• SantaCon New York City website
• Gothamist: The Faces of SantaCon 2013
• Santarchy, A Global Directory of Santacon Events
• WNBC-TV Segment on Lower East Side Opposition
• "The dark side of Father Christmas: SantaCon," The Guardian
• "SantaCon Could Be Awesome, But Here's The Core Reason Why It's Atrocious," BusinessInsider.com
• Video of SantaCon Brawl, 2013

• Christmas events and celebrations
• Pub crawls