Pre-Crawl assembly: A quick note about the pregame. While Santa is more than happy to share what he has, this is technically BYOB, and drinks Santa would be proud of are encouraged (spiked hot chocolate, cider, eggnog, etc). In other words, this is one night you can have minty sweet spirits and not be considered less of a man. Well... maybe. If you can't be there at kick off, make sure you have contact info for one of the Original Santas so you can catch up once we depart.

Itinerary: TBA. In previous years we hit Baxter's, Scotty Quixx, Fahrenheit, Kelly's Backstage, AJ Gators, Empire/Little Bar, Velvet, O'Malley's, and have traditionally ended at Hell's Kitchen. This year Santa wouldn't mind making an appearance at Granby Theater or Guad's (door men permitting), as well as any others we've missed before. For you rookies, it is typically stick and move tactics. One drink, or round of shots, and off to the next appearance. Santa is a busy guy, and he wants to spread as much cheer as possible. There should be quite a Santa posse this year, so we may need to divide and conquer. Carrying cash over plastic may help the speed of acquiring holiday spirits (but signing "Santa" on receipts is fun too). But really, when you ask Santa what the "plan" is, don't be offended if he looks at you funny, this is technically SantArchy after all.

Costumes are a must! Santa knows times are tough, but at least make a visible effort to dress in holiday garb. For those still looking to get a traditional Santa Suit, Santa did see that Target/Wal-Mart had nice ones for $50, but Party City has a $30 set up that is identical to the Original Norfolk Santas suit of choice. Target also has Santa and Elf suit printed t-shirts for $6 or $7. With cheap Santa and Elf hats from the dollar store, you can get decked out for less than eight tiny reindeer bucks. In all seriousness, while you don't have to dress as Santa's Little Slut (but he won't mind) the name of the game is participation. The more people that are in Christmas themed costumes, the more of an impact we make. So don't be a Scrooge, unless you're actually dressed as him. Anyone that wants to wear this sweet get up, back flap open, as Santa wear, gets bonus points. Lastly, check the weather. Currently it looks like clear skies, but chilly temps.

Post crawl: While anyone is welcomed to crash at Norfolk Santa's workshop, there is not an infinite supply of floor/couch space. If you have a sleeping bag, you may want to bring it. DDs are always a goods idea too (that's what elves are for). If Santa hears that you drove home less-than-sober, you definitely will be getting a lump of coal this year.

More Santas are always welcome, the more the merrier you might say. So as far as Santa is concerned, feel free to turn this email into chain email and spam away.

Finally, if you still are not excited about Santa coming to town,
A) why the hell not? what's your problem?
and
B) take a cue from Will Ferrell

Let's Go Ho-Ho-Hokies!

What is Santarchy (aka Santa Crawl, Santacon)?

Santarchy takes place in major cities all over the world involving tens of thousands of Santas. It is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious & nonsensical celebration of holiday cheer, goodwill, and fun. There is no good reason to dress up in cheap Santa suits, run around town, give gifts, sing songs, have strangers sit on our laps, and decide who is naughty or nice -- but it's a lot of fun -- so Santa does it anyway. Everyone loves Santa and Santa loves everyone!