Photos: Creative SantaCon costumes in the East Village NYC

Not feeling the holiday spirit in your neighborhood? Head down to the East Village today for SantaCon 2011!

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village 13th Step Bar

Thousands of Santas are currently swarming downtown Manhattan for this annual celebration. According to the NYC SantaCon website,

“Santacon is a non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and non-sensical Santa Claus convention that occurs once a year for absolutely no reason.”

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village three santas

It’s easy to spot the SantaCon revelers since most are dressed like characters from classic Christmas films.

In the past hour alone, we spotted hundreds of Santas, dozens of elves, several reindeer, two girls dressed as “presents” and one abominable snowman.

>> Scroll down for more photos of creative SantaCon costumes!

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village presents

To a bystander, it may seem like this swarm of Santas comes out of thin air– but they are actually following a route that has been laid out by event organizers.

SantaCon 2011 kicked off this morning at 10 AM in two locations: the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn.

If you want to join this moving flash mob, follow the hastag “SantaCon” on Twitter:

Don’t worry, there is still time to participate– in fact, the crowd is getting more festive by the minute as each SantaCon stop is a bar.

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village Christmas tree

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village 3rd Ave

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village dogs

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village Starbucks

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village Abominable Snowman

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village St Marks Pl

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village St Marks Pl shop

SantaCon NY 2011 East Village bar

Are you participating in SantaCon?

Share your experience by leaving a comment below!

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Writer’s note: All photos taken on an iPhone 3Gs and processed using the free Photoshop Express app.

 

About Leslie Koch

I'm a New Yorker with a passion for travel and art. I founded DowntownTraveler.com after returning from a year-long backpacking trip around the world. Find me on Twitter at @leslietravel.