Monday, December 14, 2009

Santacon NYC 2009 - Part 1

On Saturday, Dec. 12th, I attended the Santacon NYC 2009 event. There were five gathering points for the Santas, with Queens being the most convenient one for me. So, another photographer and I headed out to Queens early Satuday. It was a nice 31 degrees out this morning, which we hoped woud not dampen the attendance factor.

Well, when we first arrived, there were only a handful of Santas, maybe 10- 15. Within about 15 minutes, there had to have been over 300. The shot below, is a good overview shot, but it does not even begin to show how many Santas there really where. There were even more Santas to the left and right of the frame. 

For readers not sure what Santacon is, just google it, but the resulting link is NSFW (language wise).


At one point, the Santas took to the swings, but they quickly realized that these were no replacement for a proper sleigh.


The pic below is of all the Santas trying to make their way into a "refreshment" venue. The venue probably held a 100 or so, because there were approximately 200+ Santas left out in the cold.

By this time, the curiosity factor had brought a lot of onlookers and with them, the NYPD. The NYPD was great, they did not try to disperse the crowd, as the crowd was very well behaved (Santas gotta be nice!). They were there mainly for directing traffic, and making sure the Santas didn't spill out into the streets.


Santas celebrating their Christmas cheer at the Bohemian Beer Garden!


This officer was having a great day, as he was one of the youngest in attendance, so all the girls posed with him, I'm sure the other officers felt neglected.


The NYPD was also on hand, to make sure this guy below didn't try to steal Christmas.


Some Santas had themes going on, below is Mr. T santa.


Some happy elves.


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