As they perused the sack races and grilled cheese sandwiches, some wore stickers reading “naughty” or “nice.” All of the stickers had the same label: “Krampus Night.”
Forget Santa Claus bringing coal. Bloomington celebrated a different treatment for naughty children this weekend. His name is Krampus, and he comes bearing punishments.
On Saturday evening, Bloomington had a celebration of the counter part to Santa Claus, according to Lead Krampus wrangler Kel McBride.
“Krampus is the dark sidekick to Saint Nicholas,” McBride said. “Saint Nicholas hands out candy and presents to the good kids, and the Krampus swats and frightens the bad kids. It’s a story of accountability.”
According to National Geographic, folklore states Krampus is an old German tradition where Krampus appears the night of Dec. 5, when German children put their shoes outside for presents from Saint Nicholas. Krampus swats naughty children and takes them away. There is also a modern version in Austria and surrounding countries in which men dressed as devils chase people in the streets.
The Krampus craze isn’t just in Bloomington. The story is also the theme of a new movie featuring Adam Scott and Toni Collette, which premiered Dec. 4. This sparked the interest of Joey Simmons, who had heard about the event around town, to come to Bloomington’s festival.
“I saw signs around for a couple months, so I just wanted to see what it was about,” Simmons said. “I know the back story of it.”
Stewart Frescas traveled from Lafayette, Indiana, to attend Bloomington’s Krampus Fest, which he heard was one of the best.
“I read about Krampus Fest on the website Dangerous Minds, and they were saying, ‘Oh, Bloomington has the best Krampus fest in the United States,’” Frescas said.
During the event, which was run by volunteers, there were sack races, T-shirts and the Big Cheeze food truck. Event volunteers gave stickers reading “naughty” or “nice” to participants. If participants were seen with a naughty sticker during the parade, they were willing to receive the Krampus treatment, which included a dose of swatting and roaring.
Once the sun fell, the parade began. Angels dressed in all white twirled flashing hoops as they handed out treats and accompanied Saint Nicholas through the parade. Afterward, drumbeats, torches and people dressed in all black accompanied costumed Krampuses: devil-like figures who carried sticks and roared in onlookers’ faces. In the midst of them, a truck carried screaming children in its bed as Krampus stood over them.
“I’ve been interested in Krampus for like 20 years, but I always tell people that ‘Man, if Krampus ever came to the United States, he wouldn’t be able to move because there’s so many rotten children here,’” Frescas said. “What he does is he takes the bad kids off to the woods and he eats them there. The really bad ones.”
Despite the violence of the legend, Krampus Fest featured activities for children and family fun.
“What I think is great about Krampus is that Krampus celebrations or whatever have a different kind of energy to them. It’s more like a party, you know, and this type of thing versus, you know, Santa Claus, candy canes,” Frescas said.
