Santacon — the roving bar crawl of revelers dressed in Santa costumes — will descend on Williamsburg this Saturday, kicking off in McCarren park and making its way through a series of venues who have agreed to host the boozy bro-fest.
The santas will gather at the McCarren Park football fields near Bedford Avenue and N. 10th Street at 10 am before wandering between parties at watering holes between the park and N. Fourth Street — nightclub Verboten, music venue the Hall, event space Villain, and Mexican restaurant Viva Toro. At 4 pm, the Ain’t Nicks plan to head to Manhattan.
The event has a sordid reputation as a fratty puke-fest that has many neighborhoods and nightlife venues dreading the sight of red velvet — the fake Kris Kringles had to cancel their plans to storm Bushwick last year after bars refused to host them.
But the event’s organizers claim are cleaning up their image this year by working with local law enforcement and city agencies to ensure a safer rager.
Santacon honchos secured a permit from the city parks department and met with police, said according to civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, who the organizers hired last year to fight for their right to party.
Seigel, who witnessed much of 2014’s event and will come along for the walk on Saturday, claimed last year was already a vast improvement on the debauchery of Santacons past — there were no arrests or summonses — and that the organizers are committed to creating a more community-friendly, law-abiding event going forward.
“My sense is they are transitioning from what Santacon was to hopefully a more positive Santacon,” he said.
