DANVILLE — It’s possible that no one at Danville’s joyous, first-ever SantaCon knew that artist John Law invented the event more than 30 years ago in San Francisco because he hated Christmas.
While Santa-clad revelers bar-hopped and drank hot toddies at the Danville festivities on Dec. 6, the San Ramon Valley firefighters, looking sadly sober, were on hand collecting toys for kids. Proceeds from the event were donated to local schools.
“You’ve got the whole gamut there with SantaCon,” Law told this news organization in an interview. “It’s been a very different event from when we started it until now.”
Law is the architect of San Francisco’s Cacophony Society, a group whose shenanigans have inspired Burning Man, “Fight Club” and more, according to a new documentary on the event. SantaCon started when Law’s buddy Rob Schmitt found a postcard depicting a group of Santas playing pool in 1994. Schmitt suggested they get a bunch of Santas together for fun, and Law jumped at the opportunity.
“Personally, I wanted to take the holiday back and make it something I would enjoy after the disillusionment that [the myth of] Santa was a bunch of garbage when I was 9 years old,” Law said. “I know it sounds silly, … but that’s a core hypocrisy that stays with people for a long part of their lives.”
Since his ragtag group of adventurous artist friends first gathered for the inaugural SantaCon in 1994, meant to shatter the commercialization of the holidays. Since then, the event has blossomed into a neighborhood-friendly event where small businesses and cities beckon the Santas to spend money at their local bars and send bartenders home with some of the fattest stacks of cash they can get all year.
For decades, the Cacophony Society has gone against the grain of modern society, questioning the rules and customs of the American public. The group operated with an abrasive, counterculture attitude with an anarchist slant. It hosted the “Black Tie Sewer Party,” where participants dressed up in gaudy formal attire and had a cocktail hour in a sewer, organized “Bridge Climbing” on worldwide spans, and put on a “Kill Your TV” event wherein they took turns shooting televisions with loaded guns.
“To me, the story of SantaCon and its creators, and the story of the Cacophony Society in general, is a story of how to live a good life in the rubble,” said Seth Porges, a film director who in November debuted a documentary on the event’s history called “Santacon.” “Today, I think everything sort of feels like it has to be a hustle, or exist for reasons outside of just fun with your friends.”
The documentary depicts the first major SantaCon takeover of San Francisco in 1995, when Law and the Cacophony Society coordinated a joyful and chaotic ambush of the quiet lobby of the Hyatt Regency. The extravagant display of whimsy, wonder, alcohol and cigarettes began with over 100 Santas rushing the hotel’s backdoor and storming through the place singing Christmas carols. Santas were seen devouring hors d’oeuvres and stealing glasses of wine from hotel guests, who were both stunned and amused.
Since that fateful night, SantaCon has spread across the nation and around the globe. These days, tens of thousands of revelers flood Time Square in New York during the annual SantaCon and wreak havoc on the city, drunkenly bustling from bar to bar and vomiting in the streets.
For the Danville fundraiser on Dec. 6, hundreds of comment dressed up in holiday costumes and bought $35 wristbands that gave them $10 hot toddies and free entry to the DJ party at Aracely Lounge. Other participating businesses included Norm’s Place, Pete’s Brass Rail, Danville Brewing Co., Locanda, Primo’s and Love You More.
“We were a little afraid nobody would do it,” said Kristen Miller, a Danville resident who showed up to Aracely Lounge dressed as a reindeer with her partner, Shawn Kinner, and two other friends. Nursing a glass of champagne, Miller said they planned to rally together next at Norm’s Place for more drinks. “We’re not quitter,” she said.
She’d never heard of Law or the Cacophony Society. Nor had Danville newlyweds Carissa and Rich Stach, who had arrived dressed up as Cindy Lou Who and the Grinch.
“We just love any opportunity to dress up,” Carissa said.
And neither had Linda Edson, owner of Aracely Lounge and the event’s organizer. Edson had once attended a SantaCon in San Francisco, where she lived for 17 years before moving to Danville three years ago. In the city, she’d seen what many see when Santa comes to town – a sea of red suits, fake beards and a lot of joy mixed with some pandemonium.
She decided it would be fun to bring the event to her new hometown this year, stepping into uncharted territory.
“You put it out there, and you don’t know if anybody’s going to show up or not,” she said. “I have no idea what to expect. It could be 20 people; it could be 20,000.”
By about 1 p.m., at least 100 Santas had trotted their way into the town and started pouring into Aracely’s. Every few minutes, a new group would appear, eager to step into the bright new winter wonderland. A couple hours later, Rob Santos and Jillian Schwartz found their way to Elliott’s, a town staple and cash-only bar that’s been around since 1907, to avoid the horde that jacked the wait time for a drink up to at least 20 minutes at Aracely’s, they said.
They decided to skip the $4 special drink of the day at Elliott’s – a “Snow Job” shot made with rum, churro-flavored Baileys and whipped cream.
“I love the SantaCons in small-town areas,” SantaCon founder Rob Schmitt said in a recent interview while catching a bus in San Francisco. “In the big cities, it kind of got out of hand. The kids use it as a drunken bar crawl thing. In the small towns, I think it’s a better fit. I’ve been to a couple Santa things in small towns, and it works. I’ve also been in New York City when there’s 40,000 people, and it’s a madhouse.”
He was happy to hear that the event he and his friends created three decades ago had made it to the San Ramon Valley for the first time.
“I love when people have fun and go do things,” Schmitt said. “Hopefully, it gives them the idea to do something different.”
For those who want a chance to experience the historic event for themselves, other upcoming SantaCons in the Bay Area include one starting at noon Saturday in San Francisco’s Mission District at Soundtrack SF, 3192 16th St.; another in San Jose starting at 4 p.m. Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Old Wagon Saloon & Grill, 73 N. San Pedro St.; and another starting at 1 p.m. Dec. 20 in Downtown Livermore.
