Families See Santa in Evansville With New COVID-19 Protocols

With COVID-19 still sticking around for the holiday season, photos with Santa in Evansville look a little bit different this Christmas.

Sunset is set for 4:31 pm.

In evansville -- jolly old saint nick -- is greeting children at eastland mall.

This year you'll will find santa wearing his usual red suit and he will also dawn a face shield.

But that's not the only change greeting your little ones.

44news reporter valerie lyons has an inside look at the new experience.... it's beginning to look a lot like christmas -- at evansville's eastland mall -- the tree is up -- lights are hung -- and jolly old saint nick has arrived for some holiday fun -- "we wanted to bring an experience that has been a tradition for many years here at the mall."

But he's wearing more than just a red suit this year -- "we wanted out families to be safe -- we wanted santa to be safe and we wanted the photo staff to be safe."

With covid-19 sticking around -- photos with santa will look different this christmas -- families must make online reservations ahead of time -- santa -- his elves -- and children 8 and older must wear face coverings -- and perhaps the biggest change -- "the kids are not going to be sitting on santa's lap, but they can come up, they can talk to him, they'll sit down on a bench that's in front of him about 6 to 8 feet away from him."

It's not your typical christmas photo -- but it's one that's sure to leave a lasting memory for years to come -- "some pictures that we've been getting have been really really neat.

Some great shots, some unique shots, and again we're all about creating that experience so this year, we're creating a very unique experience just because of what's going on in the world."

And the santa experience isn't just different at the mall this year -- downtown evansville is offering a meet and greet with kris kringle from the comfort of your car -- in their curbside santa visit -- down main street from 5 to 7 friday night.

In evansville -- vl-44news.