Santa was embarrassed when his beard and hair got stuck in rope while repelling into Palm Beach Gardens Mall, Florida, while horrified children watch.

A man dressed as jolly old St Nicholas was supposed to make a grand entrance at Palm Beach Gardens Mall, Florida.

Instead, the man managed to get his beard tangled in the rope, losing the beard -and his hat – entirely.

It was trouble from the get-go when Santa hesitated and fumbled before clumsily going over the ledge.

An elf helper tried to get Santa off to a good start.

Santa was embarrassed when his beard and hair got stuck in rope while repelling into Palm Beach Gardens Mall, Florida, while horrified children watch

What followed was nearly three minutes of Santa – still suspended in mid-air – trying to descend down to the stage after his beard got tangled in the rappelling equipment.

Santa bounced around and at one point scissor-kicked to try and loosen the stubborn rope.

The elf looked on, helpless at Santa’s plight.

A lone child hopefully cried out: “Santa!”

Two announcers commenting on the event didn’t help the awkward entrance.

“Everybody cheer, everybody cheer Santa on!” the female announcer said to the crowd.

“I think if you guys sing nice and loud, you can help Santa come down!”

The announcer also told the horrified children: “Magic can happen!”

She also encouraged children to sing along with a rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

The hilarious video has over 35,000 hits on YouTube.

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