UAE: Meet the man who grows beard to be ‘natural’ Santa by Christmas
Every September for the last 10 years, David Learman has grown out his pallid white beard as part of an elaborate ritual to get into character before donning his Santa Claus costume.
Decked out in a red-and-white suit with impeccable tailoring over his plump form, clean-cut spectacles and a jaunty hat on his head, charming Santa could have stepped right out of a storybook or movie.
A professional artist and photographer, Learman is based in Ras Al Khaimah and is typically booked throughout the festive month. This December, he has been working with about 35 bookings that become increasing busier as it gets closer to Christmas Day — averaging four or five per day. Occasionally he’s hosted an event in someone’s private home but mostly Learman does hotel bookings.
He says that by Dec. 26 (the day following Christmas), he is one of the first people to walk into the barber shop in the morning to buzz it all off. “(The barbers) always want me to come down in my Santa tunic, because they take pictures of Santa,” he said.
Learman said that his Santa Claus stints are in no way lucrative, but he continues to do them for the glint of happiness on children’s faces when they come face to face with the jolly, big-bellied Christmas icon.
“Just the look on a little boy or girl’s face when I sit on my knee and pull something out,” he said. “They pull on the beard. And a lot of them will go, oh, are you a real Santa? And they know, oh, it’s a real Santa. The smile, it's exactly that.”
Thanks to the nature of his job as a freelance photographer, Learman can afford to play Santa Claus without feeling too much stress. He runs his own creative agency with his wife, and typically is overseeing work, rather than being engrossed in it for long periods of time.
Christmas celebrations, commercialisation
There was a time when Learman was even booked to perform at the Heritage Village in Al Jazeera Al Hamra, near Ras al Khaimah. He was relieved to discover that most of the people who came up to him were Emiratis who just wanted a picture with him.
But on the other, he told of one of his bookings which was both “surreal” and off.” He was asked to attend in his regular Santa attire for a children’s event organised by an events company.
Most of the kids, Learman explained, had never even heard of the Christmas holiday before since they were from non-Christian countries. “They were trying to make them adopt the culture and the celebration. And that was surreal. And I think that’s very strange,” he said.
He condemned the organising company for commercialising the festival: It was only a way for them to do business. “It was very awkward because you just sit there while they’re trying to make the kids sing along to these carols or songs that are not at all relevant to their culture or religion. “It was maybe a little more commercial and not so much about community or being together.”
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