Naughty & Nice at SantaCon
If you are fond of the big guy in the red suit, you would have been rubbing your eyes in disbelief if you were in New York City on December 11, 2010. Jolly ole St. Nick was running rampant through the town, dining in restaurants, hanging out in the park and leading a parade among other things. Passers by must have thought they were seeing double, triple, quadruple and more because there were so many guys in Santa Suits on the scene.
This gathering of white-bearded, jovial types was actually a mass gathering of folks in Santa Claus costumes just having a good time. Officially called “SantaCon,” this event is not your typical holiday festivity. Instead, SantaCon brings out the eccentric, naughty and unconventional Santas along with a few of the traditional types.
SantaCon takes place all over New York City and involves a lot of walking from bar to restaurant, park to playground, boutique to shopping mall. One of the requirements to participate in this active Santa convention is that you must wear a Santa costume or some other costume resembling part of the holiday brethren – elves, reindeer, candy canes, Christmas trees and more. Past participants suggest that you add comfy shoes to your Christmas costume because there is lots of walking!
If you are looking for a holiday costume for SantaCon next year, there are many options at online costume shops. From the storybook Santa we all remember from out childhood and the cozy, cookie-baking Ms. Santa Claus, you’ll be marking your list and checking it twice. There are also plenty of alternative holiday costumes that would work for SantaCon such as sexy Santa helpers, candy cane cuties, snowmen, the Grinch and more. Don’t forget costume accessories such as padded Santa bellies, drawstring sacks for toys, faux beards and white wigs, and wire-rim spectacles that will help show off that twinkle in your eye.
Chuy’s Kid’s Giving to Kids Parade – Austin, Texas
Chuy’s is the iconic Tex-Mex restaurant in my home town where everyone goes to get their weekly fix of kitschy décor, margaritas and enchiladas. This dining establishment spreads holiday cheer each year with it’s “Kid’s Giving to Kid’s Parade” that supports the Operation Blue Santa Program. Operation Blue Santa is a charity arm of the Austin Police Department that provides holiday meals and presents to more than 3,500 needy families per year. Typically held in downtown Austin on Thanksgiving weekend, this always anticipated event draws thousands of families who come to watch the elaborate parade floats, hear the festive marching bands, and gawk at the inflatable character balloons. Everyone is invited to bring a new toy to donate to underprivileged children when Santa’s sleigh rolls by.
Anyone who’s ever been to one of the Chuy’s locations knows the joint loves to love Elvis. The velvet paintings of the King of Rock and Roll are always a high note in the restaurant as are the many Elvis-inspired dishes like the yummy potato-chip crusted chicken. So, it wouldn’t be an honest-to-goodness Chuy’s holiday parade without the legend himself showing up on the back of a big-finned convertible! Don’t get all shook up, there is no mistaking the man in his white Thunderbird Elvis costume, gold rimmed glasses and mutton-chop side burns.
Actually, you’ll find plenty of folks dressed up in Elvis costumes and almost everything else you can imagine (as well as some costumes you never could have imagined until you see them!). The city’s motto is, after all, “Keep Austin Weird”! Volunteers dressed up in reindeer antlers or in holiday elf costumes help with crowd control and keep the spectators entertained. We’ve even seen parade participants wearing every type costume you can image, not just holiday costumes such as Christmas trees, candy canes and Victorian Carolers. Happy parade marchers also wear many outfits considered Halloween costumes such as Spiderman costumes, Batman Costumes, Curious George Costumes, Bob the Builder costumes and more! And, why not? The event caters to the kids and reminds them of their favorite playtime toys!
Discover Your Inner Elf
Word is that Will Ferrell turned down $29 million dollars to star in a sequel of his hysterically funny 2003 movie, Elf. Gasp! While Ferrell admit that $29 million “did sound like a lot of money for a guy in tights”, he just didn’t want to risk making the all-too-familiar bad sequel film. That is such a shame because we sure loved him as Buddy, the orphaned human who was stowed away in Santa’s sack, inadvertently taken to the North Pole and raised by elves. As the story goes, eventually his enormous-for-an-elf size makes Buddy curious about his background and he heads out to New York City for what can only be described as an adventure of epic proportions.
Dressing up as Buddy the Elf, is always a funny choice this time of year and shows that you’ve got good taste in comedy as a fan of Will Ferrell. Movie insiders say that the elf costumes in the movie Elf were modeled after the stop-action animated elves in the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. We agree that there is a similarity between these elf costumes and the Buddy Elf suit. You’ll be the smiley, candy-loving “man in tights” with a child-like innocence dressed up in a Buddy Elf costume with bright yellow leggings and a long, plush green jacket. You can also pick up a ringlet mop of auburn hair that resembles Ferrell’s own curly locks. Add a buckled brown belt, a cone-shaped hat and pointy-toe elf shoes to complete your look as the tallest elf at the North Pole! Even if you are 6-feet tall, you can still suit up in an elf costume and spread Christmas cheer to all corners of the globe this holiday season – come on, discover your own inner elf and make Buddy proud!
Facebook Friends
Archives
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009