Here’s one of the greatest Christmas stories I know. Probably the only one I got.
On December 4, 1999, I happened to be in Los Angeles, on the back end of a business trip. My friend John was also in town and we arranged to go see the Vandals play at the Hollywood Palace.
So we’re there, enjoying the old school punk show, when I suddenly become aware that we’re surrounded by Santas. But these are kind of grungy-looking Santas. Slovenly, drunk, licentious Santas.
They’re men and women, dressed up as Santa Claus, wandering around and getting out of hand. There must be a hundred. They were moshing and crowd surfing; at one point, they formed a conga line. One vivid moment was when they all started chanting at the stage: “HO! HO! HO! HO!”
It was a really surreal moment.
Much later, we found out the background to our experience. It had been part of a Santa Rampage, staged by the L.A. chapter of the Cacophony Society. You can find a description of the day’s festivities here and here.
But this was not an isolated incident. The Santacons have been taking place since 1994 and are a global phenomenon today. May you be so lucky as to someday have your own moment of surreal Santa-osity.
UPDATE: The Wikipedia listing is also a good background source.