How to Sleigh SantaCon | NYC SantaCon 2019

The Santacon NYC bar crawl is unlike any other because everyone is on the same page. The page that holiday cheer takes precedent over any other decision fueled by one too many drinks.

Even if you do not celebrate Christmas, or do not have a love for Santa, there is no obligation to strictly dress like Santa.

Yes it is named SantaCon, but you will see a handful of elves, reindeer, even someone dressed as a bag of toys or coal. Even if you just have a holiday sweater or a red skirt, that will do. By all means even wear your pajamas! You will see so many people in onesies. SantaCon welcomes all, well (all with a valid ID of the appropriate drinking age).

For the purpose of this post I will just keep it simples and call participants of SantaCon “Santas.”

The best thing to remember and carry with you throughout this day is: A Good Attitude Because:

You are willingly cramming yourself in large crowds of drunk people
There are long lines
The weather is usually cold and or rainy
There are absurdly obnoxious people everywhere
You too are so drunk at times you don’t know what is going on or where you are
Mean drunks is a real thing
You will start to hate the MTA on SantaCon more than you already do

So how does it work? Some tips? Do I need tickets or a Santa Necklace to get into bars?

You do not need a ticket or a Santa necklace to participate. Although it is stated everywhere that you do. Some of these sales are actually scams. A few bars will require you to show the Santa necklace to get in, but a majority of the do not.

Fun fact, even if you didn’t want to participate in the bar crawl, you could just get dressed up in your holiday gear and meet all the other Santa’s in the 1st meeting spot. Every year before the crawl actually begins, there is a group photo. The location of this photo changes each year. This year it was outside Father Duffy’s Square in Times Square.

Whether you want to dress like Santa this year or save this for a COVID-Free Santacon crawl, here are some outfit suggestions

It’s worth the investment! I have worn my Santa dress throughout College and now through two SantaCons