SantaCon 2024 Draws Thousands Worldwide for Festive Bar Crawls

The annual event brought costumed revelers to cities globally, blending charity and revelry while sparking local adaptations.

SantaCon 2024 saw thousands of participants dressed as Santa and other holiday characters in major cities like New York, San Francisco, and London, as well as smaller towns worldwide.
New York City hosted one of the largest gatherings, with revelers navigating a bar crawl from Midtown to the East Village, despite freezing temperatures and strict law enforcement reminders about public drinking laws.
San Francisco's SantaCon featured a toy drive benefiting the San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program, alongside the traditional bar crawl and costume contests, with organizers noting a decline in disruptive behavior in recent years.
The global SantaCon phenomenon continues to expand, with celebrations taking place in over 50 cities and more events planned throughout December, including in Vietnam and smaller U.S. towns like Pacific Grove, California.
In New York, a new family-friendly event called 'Project Elf,' organized by local teens, offered a sober alternative to SantaCon, raising funds for Citymeals on Wheels with each participant dressed as an elf.