Is the Christmas holiday more than just a theme?  To some it is all that’s sacred but to a growing number of revelers it is something of a conceptual jungle gym to riff on, subvert, and have fun playing with.

This latter group includes the Santarchists, or “Santa Crawlistas” as they are known around these parts.  SantaCon events occur in multiple locations around the world during the month of December as individuals subvert the aesthetic of the world’s most popular themed occasion with copious amounts of egg-nog and a Claus sized helping of St. Nick naughtiness.

We were on the scene for this year’s exceptionally snowy and well attended crawl (Reno apparently has one of the largest) where we witnessed the full spectrum of holiday themed costumes.  While the “sexy Mrs. Claus” costume handily maintained its perennial dynasty, as evidenced by the 2nd annual Sexy Santa Competition, a 1st annual Most Creative Christmas Costume Contest also paid homage to the many reindeer, toy soldiers, snowflakes, wrapped presents, ice fairies, pajama’d children, hybrids/mutants, candy canes, Noelian steampunks, Christmas pirates, and of course, the ninjas (among numerous other original holiday costume ideas).

Whatever the costume might be, the feeling behind it is the same:  Let’s take a break from the holiday related stress of shopping, family, traffic, etc., and have some good-ol-timey burnerly fun with this Xmas beast! That the costumes express such a level of creativity, innovation, and liberated viewpoints regarding the “reason for the season” are a testament to our community’s brilliant willingness to shift the sometimes oppressive holiday paradigm towards something more … scandalous.

An epic snow/ice-ball fight marked this year’s Reno crawl as one for the history books (see great videos here and here).  There is no denying the holiday counter-magic created by legions of wassailers dressed in red fuzzy outfits having their run of the town.  It’s an effect that is remarkably similar to the inspiring feelings of rampant freedom present in our home away from home.  When thousands of people dress in costume, the mind becomes overwhelmed and disbelief gets suspended.  Suddenly a host of ridonkulous new possibilities enter the field of play and the next thing you know, you’re right where you need to be with exactly the freaks you were meant to be with doing the things that dreams of sugar plums dancing with freaky ice fairies are made of …