SantaCon merrymakers hit midtown Manhattan for annual pub crawl

Waves of revellers dressed in Santa Claus outfits invaded Midtown Manhattan on Saturday as part of New York's version of SantaCon, a massive pub crawl that organizers scaled back this year in part to prevent conflicts with a nearby protest march.

The loosely organised event, which moves every year to a different neighborhood of the city, has become notorious for leading to public drunkness and rowdy behaviour by some of its participants.