It has been officially banned in the streets of Manhattan so thousands of Santa-clad boozehounds filled the streets of Brooklyn this year in protest (and in merriment and boozing). But in Austin? SantaCon is alive and well, my friends. In fact, this is one of the only weekends of the year where I go full balls-to-the-wall crazy in true Erica form. Each year brings a new costume and a new adventure and gets a little more crazy.
As we gathered at City Hall to take our mass picture and rampage the streets in boozy holiday cheer, I looked around and couldn’t help giggle. “Normal” Santas peppered the crowd as this rowdy bunch decided to interpret jolly ol’ Nick in leather, as Cthulhu, in Reindeer get ups, Giant Presents, and hell, even a giant stocking full of mistletoe. Shaun was aflutter and proud in his new Polar Bear Jacket while I proudly displayed… my ermm… Gender Bending Santa with a boob job costume – beard and cleavage and all. Shaun won the night though. Hordes of gorgeous girls went up to hug him and asked for pictures with “mauling” involved.
As I looked closer at the group I realized why I had spent so many years with this same group of people – many these lovely folks apparently are part of the Austin Burner community. Remember my Flipside adventure? Holy hell, I’ve been part of it all these years and never knew. [The scary part is looking back at old pictures from previous and realizing all your new friends are in them.]
…and while Santas are being pushed out of the Big Apple, our Santas are proudly displayed and appreciated on the streets of Austin. From the gay clubs to Dirty 6th, SantaCon 2013 was welcomed with open arms.
There are no grinches to be found here in the capital of Texas!
[Wait, I guess I should check the pics to see if we had one in our group…]
…and now our adventures in order:
SantaCon 2014
SantaCon 2012
Click on the pictures to head to 2013!
SantaCon 2010
Click on the screenshot below to watch the SantaCon 2011 VIDEO!
..it’s like we’ve been doing this a while.
Austin is a wild place … only they could do something like this and pull it off in style!
It is why I call it my home!
good informative information.