Santa's Rules

1. Dress up! A Santa hat alone is not enough.

2. Don't get drunk.

3. Address your fellow santa as "Santa."

4. Watch out for elves. Elves work hard for Santa all year and especially hard during the holiday season. Santa loves his elves except when they show up to his red-themed event dressed in green. Traditionally, elves are abused at SantaCon.

5. Not all these guidelines should be taken seriously.

6. Don't get drunk in public. Being drunk or disorderly in public will tarnish Santa's reputation. One bad santa can ruin things for an entire location because we're all dressed the same, duh. Also, it's an offense and will get you arrested. Remember that there is no "bail fund" for incarcerated santas and if you cross the line you'll be on your own. Don't be that Santa.

7. If you do get drunk in public, you should get into a fight with other santas, get arrested as quickly as possible (before anyone gets hurt), be carted away in handcuffs and have the whole thing recorded on video for the evening news and Youtube.

8. Santa does not make children cry. If you see kids, don't do anything to freak them out. Give them a nice smile and possibly a gift of some kind...

9. Optionally, bring gifts: Nice things to give children; nice or naughty things for adults.

10. Santa dresses for all occasions. If it's cold outside, wear multiple costume layers. Dress to maximize merriment whether singing carols in the snow, or swinging from a stripper pole in a hot nightclub.

11. Santa does not mess with security. This includes the police. Security staff are there to ensure everyone's safety - it's an important & necessary job. If you are turned away, don't argue - just move on to somewhere Santa is more welcome and can have fun.

12. Make sure you always tip the good people who are serving you. We want to be able to do this again next year so be polite and cultivate the goodwill of the local community.

13. Please pay for your refreshments as you go. Santa gets tired of waiting on other santas to clear their tab before being able to move on. Ideally, this entire adventure should be cash only.

14. Stay with the group. It's not just a case of "the more, the merrier" - Santa is safer with large numbers of fellow santas and what one santa can't achieve (or get away with) is a possibility for a posse.

15. Santa doesn't drink & drive.