Around the world, hundreds of Santas band together, spreading joy and merriment throughout cities as they go on their merry way. This explosion of Santa-ness is known as SantaCon, and in 2013 they had 323 events in 44 countries.
I went to the seventh annual Melbourne event, which kicked off at Transport Bar in Federation Square, and wound its way through the CBD.
Some of the many great costumes
It was organised by the team behind SantaCon Melbourne, who were flawless at getting the hundreds of Santas — over 300 — around the city.
Pimp Santa
Music was provided by Radio Rehab DDP (‘decentralised dance party’). What’s what? According to their website:
A DDP is a portable, battery-powered Party System.
It consists of hundreds of Party People, carrying boomboxes, and a DJ who wears a backpack, containing an FM radio transmitter.
All the boomboxes are tuned into the DJ’s master FM broadcast, resulting in a mobile, synchronized sound system. This Portable Dance Party roams the night, generating complete awesomeness, street by street and block by block, onto buses and subways, into public fountains and beyond. Inevitably interfacing with the public, together we create an infectious epidemic of fun. A Roaming Party Adventure that lasts all night long!
They’re running a Pozible campaign so they can expand the reach of their parties with more boomboxes and more batteries. Donate if you like the idea of dancing through the streets of Melbourne!
But back to SantaCon: some of the costumes were really, really creative. It wasn’t just a bunch of Santas, but many twists on the Santa/Christmas theme. Here are a few of my favourite characters:
Julius Santa
Fat Santa talks to Hippie Santa
Christmas tree and Christmas cutie
I had to leave early to go to another event (go figure), but my friends reported that they were completely sore the next day from all the dancing and carousing. Sounds like one helluva an event, and I’m glad I finally got to attend my first SantaCon. Here’s to the 2014 one!
Watch the video of the day, or visit the 2013 event page for tons of photos.
-Theresa
