SantaCon NYC 2016: The Full Route Map

UPDATE, Monday: Zero Santas were arrested Saturday, but 100 of them did receive summonses for "disorderly conduct," police say. All the details here.

MANHATTAN, NY — Brace yourselves, people. We just got our paws on the full list of 50-plus bars and venues participating in this year's SantaCon festival in NYC — that alternately celebrated and feared street crawl/costume party/cavalcade of craziness during which, on one day per year for the past 20 years or so, thousands of drunk mortals wander from bar to bar through the streets of the city, dressed head-to-toe like Santa Claus.

The 2016 event will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 (although Santas will start gathering an hour earlier, at 10 a.m.). And, contrary to a flurry of reports in late October naming Williamsburg as its starting point, this year's SantaCon will in fact be entirely contained in Midtown and Downtown Manhattan.

Organizers expect as many as 20,000 Santas to show up. Here's everything else we know about the route as of Thursday evening:

The crawl's starting point will be located below the Flatiron Building, at the 23rd Street and Broadway pedestrian plaza (diagram below). The surrounding Flatiron area will be considered "Zone One." The other two zones will be in Midtown and the East Village.

Unlike in years prior, the zones will not be staggered by time. Instead, Santas will be free to drift through whichever zone they like at whatever hour they like, choose-your-own-adventure style. (So, for affected neighborhoods, that will mean a full day of drunk Santas, not just a couple hours.)

Participating Santas will need to make a $10 donation to local charities for access to the seven main venues along the route, listed below. Another change from past years: Instead of a wristband or badge, your $10 will buy you an awesome blinking LED pendant.

• Ainsworth Park, 111 East 18th St. (Flatiron/Gramercy area)
• 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar, 230 5th Ave. (Flatiron/NoMad area)
• Slake, 251 West 30th St. (Midtown/Chelsea area)
• Madison Square Tavern, 150 West 30th St. (Midtown/Chelsea area)
• Webster Hall, 125 East 11th St. (East Village/Union Square area)
• Bar 13, 35 East 13th St. (East Village/Union Square area)
• Solas, 232 East 9th St. (East Village)

In addition to these core venues, around 50 participating bars — plus three strip clubs! — will open their doors to the Santas and offer special SantaCon deals. Here's the full route map:

And here's a list of participating bars (text courtesy of SantaCon organizers).

