Santacon is a random and mass gathering of individuals dressed up in different attires of Santa Claus and have fun through pranks, fringe explorations, subversion and meaningful madness. They do public performance in bars and on streets of the cities. It was first staged in 1994 in San Francisco, and from then on has spawned to different parts of the world. The main focus of Santacon is on creativity, spontaneity and improving human interaction with fellow beings while having a great and joyful time and spreading goodwill and cheer to all those whom they come across.
In the US Santacon is sometimes referred to as Santa Rampage, Naughty Santas, Santarchy, Cheapsuit Santas, Santapalooza and the Red Menace. Santacon events are usually cheerfully bawdy and are noted for harmless behavior. All the people gathered in the event sing some naughty Christmas Carols and give free hugs and small gifts to the random strangers. In Japan, the Santacon has become a more of a society welfare program where there is a lot of “doing good” principle. These activities include Santa litter-picking outings through which they contribute to the community. People share different views on this event. A section of the participants deem Santacon to be the modern revival of the ancient feast Saturnalia. While the other section of the mob see the Santacon as the precursor of Flash mob. For the rest, it is all about spreading happiness and the spirit of Christmas to others in the form of generosity, fun, love and celebration with fellow beings.

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Santacon, being a random and mass gathering, needs a set of rules that should be followed in order to avoid chaos among the public. Almost all the participants of Santarchy follow and adhere to a set of Rules and Suggestions which are framed for the Santas. Most of the Santa groups don’t protest about anything. Their sole purpose for organizing the SantaCon is to have a great time together and spread the holiday cheer. Each year, Santa-themed events are organized and take place internationally without any big disturbance. However, there are some exceptions.

A more violent and aggressive version of SantaCon occurred on the 18th of December, 2005. The participants in the city of Auckland, New Zealand, went on to begin a small riot, doing all sorts of criminal activities such as assaulting security guards, throwing bottles and garbage at passing cars and looting the stores. At least two passersby were mildly injured and three of the Santas were arrested. The New Zealand Santacon group claims that the media had exaggerated the incident. Most of the participants of other Santacon events were very shocked and disappointed by the incident. Another such incident took place in the same month, when a big horde of Santas rode their bicycles into the traffic during the rush hours of the morning in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But still, most of the events maintain the cheer of Christmas. One such thing happened in Great Britain in 2005 where a Santa paid off for the parking tickets by leaving £30 on the driver’s windshield with a Greeting note!

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