SantaCon 2023: Festive bar crawl route, everything else you need to know

Here comes SantaCon 2023. A sea of red descends upon New York City this weekend for SantaCon 2023.

The annual charitable bar crawl brings thousands of festively dressed people to Midtown and the East Village. The alcohol-centric event begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and is scheduled to go until 8 pm.

The MTA and New Jersey Transit are playing the role of sleigh and in doing so, they have some extra rules for the SantaCon 2023 festivities.

What is SantaCon 2023?

SantaCon is an annual festive pub crawl where thousands make their way to Manhattan dressed in their holiday-finest – from Santa and Mrs. Claus to gingerbread cookies, elves, etc. – and make their way through the city, beginning in Midtown before wrapping up in the East Village.

The organizers encourage participants to donate $15 for free entry into participating venues, which goes to various charitable causes.

In the last decade alone, organizers have raised over $900,000 for charity.

Things to consider

As in years past, the MTA is banning the consumption of alcohol on Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road trains during SantaCon.

The ban will be in effect beginning 4 a.m. Saturday through noon on Sunday.

Drinks will also be prohibited at all LIRR and Metro-North station platforms during these hours.

NJ Transit says drink containers of any kind will be banned from buses, trains and the light rail over the next two Saturdays, including the SantaCon event in Hoboken on December 16th.