About 100 members of the bearded band marched along The Foreshore to support children's charity Variety.

In Sydney, 1650 were doing the same after a warm-up led by Olympic swimmer Libby Trickett, and there were thousands more in Melbourne and Adelaide.

The Hunter Variety branch's Tony Tamplin said the 30-degree heat kept things at a subdued pace.

"It was a Santa stroll more than a fun run, so there was no great rush," he said.

"But it was quite a respectable pace for the Santa suits."

The event will be held Australia-wide next year, and there'll be an attempt to break Portugal's world record 13,500 Santa run.

Sydney's St Nicks donated $85,000 while Mr Tamplin said locals had donated thousands of dollars.

"We had teachers, students, business people and anyone you can imagine dressed as Santa," he said.

"There were people well into their 60s and there was a three-year-old there. He looked a bit funny because the suits are one-size-fits-all."

Tim Connell