SantaCon

Ho, ho, holy mess. SantaCon takes over New York City each December, unleashing thousands of Santas, elves, and other questionably behaved holiday characters on Manhattan’s bars and streets. Part festive bar crawl, part public nuisance, this boozy tradition is beloved by participants and dreaded by New Yorkers who just want to get to brunch without dodging a drunken reindeer. The route typically winds through multiple Manhattan neighborhoods, with participating bars offering plenty of opportunities for holiday mischief. Donations support charitable causes, giving the chaos a little goodwill. Love it or loathe it, SantaCon proves that sometimes the biggest holiday spectacle is the one nobody asked for.