NEW YORK (AP) – Santa Clauses are coming to town.
Thousands of Kris Kringles and merry Old St. Nicks are crowding the streets, sidewalks and bars from Adelaide to Vancouver on Saturday for the annual SantaCon charity pub fair.
In New York City, where temperatures hovered around freezing, the festivities began at 10 a.m. and were scheduled to last well into the evening.
Santas – along with people dressed as Grinches, elves or other holiday characters – trotted out to bars and clubs from midtown Manhattan to the East Village, flooding the streets with a red glow of Christmas cheer.
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“NYC SantaCon is a charitable, non-commercial, non-political, non-Santa Claus convention that takes place once a year to spread mystical joy,” the organizers’ website explained.
SantaCon attendees are encouraged to donate $15 to enter participating locations. Organizers say the money will go to organizations that help the poor.
Similar Christmas-themed booze fests were held Saturday in about 50 cities around the world, including London, Phoenix, Winnipeg and San Francisco. Others put their SantaCons on Friday, last weekend or last month. A lot is planned for December.
New York City police have posted reminders on social media that open containers are prohibited on the streets and that blocking pedestrians and vehicles can lead to summonses. He also encouraged the people who will be at the event to have a designated driver.
The railways in the region prohibited passengers from drinking on them.