Santa Visits around Christmastime are a staple for us as an agency and for many of our clients nationwide. For some families, Santa visits are an annual home tradition that adds a touch of magic to a family gathering; for others, Santa is invited to nonprofit events, company parties, shopping centers and other commercial locations to spread holiday cheer to the community. Wherever you see Santa, he’s sure to bring a smile and a touch of magic to your event.
Where can Santa visit me?
Santa goes wherever there is need of his magical presence. About Faces has scheduled Santa to visit private homes, family parties at community clubhouses, care homes for the elderly and disabled, malls, and that’s just scratching the surface!
How long will Santa stay?
As you can imagine, Santa is a pretty popular guy year-round but especially in December and most especially on December weekends. Santa pays special attention to his calendar to make sure that he doesn’t make any promises that he can’t keep and will only agree to events that he is currently open and available to be present for. About Faces Entertainment is honored to help manage Santa’s schedule at those busy times to make sure everyone who wants to see him gets an opportunity.
If his calendar is free when you call us to schedule a visit, you can have Santa on-site for as many hours as you deem appropriate for your event, or as little as a 15-minute “drop in” visit.
What does Santa do when he comes to visit?
Santa loves spending time with his adoring public and creating Christmas memories to last a lifetime for all of the guests at your celebration. Depending on whether you are having Santa stop by for 15 minutes or several hours, the arrangement may look a bit different.
- North Pole Delivery – Santa will arrive with his sack of gifts and hand them out to the recipients at your home. (Note – Santa’s magical presents are only available to him on Christmas Eve; you will need to leave the gifts outside for him to collect and tag them with the right names so Santa knows who to give them to)
- Santa’s Workshop – You may remember seeing Santa in malls and shopping centers, where he has regional locations of his workshop placed to expedite gift distribution. When he can, Santa loves to rest on his great big chair and ask children what they’d like to have for Christmas. He can do this in any workshop space, great or small – at the mall or in your hall!
- Strolling Santa – Santa puts on his walking boots to jingle and mingle with your event guests. He’ll stroll your event venue to interact with small groups of guests, pose for photos, advise on naughty/nice status, and bring a smile to everyone’s face.
- Family Visit – For small groups, Santa’s visit can be customized to suit the needs of your event. Some hosts like to schedule pictures with Santa, a special craft, or just a sweet moment with your family to cherish for years to come.
How should I handle a Santa visit? Are there any preparations that I should make?
You can always sweeten your chances to make it on the “nice” list by leaving out milk and cookies for Santa, but he brings everything he needs with him to your event to make a great memory for your guests.
Santa arrives to his visits in full holiday spirit and his cheerful character will be upheld the whole time that he is on-site. Are there some suspicious kids questioning the truth about Christmas at your party? Santa will feign ignorance for all non-North-Pole related matters in order to keep the magic alive for his younger fans. You’ll find that kids from one to ninety-two love to interact with Santa’s lovable persona- for serious questions or logistical concerns, his humble agents at About Faces Entertainment are happy to assist you.
Special arrangements that are needed to achieve your vision will be communicated by your booking agent after you request to book a Santa Visit. For example, if you’d like to have a special chair for Santa, that should be provided on-site and will not be brought along in the sleigh. If you’d like to have Santa hand out gifts, those should be left outside of the venue or in a secure location for Santa to pick up.
Does Santa have a real beard? What does he look like?
Canonically, Santa is described as follows in A Visit from St Nicholas, published in 1823:
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;*He had a broad face and a little round bellThat shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myselfCourtesy of the Poetry Foundation
Santa hasn’t changed much in 200 years and his eye still twinkles to this day! However, he does like to experiment with alternative styles throughout the rest of the year. Of course, Santa will always have a wonderful spirit of holiday joy and thanksgiving, but sometimes his beard comes from the workshop and sometimes it grows in nicely by itself. Be sure to ask your agent if your Santa visit will be with a Real Bearded Santa or not, and please note that he is extra popular when his beard grows in.
By default, Santa dresses in his usual travelling suit to make visits with our agency. Santa does have some alternative looks that are available in some circumstances – inquire with your booking agent for more information!
