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Krampus Group Protests SantaCon Logan Square Coming to Neighborhood

By Darryl Holliday | December 10, 2014 5:02am
 A new group cites public drinking, "Lincoln Park buffoonery," in call to protest SantaCon Logan Square.
A new group cites public drinking, "Lincoln Park buffoonery," in call to protest SantaCon Logan Square.
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LOGAN SQUARE — SantaCon is coming to town, but a new neighborhood group says it's willing to appeal to police in an effort to keep the boozy Santa-clad bar crawl out of Logan Square.

The newly dubbed WAKKA — West Armitage Kimball Krampus Association — is a group of nearly 20 residents opposed to Saturday's first-ever SantaCon Logan Square, according to Chelsey Sprengeler, one of the group's founders.

“We joke a lot with our name: the spirit of Krampus, but hopefully the spirit of Krampus can keep them out. If not, the 14th district police can,” said Sprengeler, a 22-year-old Logan Square resident.

Krampus is the ultimate anti-Santa in Germanic folklore: a mythical horned creature that punishes kids for Christmas, unlike Jolly Saint Nick.

 This isn't the first time residents have banded together to protest SantaCon. A group in New York City posted these signs on neighborhood businesses in 2013.
This isn't the first time residents have banded together to protest SantaCon. A group in New York City posted these signs on neighborhood businesses in 2013.
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The Krampus "was a vengeful, supernatural creature with little patience for entitled, privileged children and would snatch them up to keep them toiling his dark lair forever," according to Sprengeler.

"We kicked off the Krampus spirit this year," she said. "We’re a group that’s concerned about SantaCon coming to Logan Square.” According to a statement, the group is dedicated to "the containment and removal of any mass and organized behavior that resembles Lincoln Park buffoonery."

While the WAKKA name may sound strange, but Sprengeler says serious safety concerns are raised by the worldwide SantaCon bar crawl, formerly known as "Santarchy" — concerns echoed in calls for its complete banishment in other cities that have resulted in police-issued reprimands. Some fear the event could get out of hand like Chicago's TBOX did in 2012.

“Indeed, SantaCons of years past have been distinguished by sexism, drunkenness, xenophobia, homophobia and enough incidents of public vomiting and urination to fill an infinite dunk tank,” reads a New York Times op-ed column labeling SantaCon as “obnoxious” at best.

Agrees Sprengler: “There are concerns, especially among women, of what it would mean to have to walk through hordes of bearded Santa Clauses late at night. SantaCon is talking about publicly drinking in a way that should be a concern for anyone who lives around the area.”

Sprengler said her group is “hoping we can organize against it, to stop its entrance into Logan Square. That kind of thing is OK in Lincoln Park, but [Logan Square] is dealing with its own problems right now.”

But, according to SantaCon Logan Square founder Eric Barry, abusive and harassing behavior will not be tolerated at the event — "there is no 'bail fund' for incarcerated santas," he wrote in a list of rules for the event.

“The Santacons I've come to know and love are all about celebrating creative, positive, and open communities, and that's exactly what this Logan Square Santacon will be all about,” said Barry, a Logan Square resident, organizer of SantaCon Logan Square and host of "Full Disclosure," a comedy podcast.

Barry said WAKKA hasn’t yet reached out to him regarding SantaCon Logan Square, but he’s taking the complaint seriously. SantaCon events are run independently of each other, so Logan Square’s SantaCon won’t necessarily be like SantaCons of the past, he added.

“I'd encourage anyone who's concerned to read over the rules section I posted. There's a huge emphasis on ensuring respectful behavior for both the businesses we'll be patronizing and fellow Santa participants,” he said.

“Logan Square is seeing the seeds of a great alternative, sex-positive, LGBT friendly community, and we want to grow that spirit,” he added. “If anyone has any further concerns, I'd absolutely ask them to reach out to me so we can work together and continue to see Logan Square thrive as creative, open and diverse community."

WAKKA also mentions preserving the neighborhood's diversity in a statement, posted with an added challenge to SantaCon in lieu of an official group website:

We "call upon 14th District Police Commander Francis Valadez to take serious note of the SantaCon Bar Crawl's encouragement of drinking on our public thoroughfares and the imminent violence brought by overly-entitled outsiders who cannot be entrusted with such discretion in their own community, let alone in our diverse Logan Square.”

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