Christmas 2005; a hundred drunk men dressed as Santa allegedly riot in downtown Auckland. But was it true? Yes. Yes it was. Mostly.

Christmas, 2005 and a hundred drunk men dressed in Santa suits allegedly start a riot in downtown Auckland. News around the world have great fun with stories of bad behaviour by crazy Kiwis. But was it true? Yes. Yes it was. Mostly.

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"It was just a bit of ballyhoo."

Christmas; peace on earth and good will to all men.

Except for anyone unlucky enough to make the news during what we rightly call the Silly Season. If that happens, then good luck to you, 'cos you're on your own.

And that need for news is why in 2005 media outlets around the world gleefully reported the antics of a 100 drunken Santas, out on the lash and supposedly rioting up and down Auckland's Queen Street. Breathlessly, we (yes, RNZ too) broadcast details of drunkenness, theft, public urination, assaults, arrests and red-faced reindeer.

The story went around the world faster than a fat man on a sleigh.

This apparent collapse of civilisation as we know it was called Santarchy (a play on Santa and anarchy), a worldwide movement protesting the commercialisation of Christmas - and a good excuse to get slaughtered while wearing a Santa suit.

Alex Dyer and his mates set up the local chapter of Santarchy in 1999, but he doesn't buy into the idea of it as a protest.

"I love Christmas. I'm the only person who's ever been happy when his parents split up because it meant I got two sets of presents."

Alex calls the first Auckland Santarchy a "weak effort"; just two or three blokes in Santa suits drinking cider in a park. But the following year was bigger and Santarchy continued to grow and get more visible.

There were about 75 Santas at the 2004 event and some had overdone the sherry. As they hit town, it all got a bit gross. There were two arrests for fighting and disorderly behaviour and one Santa lost his (liquid) lunch right in front of a small child. Merry Christmas to you.

But Alex Dyer argues that Santarchy 2004 went off "basically without a hitch."

"And I thought if you can get that big, you can go as big as you want and have no dramas.

"But the following year proved me wrong..."

Santarchy 2005 began at Victoria Park in downtown Auckland, just one week before Christmas and there were early signs that this one was going to be different.

"People just kept turning up. There were a minimum of a hundred Santas and one bloke dressed as a reindeer..."

"We just welcomed them all in."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details