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.

For some businesses, Saturday is the most wonderful day of the year as thousands of Santas visit San Francisco watering holes for Santa Con.

But for others, the festive event is more trouble than it’s worth.

Kevin Sully Sullivan and his wife, Deb, met at the Marina Lounge in the 1980s. Sully then went on to work at the bar for 30 years and just two years ago, took over the business from the prior owners.

“We’ve loved this bar for such a long time and it’s a dream come true to actually have our names in it,” Sully said.

While Sully loves celebrating the holidays and supports Santa Con, he has posted this sign on the door of the Sully’s Marina Lounge, officially making it a Santa-free zone. For him, the extra customers aren’t worth the hassle.

“Some of these bars that encourage it, that participate, they do months of business in one day,” he said. “But many of them have to replace sinks in their restrooms. They get it torn off the wall and toilets that have all kinds of things go wrong.”

On the other hand, Westwood has beefed up its staff and is looking forward to all the Santas coming to town.

“It’s really good,” Kwame Wright said.

“It pumps in a lot of money into the economy,” Westwood said. “Local businesses, we benefit from it as well. So, we’re really happy and we’re excited that we get to host. Santa’s are welcome here.”

Aside from Halloween, Santa Con is one of the biggest events of the year for Westwood. This place normally has long lines to get in on weekends and it’s expecting an even bigger crowd Saturday. Westwood is taking steps to make sure all the Santas behave.

“Security does really hard work, and we have extra security to make sure everybody is safe,” said Wright.

But for those willing to wait until Christmas for a Santa sighting, Sully says his place will be the place to be.

“It actually ends up being a really nice day here because they know it’s a sanctuary haven from the Santa Con,” Sully said.