Meet the men who play Santa for a living
Bizarre present request, hysterical tots and beard tugging – it’s not an easy job being a Santa-for-hire. Meet the men in red and how they got the gig.
Entertainment
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Commanding up to $600 per appearance, you can see why these professional Adelaide Santas are ready to beard-up come December.
Sometimes it’s a quick job. Sometimes it’s a day-long effort. But these Fathers Christmas-for-hire wouldn’t trade their summer jobs for anything.
Meet three of Adelaide’s most popular Santas.
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Colin Herring, 69, Enfield
The most convincing Father Christmas you will ever meet, Colin Herring has spent more than three decades growing into the role.
The 69-year-old variety entertainer, academic, beekeeper, and great-grandfather first stepped into it by chance when he was a “young and good-looking man – with a lot less girth”.
Thirty-five years ago, Mr Herring was asked to don a Santa costume and have his photo taken for a news story.
It became the front page splash of The Daily Telegraph on December 6, 1988.
The story was about department store Santas going on strike for being paid like shop assistants, earning $10 an hour for a five-day week while their elves received $73 for three hours of work.
Exactly three and a half decades later to the day, Mr Herring poses for photos in Myer’s Santaland, located inside the busy department store on Rundle Mall.
“I get a lot more than the elves these days, I can tell you that,” he says.
He is one of hundreds of Santas signed to a talent agency, with bookings starting at $200 or a three-hour minimum fee.
Mr Herring makes appearances as Santa from parades to office Christmas parties.
He can get paid up to $600 for an appearance.
“Sometimes I just have to be on stage for thirty seconds and then wave at the crowd,” he said.
Photo sessions with children, which can mean up to eight hours of constant interaction, are much harder work.
For the professional entertainer, known as Daddy Long-Legs for his stilt-walking, it is a role he commits to no less than any other.
Mr Herring has two degrees in natural resource management and has taught Indigenous studies at UniSA, the University of Adelaide and TAFE.
His natural charisma and warmth have made him an industry favourite – he has had one of the longest tenures as Santa in South Australia.
Peter Angove, 43, Mypolonga
When animal-loving Santa Peter Angove got married in 2016, the wedding venue was an obvious choice – Adelaide Zoo.
The security guard shares his small acreage in Mypolonga with five alpacas, two cats, one dog, a turtle, three fish tanks and a bearded dragon called Ed.
He and his wife moved to Mypolonga so their seven-year-old daughter Jessica could attend the highly reputable local school.
“I used to run the security for the zoo,” he said.
“My first day was in ‘09, the day the pandas arrived.”
The 43-year-old, who works night shifts patrolling Lot 14, swaps his security guard uniform for a Santa costume for five weeks a year.
“I think when I started five years ago, I was doing casual security work and was juggling between three companies.
“At the moment I work four days on, four days off – twelve hour night shifts, six til six.
“When I saw the ad for the Santa work, I thought, why not.
A huge difference between playing Santa and working in security is how his presence is received by others.
“I just love the joy, the fact that you can wave at an 85-year-old and they just light up.
“There’s a lot of positivity to it.
“Like when you have a breakthrough with a family, when you get a crying toddler to smile or laugh.”
Mr Angove works primarily at Burnside Village, sharing the 324 rostered hours between three to four other Santas.
His love and rapport with animals make him a suitable choice for the shopping centre’s pet photo sessions.
“We get $35 an hour and I think that’s fine – we get a Super and everything.”
“I’ve certainly had heartbreaking moments as Santa.
“Like a kid, who just wants grandma to be healthy.
“Or says, I just want mum and dad to get back together.
“One of the Santas had a young lady, who brought two urns in because she had two stillborns.”
“I tell them, that’s not part of Santa’s magic, but I wish them all the best.”
Marky Dee, 53, North Adelaide
An IT specialist from North Adelaide, this Santa is known by his quiz host name – Marky Dee.
He is known in hotels and venues across Adelaide for his dry wit and ability to get the crowd going on a weeknight.
But come December, he’s got a different role to play
“We get fifty, sixty plus people every week without fail – that many people come out on a weeknight.
“People come every week, they love it.
“It’s very interactive, as a quiz host you stir the crowd up and they just have a great time.”
Mr Dee is an IT specialist and owns his own business.
He began working as a Santa four years ago through the same agency he uses for his trivia duties.
“I’m a personable fellow and I’m not the skinniest bloke on the block so I got looked at pretty quick.
“You forget just how amazing this experience is for kids – the look on their face, the way they light up, they’re captivated, they lose their little minds.
“I do private functions, it could be a school or a playground, a shopping centre, a youth organisation.
“I believe it’s a set rate, they contact the agency.
“There’s a minimum charge of around $200, I think people need to be paid a minimum of three hours, no matter how long it’s been.
“It’s such a joyful and easy job for me and the kids are ecstatic.”
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