A melee broke out at Nantucket’s “Christmas Stroll” event Saturday, as festive revelers started throwing punches just after meeting Santa Claus.
Though Nantucket’s “Christmas Stroll” event promised to “celebrate the resilience, unity, and spirit that make [Nantucket’s] island community truly glow,” video from the event paints a less brotherly picture.
The now-viral video, filmed from a nearby window on Nantucket’s Federal Street, shows a large group of snazzily-dressed revelers engaging in a tense standoff for several seconds before one man appears to sucker punch another in the back of the head. A third man jumps on the puncher’s back and throws him to the ground, causing much of the group to convene on the jumper.
The video was posted to X on Sunday by the Nantucket Current, which noted in its article on the incident, “It was the only blemish on what was otherwise a successful and enjoyable Stroll weekend that brought thousands of visitors to the island.”
A witness told local radio station Kiss108 FM that the fight was between gangs of “20-somethings” and “60-somethings.”
“It was like the Jets and the Sharks from ‘West Side Story,’ only in Ralph Lauren and Burberry,” she said.
She also described an older man bleeding from his head on the street, while the brawlers’ clothes were torn off and strewn about outside a Nantucket restaurant called The Boarding House.
It is unknown what caused the brawl, though speculation has run rampant in Nantucket-specific social media circles.
Police arrived at the scene at around 2 p.m., according to the Current, but no arrests were made, and all involved declined to press charges.
Nantucket’s “Christmas Stroll” is a business initiative designed to highlight local establishments while engaging in holiday cheer. Santa appeared Saturday, Dec. 6, at noon, waving to residents as he paraded down Main Street.
Evidently, more visitors to the Stroll could have used an extra dose of Christmas cheer.
