It's the season to be jolly. And SantaCon revellers across the world show us how it's done.
Don't miss: The 2017 Christmas Special!
People dressed as Santa Claus make the most of SantaCon in New York City.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
The annual bar crawl is now in its 19th year.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
SantaCon began in San Francisco in 1994, inspired by the Danish activist theatre group Solvognen 'who mobbed a Copenhagen Department store just before Christmas and handed out the goods as 'presents'.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
However, the SantaCon has always been non-political, 'purely surreal Santa prank events'.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
It has now reportedly spread across 397 cities in 52 countries.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
But the party in New York City -- which saw its first SantaCon in 1998 -- remains the largest.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
Not everyone is happy with the OTT revelry of the SantaCon.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
It has even been called Santarchy or the Red Menace.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
And residents have made many attempts to stop it.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
But without any success so far.
Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
Revellers dressed in Santa costumes sit on a Trafalgar Square lion in London.
The Santacon organisers in the United Kingdom call it 'a non-profit, non-political, non-religious and non-sensical Christmas parade.'
Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters.
They add, 'There's no particular reason to dress up in Santa suits, run around, give gifts, sing songs, have strangers sit on our laps and decide who is naughty or nice. But it's a lot of fun so Santa does it anyway!'
Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters.
