With only 12 days before Christmas, San Francisco is ramping up the holiday spirit. On Saturday evening, they kicked off the Union Square Winter Walk, an outdoor space designed to bring life and customers back to the struggling retail center.

It’s hard not to succeed in business when you can get hundreds of Santa Clauses converging on the area. The annual SantaCon has become the city’s most popular pub crawl, with everyone decked out like Saint Nick.

“We started coming here a couple years ago. You know, get some holiday cheer going,” said one SantCon partier named John.  “And it’s just, like, seeing hundreds of Santas on the street, it’s just a sight to see. It’s a fun time, it’s a fun time.”

“I’m very confused,” said his friend Julian Schiano, also in a Santa suit.  “I have no idea how this started. They invited me out.  I requested the day off, so, had a little bit of fun. But, I have no idea about how this started or anything, but it seemed like a good day to get away from everything.”

“It is so much fun,” said Wendy Solorio from San Jose. “You get to mingle and meet a whole bunch of festive people.”  

So, what makes them so festive?  

“It’s actually right here,” she said, holding up her drink.

With so many people coming each year, the Union Square Alliance uses it as the kick-off to its Winter Walk festival, which will continue through Christmas Eve. Two blocks of Stockton Street are decked out in blue outdoor turf, with food trucks, pop-up stores and winter-themed photo ops.

“We have records of Winter Walk from 2016, where it was holiday decor, and the turf was out here,” said Holly Chiao with the Alliance, “but it’s really grown to what it is now in 2025. And we’re so happy with how it turned out.”

It actually started in the 2014 Christmas season when someone got the simple idea of closing off the street and covering it in green artificial turf.  They were amazed at how much fun people were having with just a wide-open place to play.  And now they’ve carried the idea on to become a bona fide holiday tradition.

“Look around,” said Chiao. “I mean, people come down to Union Square to celebrate life’s greatest moments. And for something this big and interactive, for all the friends and family and loved ones to come together, putting this on, year after year, is so important for us for, for overturning that negative narrative around Union Square, around San Francisco.  And that’s what keeps us going.”

The shopping district is still trying to recover from the pandemic and a high-profile rash of retail crime.  Many stores have left, and the flagship Macy’s says it’s on its way out.  But for those still operating, Mayor Daniel Lurie had good news.  Crime is way down, he said, and there is a renewed sense of hope in Union Square and across the City.

“San Francisco, y’all, it’s happening. It is happening,” he said to the cheering crowd.  So, listen, the world is starting to know, and get to know, that we are not only on the way back, but we’re going to be back to our rightful spot of being the greatest city in the world again.  And, I’ll close with this: let’s go, San Francisco.”

Retail still has its challenges, but it can’t hurt for San Francisco’s premier shopping destination to have a few cheerleaders. That, and a couple of hundred Santas.

Houston Rockets (16-6, third in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (18-6, second in the Western Conference)

Denver; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Denver hosts Houston looking to end its four-game home slide.

The Nuggets are 13-5 in conference games. Denver averages 125.5 points while outscoring opponents by 9.6 points per game.

The Rockets are 9-5 in Western Conference play. Houston is fifth in the NBA scoring 120.6 points per game while shooting 48.6%.

The Nuggets’ 13.5 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.8 more made shots on average than the 12.7 per game the Rockets give up. The Rockets average 120.6 points per game, 4.7 more than the 115.9 the Nuggets give up.

The teams meet for the second time this season. In the last meeting on Nov. 22 the Nuggets won 112-109 led by 34 points from Nikola Jokic, while Reed Sheppard scored 27 points for the Rockets.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jokic is averaging 29.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 10.9 assists for the Nuggets. Hunter Tyson is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Alperen Sengun is averaging 23 points, 9.4 rebounds, seven assists and 1.5 steals for the Rockets. Amen Thompson is averaging 20.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 126.7 points, 41.4 rebounds, 30.3 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 53.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.8 points per game.

Rockets: 7-3, averaging 115.7 points, 47.2 rebounds, 24.8 assists, 9.3 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.0 points.

INJURIES: Nuggets: Christian Braun: out (ankle), Aaron Gordon: out (hamstring), Julian Strawther: day to day (back).

Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Dorian Finney-Smith: out (ankle), Tari Eason: out (oblique).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.