Thousands join SantaCon pub crawl in New York
New York, Dec 10 (EFE).- The 2022 edition of SantaCon brought thousands of people in Santa Claus costumes onto the streets of the Big Apple on Saturday for a Yuletide pub crawl.
Launched here more than two decades ago, the tradition has spread to other cities in the United States and beyond.
“The NYC SantaCon is a Charitable, Non-commercial, Non-political, Nonsensical Santa Claus Convention That Happens Once A Year To Spread Absurdist Joy,” the event organizers say on their website.
Santas gathered in front of the organization’s red party bus on Broadway at 10:00 am before heading for the 64 participating bars in midtown Manhattan.
Hoping to avert problems, NYC SantaCon urges revelers to follow the Santa Code, which includes guidelines such as “Santa respects the city: Santa doesn’t piss on the streets, start fights, block streets, climb on cars, or deface property.”
Along with exhortations to pick up after themselves, the Code insists that “Santa’s nice to kids: He makes them laugh, not cry.”
Near the party bus, New York Police Department officers were checking the IDs of several Santas to make sure they were of legal drinking age, 21.
Jason, attending his sixth SantaCon, tells EFE that he is attracted by the event’s “holiday spirit.”
“Normally, people are really friendly, like a big happy family,” he says, while acknowledging that things sometimes “get out of hand.”
Invoking the Santa Coda, he adds: “If you do things right you’re going to have fun, if you do things wrong, you’re going to jail.”
EFE jfu/dr
