A rainy Sunday morning couldn’t dampen the Christmas spirit for scores of young elves and their families as ElfCon took Manhattan.
Several dozen families went on a tour of Union Square and East Village hot cocoa hot spots in a family-friendly response to SantaCon — Saturday’s annual notorious drunken bar crawl.
“It’s a lot more relaxed than SantaCon” Christian Tamte told The Post on a visit to the city from Columbus, Ohio.
Mother-daughter duo Sylvia and Samantha Alberts were visiting New York for some “bonding time” this holiday season and figured they’d join in.
“I go to an ugly sweater bar crawl, and this is a new experience on the hot chocolate front,” Samantha told The Post.
ElfCon’s “Chief Elf” and mastermind is a 17-year-old New Yorker named Sophie. The idea for the event came about during the pandemic.
“Back when I was little I went to SantaCon with my Dad. It was always pretty fun but I could never participate because I was under 21,” the teenager told The Post.
“I just thought, how cool would it be if there was a family-friendly event?”
With the encouragement of her parents, Sophie began coordinating with local businesses and publicizing an afternoon hot chocolate fest centered around elves, not Santas.
Planning for ElfCon has involved her whole family; both Sophie’s parents were present in full holiday regalia.
“They’re so supportive. I love them so much,” the teen said.
Her father, Steve, quipped “Maybe that should be the headline: 17-year-old says ‘I love you’ to parent!'”
Morale was high among ElfCon attendees, prompted by hot chocolate or the Christmas spirit, with audible chants of “Elves on the move!” and “Woo!”
From Union Square, ElfCon adherents filmed their progress along University Place, as did bemused tourists and onlookers.
In the three years since inception, ElfCon has grown into a registered nonprofit with standing donations to two different charities: The Trevor Project and Making Headway.
The event has attracted high profile donors like Kelly Clarkson, who gave $1,000 to ElfCon this year although she didn’t attend the NYC event itself.
Dan Lipka — the executive director of Making Headway, an organization that supports children and families with brain or spinal cord tumors — has attended each of the ElfCons so far.
“I’ve been to them all,” Lipka told The Post wearing a green felt elf hat. “It’s easy to be a part of and to celebrate.”
Pat Brown, a longtime New Yorker, told The Post that this was her first ElfCon. She’d first heard about it from social media and showed up to the hot chocolate crawl wearing a knit cap and a green fleece onesie with red leg warmers.
In between mouthfuls, Brown mused that ElfCon was special for the way it brought people together.
“I think it’s the fact that it’s communal—and that it’s the day after SantaCon, which is all about alcohol. I’ve always thought that doing something together is a wonderful way to meet people.”
After the third stop, most of the ElfCon members began to peel off to attend other holiday festivities or walk off the hot chocolate.
For their final beverage, Samantha and Sylvia decided to sample a novel vegan hot chocolate before taking off.
“Spa time!” Samantha said, before ducking into a cab.