Bad SantaCon Coming to Hudson Valley

Bad SantaCon, a different twist on the annual SantaCon event, is coming to Highland.

If you aren't familiar with SantaCon, it's a popular pub crawl that takes place annually, all over the world where people dress up as Santa Clause or other Christmas characters. SantaCon has gotten a lot of negative feedback in recent years, especially in New York City where the event has led to drunken brawling, public urination, and disorder.

In 2013: A wild video was released of a SantaCon brawl in NYC.

In 2018: Police say a Hudson Valley man punched a woman at NYC SantaCon and another Hudson Valley Man assaulted an officer at the Hoboken SantaCon

In 2019: A knife wielding man brawled with Santas on a train.

Despite the problems, SantaCon will be returning to NYC this year with a vengeance after Covid hiatus.

There was actually a Poughkeepsie SantaCon that existed for a short time but while researching the event, it doesn't appear that there has been one in at least five years.

Well, Bad SantaCon coming up on Dec. 11 at Bad Seed Cider in Highland doesn't plan on having any riff-raff and drunken debauchery. Just a fun time with lots of holiday cheer. Unlike SantaCon, Bad SantaCon isn't a pub crawl. According to Bad Seed Cider's Facebook page, the event takes place at the Bad Seed Taproom so there's no walking involved on a cold day just plenty of great cider to keep you warm. There will be great cider and beer plus hayrides through the Christmas Tree Farm, fire pits to keep you warm on the patio, and a Dj spinning the beats, keeping the cidery bumping.