FAIRFIELD, CT — The 2024 edition of SantaCon in the Fairfield Beach area on Saturday featured much of the same rowdy, drunken behavior among attendees as in past years, and the town is asking residents for feedback and videos to learn the extent of the issues this year’s event caused.
Fairfield First Selectman Bill Gerber made the request Tuesday in an email to residents.
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“We have received related reports, pictures and videos of public urination, medical emergencies due to alcohol poisoning, and other public safety concerns,” Gerber wrote. “This event caused significant disruption in parts of Town, especially in and around the beach area, and stretched the capacity of our emergency response teams.
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“Because we want to make sure we understand and can address the concerns of all of our residents, I encourage you to share your personal experiences, which may be just an email, or might also include photos, videos or home security camera videos. Your responses will assist us in better understanding the risks of this and other events and help the Town protect public safety and private property in the future.”
Gerber is seeking feedback at his email address, [email protected]. “If you have videos that are too large to send via email, let us know, and we can send you a link where you can upload your file.”
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In an email to Patch, Fairfield Police Sgt. Michael Stahl outlined the infractions handed out to attendees at this year’s event:
“EMS services were heavily utilized, with 10 medical transports, all of which were related to alcohol incapacitation,” Stahl added.
An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people attended this year’s event, according to Stahl. Though not a sanctioned or authorized Fairfield University event, SantaCon in Fairfield has become synonymous with the school.
Stahl said that many of the attendees “were not Fairfield University students nor their invited guests.”
Additional police officers were deployed to the event this year, Stahl said. But controlling the event was still a difficult task, given the number of attendees.
“However, the public promotion of events like SantaCon and encouragement of widespread attendance by individuals with no connection to Fairfield is neither responsible nor acceptable,” Stahl said. “These actions create a burden not only for public safety resources but also for the local community.”
In an email to Patch, Jennifer Anderson, Fairfield University’s Vice President of Marketing & Communications, agreed with Stahl that many of the attendees were not from the university.
“SantaCon is an event that has grown spontaneously in towns and cities around the country and the world,” Anderson said. “The event takes place on both Town and private property, and the University is not involved in its planning, administration, or oversight. Over the past three years—including this past weekend—Fairfield Beach has become a location for this trend. SantaCon is not a Fairfield University-sanctioned event, nor does the University endorse or support it. The event has attracted a growing number of young people from out of town and out of state, with many participants not affiliated with Fairfield University.
“Unofficial estimates based on a variety of factors show the majority of attendees were not Fairfield University students this year. Additionally, according to the incidents reported by Fairfield Police, roughly 75% involved non-Fairfield University students. All students living off-campus are subject to the code of conduct within the student handbook and are held accountable for all infractions incurred.”
Stahl said police and fire departments, in addition to the town’s administration and university officials, “will conduct a thorough review of this year’s event to identify opportunities for improvement,” in the near future.
“We remain committed to ensuring public safety and minimizing disruptions to our community, while emphasizing the importance of responsible behavior from attendees,” Stahl said.
Anderson added, “The health, safety, and well-being of our students and the Fairfield community remain Fairfield University’s top priority, and we remain committed to collaborating with our community partners to uphold these values. Fairfield University routinely hires additional police officers to ensure public safety in anticipation of large events, and SantaCon is no exception. We rely on the Fairfield Police Department’s recommendations to determine the appropriate resources necessary to support the Town’s efforts.”
The school provides garbage cans to many of the off-campus houses in the beach area, and also gives those students a 24-page guide for living in the beach area.
“For SantaCon, we hired four extra officers across two shifts, and we provided two Department of Public Works (DPW) cleanup crews—one on Saturday and one Sunday morning—for four hours each, and offered assistance to ensure emergency personnel were available,” Anderson said. “The University also offered to have portable toilets delivered to the Lantern Point parking lot, but were unfortunately declined. The Town’s COO David Becker, the Police and Fire Departments were tremendous to work with this year. In addition, the University was pleased to support the extra environmental efforts, which we made a top priority, through organizing a comprehensive beach cleanup immediately following the event, and the next morning.”
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