SantaCon: A Chicago Holiday Event You Don't Want to Miss

December 16, 2006 will be the date for this year's Chicago SantaCon. Santa's gathering from all walks of life will unite in order to "Bring Yule Tiding," or at least to eat, drink, and be merry. The event will begin at 2pm at the corner of Congress Parkway and Michigan Avenue, and will proceed to jollify the town at various designated locations. It promises to be a day of unity, acceptance, and an enormous amount of…Santa's. Tack along designated bar stops and Chicago's diverse melting pot of craziness, and this event should be one for the books.

This year's focus has been decided to be Santaculture - the expression of the Santa in you. Take your cultural background to the streets and let the world see your inner Santa. "Be it a Russian Ded Moroz; a Chinese, Dun Che Lao Ren; a Chilean, Viejo Pascuero; or the Swedish version Jultomten, we'll take you all!" quoted an original SantaCon Chicago member, "Those who don't celebrate Christmas should use this opportunity create the Santa that is hidden deep inside; we have no clause against a self made Claus!"

SantaCon is a self-appointed (as they all are) branch of Santarchy, a group dedicated to generating a bit of naughty Christmas fun. Santarchy has been a tradition in the United States since December of 1994; the first "SantaCon" took place in San Francisco and was sponsored by The San Francisco Cacophony Society. The original inspiration came from an earlier SF adventure club called The Suicide Club, of which the Founder and Avatar, Gary Warne, decided to organize a non-political, purely surreal Santa prank event after reading a Mother Jones article about a Danish political group dressing as Santa's and mobbing a Copenhagen Dept. store just before Christmas. Now 14 years later, it is a time-honored holiday tradition in countless cities.

So, how does one join? Easy! Sign up at SantaConChicago.com and you'll automatically receive an e-vite to this year's event. All that's required is an RSVP from you. Then, just buy/ sew/ rent/ paint a suit and come on down! How much should one expect to pay for this incomparable day of holiday tradition gone wild? Well, youngins', all you pay is the price to produce your costume and the price to fill your Santa- fiended self with alcohol (drink specials will be provided by sponsored at designated locations) and/or food. And remember folks, everyone is doing it, so why not you too.