Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

(New Orleans) – Running of the Santas, the annual run, walk and shuffle of colorful, costumed revelers through the streets of the city’s Warehouse District, will return for its special 10^th anniversary to spread holiday cheer and craziness on Saturday, December 11, 2021. This year’s “run” will send spirited, decked out Santas jingling through the streets between the South Pole at Manning’s on Fulton Street to the North Pole at Generations Hall with live holiday entertainment and an extravagant and often wacky costume contest with entrants from both the nice and naughty list.

The city’s most raucous holiday tradition, listed as one of the “Top 50 events every New Orleanian should experience,” kicks off on Saturday, December 11 with holiday food and specialty drinks from 3 to 6 p.m. at the “South Pole” located at Manning’s, at 519 Fulton Street. At 6 p.m., the crowd of Santas will begin the five-block “Fun Run” to the “North Pole” located at Generations Hall, at 310 Andrew Higgins Drive followed by the city’s largest (and naughtiest) holiday costume contest at 8 p.m.

The Running of the Santas will begin at Lafayette and South Peters, headed uptown on South Peters, turning on Andrew Higgins Blvd toward Generations Hall.

New Orleans’ most vibrant holiday tradition calls for “runners” from all over the Gulf Coast to don their most creative Christmas attire for a chance to win the treasured “Best Holiday Costume” award. Event organizers are expecting more than 3,000 costumed participants this year donned as Santa, Mrs. Claus, Scrooge, Rudolph, Jingle Bells, Jack Frost, Old Man Winter and much more.

The much-anticipated holiday costume contest with some of the most outlandish Christmastime outfits in town will take place on the main stage at Generations Hall and will be judged by local media celebrities. Prizes will be awarded for first and second places.

Online registration is open now at www.runningofthesantas.com. Tickets are 2 for $30 now for a limited time. VIP tickets, which include an open bar at Generations Hall, are only $75 now for a limited time. New details concerning the New Orleans “Running of the Santas” will be released via Facebook at facebook.com/runningsantas and on Twitter @RunningSantas.

All Santa, Mrs. Clauses, reindeer, gingerbread people and all participants must show proof of COVID vaccination or negative test results from a test taken within the past 72 hours as mandated by the City of New Orleans.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit That Others May Live Foundation. The foundation is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2002. The foundation provides scholarships, family counseling, and aid to surviving children of United States Air Force (USAF) Rescue Heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice during a rescue mission. The goal of the program is to ensure that every child of a fallen personnel recovery service member receives an opportunity for success.

About Running of the Santas

“Running of the Santas” is the premier holiday season event, which started in 1998 in the streets of downtown Philadelphia when 40 close friends decided to suit up in holiday costumes and go bar hopping. More than a decade and a half later, the “Running of the Santas” event has grown across the world with more than 20 host cities from Pennsylvania to the shores of New Zealand. “Running of the Santas” is a production of the Scat Back Foundation Inc.