Waterskiing Santa
Waterskiing Santa is a water ski Christmas show held annually on Christmas Eve at the Alexandria waterfront
It all started as a joke at a holiday party in 1986 – wouldn’t it be funny to see Santa water skiing on the Potomac on Christmas Eve? The first Waterskiing Santa had so much fun, it became an annual tradition. Over the next three decades, the performance grew to include elves, reindeer, the Grinch, and other holiday characters. The performance moved to the Alexandria waterfront in 2014, where thousands of people show up each Christmas Eve to cheer from the banks of the Potomac as a Waterskiing Santa and his helpers save Christmas from the Grinch.
The Waterskiing Santa show takes more than 50 volunteers to make the event happen. In addition to the water skiers who perform in the show, boat drivers, spotters, dressers, and announcers all work together to put on this festive event. The skiers remain strictly anonymous to keep the focus on community and spreading holiday cheer instead of on individual performers or egos. The performance remains free thanks to these many volunteers who give up their Christmas Eve to bring joy to others.
Water skiing in the cold and wind is dangerous, and safety is the first priority for the performers. They don’t practice the Waterskiing Santa routine before the big day – it’s too cold. The costumes soak up a lot of water, and the performers’ muscles and fingers tighten up in the cold water. Only experienced water skiers can volunteer to participate, and a number of safety measures are put in place to prevent accidents from happening. Weather conditions can impact the show based what the water skiers feel comfortable doing and river conditions, but the show has never been cancelled.
About 15 minutes before the Waterskiing Santa performance starts, the Grinch usually arrives for a pre-show. The main performance lasts around an hour, which is long enough to enjoy the show without getting too cold. In the finale, multiple reindeer water ski on either side of Santa to represent pulling his sleigh. After the performance, Santa and his helpers are available to pose for photos for a short time before leaving to put on dry clothes and warm up with some hot chocolate.
Waterskiing Santa was my favorite new (to me) holiday discovery last year. The Christmas aspect along with the random, quirky theatrics of the show made me know it would become an annual tradition for me before the performance was even over. If you are in DC for Christmas Eve, you’ll truly be missing out if you don’t make your way to the Alexandria waterfront for this fun, festive performance.
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Address
1A Prince St, Alexandria, VA
Metro Station
- King Street-Old Town (BL, YL)
Directions
The show takes place along the Old Town Alexandria Waterfront from Waterfront Park at Prince Street to Founders Park at Oronoco Street.
Cost
Free
Hours
Tuesday, December 24 at 1:00 pm
Length of Adventure
1 hour
Website
http://www.waterskiingsanta.com/
