I hopped on an SF SantaCon party bus, and it wasn’t what I expected

I wasn’t sure what to expect for my first SantaCon, but when I found myself on a school bus with a group of festive and friendly Santas, I knew I was in for a wild ride. 

Joe Houston, a longtime San Francisco resident, Salesforce employee and social media influencer, has been organizing an unofficial SantaCon party bus with his friends and community members for more than 12 years, showing some the “flip side” of SantaCon. Every year, Houston, who rocks a Santa Superman outfit, rents out buses filled with cheery Santas who donate to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and a toy drive before the big San Francisco party. 

In previous years, San Francisco’s wild holiday pub crawl has featured maps and routes for bar-hoppers, but on Saturday, Santas were able to roam free after gathering at Union Square just before noon. At Union Square, there are drop-off bins placed throughout the area every year for the San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program.

SantaCon began in San Francisco in 1994 after 25 people came together dressed as Santa and rode through the streets on a party bus. Now, more than 17,000 people gather in the city on the second Saturday in December to kick off the holidays. But the holiday patrons haven’t been so welcome at some bars in recent years, with some even posting “No Santas allowed” signs to avoid the drunk and sometimes crazed crowd. 

“SantaCon has always considered this bad event of just a bunch of drunk Santas all over the city,” Houston told SFGATE. “And that wasn’t what we were about, like our main thing was initially about giving toys.” 

Houston and his friends, who surely know how to party too, donated 212 pounds of food and lots of toys before gathering on a bus headed for the North Beach and Marina neighborhoods, where many Santas tend to frequent local bars and restaurants. Houston said his friends typically donate 100 to 150 pounds of food every year, and this time they exceeded their goal.

As they headed out of Union Square, the rowdy and joyous Santas boarded their “sleigh” dancing and cheering. The Grinch took the dance floor to Cardi B’s “WAP,” and some reindeers waved out the window as “Ayy Ladies,” a song by Travis Porter, played throughout the bus. 

Houston said one of his favorite parts about organizing SantaCon festivities with his friends is seeing people’s smiles and excitement as the contagious energy of the lively bus rolls down San Francisco streets. On Saturday, both festive characters and bystanders on the streets were constantly waving, cheering and even dancing along as the bus went by. 

“We’re like celebrities when we roll around spreading joy,” he said. “It’s almost like there’s a little trail of Christmas falling behind us.”

In previous years, Houston said he’s had two buses filled with 40 people on each. He said he even tried renting limousines.

J.J. Dillon, a San Francisco resident who’s been to 17 Santacons, recalled the year with two buses. “That was an insane time, trying to gather people to go to the next bar and tell them to get moving, we gotta go get on the bus,” Dillon said. “…[Houston] is very well organized.”

The bus first stopped just after 12:30 p.m. at The Showdown, a neighborhood pub in North Beach, where the Santas started their own party in the previously empty bar. 

“We try to get ahead of all the mayhem,” Houston said. “We see it’s still kind of slow right now, and I do that intentionally.”

Alex Maxa, the driver of the infamous party bus, told SFGATE he’s been driving the group around annually for over a decade. In his free time, he collects school buses and occasionally drives for events and road trips, but Maxa said he looks forward to congregating with Houston’s group for SantaCon every year. 

“It’s one of those San Francisco adult holidays where everyone’s outside, and instead of trick or treating, they’re just going to bars,” Maxa said. “…The holidays can be work and rough, and this is just a chance to cut loose. You don’t have to worry about your appearance besides your costume.”

Maxa drove the group to the Golden Gate Bridge for a photo-op and finally to the Marina District. He said he’d describe his role as the party bus driver as “fun, controlled chaos.”

“My job is to look straight ahead while everybody else is yelling out the windows, but when I do look at the rearview mirror, it’s hilarious and funny,” Maxa said. 

He said oftentimes at each stop, passerbys will ask him questions about what the group is doing. He responds with, “Oh, this is Joe’s party. Check it out!”

Houston said SantaCon is a “joyous moment” for his friends and their friends that tag along every year.

“A lot of people don’t like SantaCon,” he said. “They have their own opinions about it being bad or it being not a positive thing, and so when they see that like, oh, wait, we’re donating food and we’re donating toys, they’re like, oh, yeah, I will join that.”

Jenny Hayes, a teacher in the Central Valley, traveled to San Francisco to join Houston’s group on Saturday. She said it was her first SantaCon, but she’d do it again.

“I would say this is the flip side,” Hayes said.