Santa Claus is coming to town, more like thousands of Santas — this is SantaCon. The Dec. 8 event is a gathering of Santas, Mrs. Clauses, elves and even Grinches in San Francisco’s Union Square all celebrating the holiday season during a citywide pub crawl. It is a time have fun and be silly without any sort of agenda — except to do good for needy kids. The admission is free for anyone 21 and over, but to participate, you must donate to the Toys for Tots program.
The event begins at 11:30 a.m with a gathering at Union Square where participants drop off their donations and enjoy the rest of the afternoon in San Francisco. SantaCon is known to get quite rambunctious, so it is critical to be respectful of others and the city. It is advised that attendees carry ID and cash as bars along the SantaCon route will be cash only. Many bars post “No Santas” signs, so be aware and steer clear of nonparticipating establishments.
Also take note, public transportation is the most accessible way to get there as parking is limited. And besides, if you’re going to drink, you won’t be driving, right?
David Knowles • Nov 30, 2018 at 8:40 am
Santacon is one of the worst parts of San Francisco. A bunch of drunken techbros shutting down traffic, puking on sidewalks, sitting on parked cars, generally ruining any part of the city they stumble into for a whole Saturday. Call me scrooge but when you’re trying to get your sick child to the ER and you can’t cross an intersection without asshats dressed as Santas pounding on your hood, it loses it’s holiday luster.