There’s no rest for the cheery this time of year. Santa’s working overtime to ensure his one night of worldwide present dispensing goes off without a hitch. It’s a joyful gig. But the stress sometimes keeps him up nights. Makes sense that he might choose to blow off some steam with an innocent bar crawl around town.

Photos by Shannon Bryan

The fifth Santacon came to town on Saturday, packing over 200 red-suited drinkers into local bars like Empire, Gritty’s, and Grace. Zorro Santa was there, along with Pirate Santa, and Lobsterman Santa.

There were candy canes and holiday characters whose origins I’m uncertain.

There was a Carhartt gingerbread man, whose holiday spirit was both durable and flame-resistant.

There was Smurf Santa…or was it Blue Man Santa?

And Buddy the Elf, who’s only seven years old but growing steadily.

The abominable snowman was there – much nicer than he seems on TV.

And reindeer and elves and presents and a guy wearing Christmas underwear on the outside of his pants. Yep. That’s Santacon.

The event also raised money and “filled a Subaru” with donations for Family Crisis Center here in Portland. For more photos from the event: Santacon photos on Facebook