So these Santas walk into a bar ...

Santa and his elves will be getting a little tipsy Saturday on the Balboa Peninsula.

Hundreds of holiday-spirited individuals dressed as the man from the North Pole and his helpers will be taking over the Newport Beach bar scene Saturday for two pub crawls benefiting local charities.

The unrelated, holiday-themed bar hopping events will start in the afternoon Saturday and stretch into the wee hours Sunday.

Holiday-themed pub crawls have been a longstanding tradition among groups of friends and organizations hopping from one Newport Beach bar to the next, often for fun and sometimes for charitable endeavors.

The third annual Newport Beach Santa Crawl starts at 1 p.m. at Malarky’s Irish Pub and will make stops at Newport Beach Brewing Co., Avila’s El Ranchito and American Junkie before wrapping up at 6 p.m.

There will be drawings, drinking games and a costume contest at various stops throughout the route. Prizes from the drawings include vacations and sports tickets.

Proceeds from the Santa crawl, hosted by Newport Beach-based event production company Expo 4 Life, will benefit the Eli Home, an Anaheim-based charity that helps abused women and children.

Tickets are $30 for a regular wristband and $40 for VIP, which includes a complimentary cocktail. Tickets can be purchased at www.expo4life.com/santacrawlnb.

The charity will receive all proceeds from wristband sales. The bars also will donate 20% of the proceeds from food and beverages sold during the event to the Eli Home.

Later Saturday night, Santas participating in a crawl with a similar name — The Newport Beach Santa Pub Crawl — will invade 12 bars on the peninsula.

Newport Beach native Chris Pope started the pub crawl with a small group of friends nine years ago when he was living in San Francisco.

Pope continued the crawl after he moved back to Newport Beach, but decided to focus it on raising money for a local charity.

In 2008, the group partnered with Project Access, a local nonprofit that provides health care, education and employment services to families, children and seniors living in low-income housing communities.

“It was so much fun going to bars dressed up as Santa that we decided to turn it into a way to raise money for those who are less fortunate during the holidays,” Pope said.

More than 500 people attended the pub crawl last year, raising more than $9,000 for Project Access.

This year’s event is broken up into the Balboa Pier Crawl and the Newport Pier Crawl and is hosted by the Orange County division of Future Leaders of Our Community.

Those who attend the Balboa Pier crawl can pick up wristbands at Newport Landing between 9 and 10 p.m. and then jump among Class of ’47, Cruisers Pizza Bar Grill, Mavericks Gastropub, Balboa Saloon and Cabo Cantina.

Those participating in the Newport Pier crawl will pick up wristbands from Woody’s Wharf between 9 and 10 p.m. and then travel to Blue Beet, Baja Sharkeez, The District, Beach Ball and Mutt Lynch’s.

Each of the bars will offer drink specials and discounts during the event. Wristbands are available at the door for $25.