The King William Association won’t release survey results about Krampus Parade, so we did

The inaugural San Antonio Krampus Parade made its menacing way through the King William Historic District last December, drawing thousands of spectators and stirring up plenty of controversy.

Krampus parades — which celebrate a creature from German folklore who punishes bad children during the Yuletide holidays — are common across much of Europe and a growing number of U.S. cities. The debut of Krampus in San Antonio became the topic du jour, drawing ire from fundamentalist religious groups.

Now, a new controversy has enveloped the parade, this time one that could determine whether it’s held again in the historic south-of-downtown neighborhood.

Roughly a week after the Dec. 5 parade, the King William Association (KWA) — under direction of Executive Director Lisa Lynde — posted an online survey asking the community if the gathering should continue to be held in the neighborhood, a quiet enclave settled by German families in the late 1800s.

However, the survey’s results were never released, and people inside the organization, who declined to be named for fear of blowback, told the Current that the group’s leaders quashed the data because it shows overwhelming support for holding future Krampus Parades in King William.

“I mean it’s a little strange to say the least,” said Dr. Rick Lutton, a retired physician who served as Saint Nicholas in the parade. “I don’t know why they won’t release them. Maybe because they’re positive.”

The results are in

When the Current reached out to the KWA for the results of the poll, association representative Jennifer Morey said “the whole informal survey is totally moot” and declined to share the numbers.

Krampus Parade Grand Marshal and KWA member Bob Crittenden also demurred. He explained that he didn’t want to run afoul of the group since it had asked members not to publicize the survey’s findings.

“I believe that the public should be able to see the answers to those questions […] but I’m unable to release them,” Crittenden said.

Even so, he added, “I was thrilled with the results.”

The Current obtained the survey results from a source who has close dealings with the KWA, and the data shows overwhelming support for holding the Krampus Parade in King William.

Of the more than 2,200 survey respondents, 73% said the parade should be held in the neighborhood going forward. Additionally, 72% said they enjoyed the parade.

The respondents included people who live inside and outside King William, according to the survey responses. Some who answered also admitted they didn’t attend.

Of 176 self-identified King William Association members who filled out the survey, 154 — or nearly 88% — said they were in favor of holding the 2025 parade in the neighborhood. Counting confirmed, paid association members, 92.7% want the parade to come back, said the anonymous source who provided the data.

The survey allowed respondents to complete the online form an unlimited number of times. However, duplicate votes were excluded from the final results, the survey indicates.

‘You’re going to Hell’

Despite the event’s popularity, some fundamentalist pastors weren’t eager to see a Krampus Parade in San Antonio. During a press conference in front of City Hall, evangelicals asked the city to ban the event, warning that it would open a “demonic portal.”

Meanwhile, parade supporters created memes and merchandise delighting in the Satanic Panic — and its resulting publicity boost.

Amid the controversy, the KWA and parade organizers were barraged with angry phone calls and messages day and night, according to people familiar with the situation.

“Personally I don’t see what the harm is,” said David Uhler, a KWA member and president of Beethoven Männerchor, the neighborhood’s long-running German beer hall and gathering place. “To me, it’s as harmless as Halloween. The only people scaring little kids were the protesters saying, ‘You’re going to Hell.’”

Retired physician and parade participant Lutton, who also serves on the Valkyrie von Krampus organizing committee, said his grandchildren — ages 4, 8 and 10 — had just such an experience when a protester screamed in their faces, damning them to Hell for being spectators.

“My grandkids don’t know what Hell is,” Lutton said.

Making the call

The angry voices might have been loud, but they were vastly outnumbered, according to the results of the KWA’s survey. So why is the organization keeping the results from the public?

The people familiar with the KWA’s inner workings told the Current some of the association’s leaders are campaigning to move the parade because they don’t want to experience the blowback they dealt with last year.

“They want to squash it so they don’t have to take [angry] phone calls,” added a KWA member who wished to remain anonymous to stay in good standing.

Crittenden said he’s aware the KWA fielded messages from people upset by the parade, but he added they weren’t coming from its members or residents of the neighborhood.

“I have every sympathy for the association members who had to take those calls,” he said. “We had to take them too. My phone blew up for two weeks straight.”

City council members and Hermann Sons Rathskeller Bar, which held the parade afterparty, also fielded complaints in the run-up to the event.

In an email exchange with the Current, KWA representative Morey said the parade’s fate ultimately rests with the city of San Antonio.

Parade Grand Marshal Crittenden agrees that the city, not the KWA, has the ultimate power to issue a permit for the event and decide whether it can continue to be held in King William.

Even so, the KWA member who spoke anonymously also revealed that the organization planned a vote whether it would ask the city to relocate the parade. However, the vote was called off due to an unresolved disagreement within the association and has yet to be rescheduled, the person added.

Parade organizers hope to continue holding the parade in King William rather than moving it to a more commercial avenue.

“Because it creates a magic you can’t replicate on South Alamo Street,” Crittenden said. “Maybe this year we can come up with some kind of a response plan to handle those phone calls.”

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This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.