Guess we’ll have to wait until next year to see thousands of New Yorkers swarm the streets in Santa suits!
SantaCon NYC, a wildly festive holiday tradition dating back to 1994 has become an iconic event for New Yorkers. Sadly (or not sadly, depending on if you were a fan), in efforts to maintain safety for the city during the pandemic, the beloved SantaCon bar crawl has been canceled this year.
Beginning as “San Fransisco’s Santarchy, a culture-jamming event created by the Cacaphony Society to point out the absurdity of America’s consumerist holiday traditions,” 24 years later, the annual event now occurs across 40 different countries, according to a press release!
The NYC event was turned into a not for profit in 2012, and since then has supported local charities by raising more than $400,000 for organizations like The Ali Forney Center, The Secret Sandy Claus Project, City Harvest, and The Food Bank for New York City. The overall purpose of SantaCon is to “get together with friends, dress creatively, and interact, participate and celebrate with friends and strangers alike.”
After the announcement cancelling New York’s 2020 SantaCon, the website now countdowns 346 days until next year’s event! The site pokes fun at the unfortunate cancellation and said “all of the reindeer got the ‘rona so, the elves have advised Santa to hold off on the in-person merriment. There is no SantaCon NYC this year.”
New Yorkers are still encouraged to “spread merriment” by donating, playing the holiday drinking game Shot on the Shelf, or watching previous SantaCon footage from past years!
And though the event has to be canceled, the organization is still working to spread love and joy across the city. Their Instagram begs New Yorkers: “please don’t cancel your giving spirit! Santa’s friends at Helping Hearts NYC is working hard to feed local frontline workers since the pandemic began. Please donate now & help out the city we love.”
Their website mentions next year’s return, ensuring that “Santa loves NYC,”…and seriously, who couldn’t love our amazing city?!? Hopefully by next season, SantaCon will return and New Yorkers can safely go back to bringing holiday cheer into the city as they flood the streets dressed in their best Santa gear!
For more information on donating, click here.
featured image source: Photo Modified: Flickr / Anthony Quintano / CC by 2.0