• Plug Uglies, 256 3rd Ave. (Gramercy): Cavernous Irish hideaway with a large beer selection & plenty of games like shuffleboard & pool
• Sidebar, 120 E 15th St. (Gramercy): Slick decor & craft cocktails to the usual mix of beer, pub grub.
• Finnerty's, 221 2nd Ave. (Gramercy): Irish sports bar with a variety of tap beers
• Little Town NYC, 118A E 15th St. (Gramercy): NY-themed brewhouse serving the state's craft beers & food specialties in a wood & brick setting
• Royale 157, 157 Avenue C (East Village): Bar is known for its classic burgers & year-round patio seating
• Central Bar, 109 E 9th St. (East Village): Bi-level Irish barroom with pub grub
• Village Pourhouse, 64 3rd Ave. (East Village): Great bar with a LONG beer list
• Amsterdam Billards, 110 E 11th St. (East Village): 25 billiards tables plus Ping-Pong, darts, foosball, full bar & food near Union Square
• The Continental, 25 3rd Ave. (East Village): East Village watering hole known for its cheap drinks & storied history as a punk-rocker hangout
• Bull McCabes, 29 Saint Marks Pl. (East Village): Irish watering hole featuring billiards, darts & a simple outdoor seating area
• Professor Thom's, 219 2nd Ave. (East Village): Great bar with upstairs lounge with antiquey decor
• Coyote Ugly, 153 1st Ave. (East Village): The famous NYC saloon with female bartenders, bartop dancing & body shots
• Crocodile Lounge, 325 E 14th St. (East Village): East Village Bar with Skee-Ball & a photo booth
• Phoenix Bar, 447 E 13th St. (East Village): Gay & lesbian mainstay in the East Village
• Pinks, 242 E 10th St. (East Village): Hot spot for craft cocktails, upscale pub food & music
• Doc Holliday's, 141 Avenue A (East Village): Texas roadhouse-style bar in the East Village with biker bartenders & country music on the jukebox.
• 7B Horseshoe Bar, 108 Avenue B (East Village): No-nonsense bar featuring a jukebox loaded with punk & an old-school photobooth
• The Thirsty Scholar, 155 2nd Ave. (East Village): Rustic, cavernous tavern with an Irish-author theme & a beer-focused bar
• Double Down Saloon, 14 Avenue A (East Village): Punk bar, best known for its bacon martinis
• Public House NYC, 140 E 41st St. (Midtown): Near Grand Central serving beers & pub-style
• Blarney Rock, 137 W 33rd St. (Midtown): Irish pub with TV sports, pints of Guinness & American bar food
• The Liberty, 29 W 35th St. (Midtown): Craft cocktails & American fare, multi-level space with Old New York-inspired decor.
• Seven Bistro, 350 7th Ave. (Midtown): Cocktails & American cuisine, close to Penn Station
• O'Reilly's Pub, 54 W 31st St. (Midtown): Great beers pair with simple pub grub at this traditional Irish tavern
• O'Reillys off Fifth, 21 W 35th St. (Midtown): Split-level Irish pub done up in dark wood & dim light
• Peter Dillons Pub, 2 E 36th St. (Midtown): Irish pub with an all-weekend happy hour, a pool table
• Dillons on 40th, 130 E 40th St. (Midtown): Neighborhood Irish pub with an all-weekend happy hour, a pool table
• American Whiskey, 247 W 30th St. (Midtown): Southern bourbon & burger bar with an upstairs lounge
• Nelly Spillane's, 18 E 33rd St. (Midtown): This classic pub with a menu of burgers & Irish fare
• Legends, 6 W 33rd St. (Midtown): Sports tavern serving upscale pub food
• Jack Demsey's, 36 W 33rd St. (Midtown): Classic tavern offering a menu of American grub & Irish breakfast
• Habanero Blues, 29 W 36th St. (Midtown): In the very heart of Midtown
• Reichenbach Beer Hall, 5 W 37th St. (Midtown): Hearty German eats & fine beers are served in a Bavarian publike setting
• Beer Authority, 300 W 40th St. (Midtown): Tri-level brewpub with a covered rooftop bar featuring global craft beers & gourmet pub grub
• Suite 36, 16 W. 36th St. (Midtown): A sleek club serving American fare and a full bar
• Tempest Bar, 407 8th Ave. (Midtown): Pints, darts & sports are offered at this Irish hangout near Penn Station & Madison Square Garden
• Stout, 133 W 33rd St. (Midtown): Bi-level bar with long beer list (yes, many stouts) near Penn Station & Madison Square Garden
• Feile, 131 W 33rd St. (Midtown): A large beer list at this Irish pub near Penn Station
• Slattery's, 8 W 36th St. (Midtown): Irish pub with Guinness on draft, fish & chips on the menu & plenty of drink deals
• Mustang Harry's, 352 7th Ave. (Midtown): Sports bar near Madison Square Garden serving drinks & pub grub
• 5th and Mad, 7 E 36th St. (Midtown): Bi-level Irish watering hole serving bar food
• The Keg Room NYC, 53 W 36th St. (Midtown): Bar offering a full menu of American & Irish fare, an extensive beer list
• Foleys, 18 W 33rd St. (Midtown): Irish pub featuring memorabilia, craft beers, bar bites & an old-school gents' loo
• Playwright Irish Pub, 27 W 35th St. (Midtown): Irish pub/eatery near the Empire State Building
• The Australian, 20 W 38th St. (Midtown): Australian pub offering grilled kangaroo and Aussie beers!
• Rick's Cabaret, 50 W 33rd St. (Midtown): Santa's Favorite Stripclub!
• Hoops Cabaret, 48 W 33rd St. (Midtown): NYC's sexiest sports bar / Stripclub
• Vivid Cabaret, 61 W 37th St. (Midtown): New York City's #1 gentlemen's club

To be notified of all further SantaCon developments, you can follow the event on Twitter or sign up for text alerts by texting "FOLLOW SANTACON" to the number 40404. (And, if you don't already, subscribe to email newsletters and news alerts from your neighborhood Patch site!)

SantaCon's NYC organizers are also warning the public to steer clear of an impostor group selling fake (and more expensive) SantaCon wristbands that promise to give you access to a different set of venues. Although the wristbands will, ostensibly, get you in the door at these other venues on Dec. 10 — as the business owners themselves have apparently been duped into participating in the scam — you won't have access to the official SantaCon venues listed above, and the money you spend on your wristband won't necessarily go to charity. Also: To support these holiday profiteers would be to negate all the (seriously commendable) work that SantaCon's actual organizers have poured into making the event safer, less bro-dominated and more hippie-hearted in recent years.

Lead photo by Phil Whitehouse