Long Beach SantaCon Effectively Cancelled As Bars Pull Out

After the Rockville Centre version of SantaCon Long Island was cancelled by the village, the bar crawl was relocated to Long Beach. But now it seems that the red tide of Santas won't be coming to the City by the Sea, either.

SantaCon, a bar crawl where participants usually dress as Santa Claus or his elves, has been happening in Farmingdale for years. Event organizers were planning to bring the event to the South Shore for the first time this year with an event in Rockville Centre this Saturday, Dec. 22. But the Village of Rockville Centre objected, citing quality of life issues and the stress the event would put on police, and all of the local bars involved pulled out.

Instead, the event quickly moved itself to Long Beach. But the Long Beach Herald reported that the bars that had agreed to participate in the Long Beach event have also pulled out, effectively killing the event.

Many Long Beach residents will be happy to hear the news of the bar crawl's cancellation. The event was extremely unpopular with city residents. A Facebook poll posted by Project 11561 had nearly 800 respondents, and 79 percent were against SantaCon.

SantaCon organizers defended the event on Facebook, saying that the usually hire people to be a "street patrol" for participants. "This is not an event that encourages drinking," SantaCon wrote on Facebook. "This is an event that encourages tourism as we have attendees from all over Long Island and the metro area."

It is also a charity event. The SantaCon events in Farmingdale have raised thousands of dollars over the years for Toys for Hope. SantaCon organizers said they expected 200 to 250 people at the Long Beach event.

Photo: Kena Betancur/Getty Images