10 a.m. – 11 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8, official event page
Santa’s Edmonds elves — Mindy Brown, Jewel Hagen, and Rebecca Taylor — are back to make spirits bright with the second annual Edmonds Kind of SantaCon. This festive bar crawl invites participants to don their best Santa, Mrs. Claus or holiday costumes and join the mission to “spread absurd joy.”
Though SantaCon events have popped up nationwide, this fun holiday event didn’t come to Edmonds until 2023.
The meet-cute origins of Edmonds Kind of SantaCon are as whimsical as the event itself. Last year, Brown (a local realtor) and Taylor (a holistic dentist with two businesses in Edmonds, Green City Dental and O2Dontics) planned and marketed a SantaCon with their Edmonds Moms Meetup page, a group founded by Brown that has daily opportunities for local moms to get together.
At the same time, Hagen (a nurse anesthesiologist) dreamed up her own Edmonds SantaCon after hearing of Seattle’s event. She began spreading the word to her community of friends, including contacts at My Edmonds News.
Here’s the twist: Both events were scheduled for the same day!
The groups met up, and both thought they were part of each other’s festivities. The two groups pub crawled together and gathered by the Edmonds Holiday Tree in Centennial Plaza for a photo with My Edmonds News.
When the article came out and credited Hagen for the event planning, Brown and Taylor, confused, reached out to My Edmonds News, and the whole funny story came out.
“That’s how I stole all the thunder,” joked Hagen; “We’re calling it our Christmas miracle!”
Now officially teamed up, the trio is making this year’s SantaCon bigger and more family friendly. While SantaCon is typically associated with bar crawls, Edmonds is putting its own spin on things. Participating “Santa Stops” include not just bars but a variety of businesses offering festive fun for all ages all day long.
In the spirit of giving, this year’s event also serves as a fundraiser for the Edmonds Food Bank Toy Shop program. Participating Santa Stops will donate $1 for every featured drink sold, and QR codes at each location make it easy to contribute directly. Prefer to bring a physical gift? Donation bins will be available at stops, with Terri’s Toybox serving as a central drop-off site. Even easier, send toys directly to the Toy Shop by ordering from their Amazon Wishlist here.
The Toy Shop at the Edmonds Food Bank provides holiday gifts to Edmonds Food Bank customers with children ages newborn through 17. The program has run for 30 years. The December Toy Shop event supports families facing tough choices between food and other essentials, especially during the holiday season. It ensures they can provide gifts for their children without sacrificing basic needs. Customers can “shop” for toys and books for their children. For households with middle and high school children, gift cards will be available with food orders from the food bank.
Food Bank Executive Director Casey Davis noted, “Just like we provide high-quality, nutritious food at the food bank, we want the toy shop experience to feel special and for toys to be new or like-new.”
Last year, 748 neighborhood kids were served, and the Toy Shop anticipates that number will jump to 1,000 this year.
Want to join the fun? There’s no set schedule for SantaCon, so participants can create their own route with friends using the event map. Just make sure to dress up, spread some cheer and check out the rules on the official event page.
Not around to attend Santa Con but still want to give? Click here to donate to this fantastic cause and indicate that your donations are from SantaCon by placing a Santa emoji or ‘SantaCon” with your payment. Checks can also be mailed to the Edmonds Food Bank (828 Caspers St. L100, Edmonds, WA 98020).
Brown, Hagen, and Taylor hope Edmonds Kind of SantaCon becomes a cherished annual tradition. One day, they hope SantaCon gets so big they’ll need to close the roads.
So grab your Santa hat, lace up those boots, and join the fun on Dec. 8. It’s an Edmonds kind of holiday you won’t want to miss.
— By Elizabeth Murray
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