For the first time, they publicly released the planned route days before their romp through Brooklyn and Manhattan bars. “Look out for your elves”, organizers advised the crowd as Saturday’s festivities began with a mix of safety messages and psyching-up: “Can I get a “ho”?!”
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“We have been and will continue to address their concerns to realistically ameliorate the negative aspects of SantaCon”, said SantaCon’s representative attorney, Norman Siegel.
While Cincinnati Santacon is based around a pub crawl, participants said the true appeal comes in spreading the Christmas spirit to everyone they meet.
Glaser, 51, was one of the few people who participated in the very first SantaCon 15 years ago.
SantaCon grew from a 1994 San Francisco “Santarchy” that satirized Christmas consumerism into bashes in over 300 cities. In New York some community groups have established a “Santa Free” zone that urges bars not to serve alcoholic beverages to people participating in order to dissuade incidents of public vomiting and urination in the streets.
Enthusiasts paint SantaCon as a creative take on holiday traditions of festive dress, good cheer and charity. In 2012 and 2013, some Santas got into some street fights and got arrested while other 85 received summonses for misbehavior. Police Commissioner William Bratton on Friday warned “anybody who wants to come into the city and raise hell dressed up as Santa Claus we’re not going to tolerate it”. The MTA and LIRR banned alcohol consumption on trains ahead of the annual event. They are suggesting that participants police themselves to cut down on the chances that New Yorkers who are not taking part get hurt.
Organizers started trying to mend fences in 2013, telling police (but not, until now, the public) their route in advance and asking volunteers to defuse problems.
“What’s with all the Santa Clauses?” a man asks the revelers in the video. Organisers say there were no arrests or summonses previous year.
This year, SantaCon is roving a city that has been on alert since the attacks by extremists in Paris on cafes and other social venues.
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“I’m just here to have fun and be a part of something”, said a Santa-suited Terance McNamara, 25, of Hoboken, New Jersey.
