Nov. 29, 2016 By Christian Murray
Hundreds of Santas are going to be lining the streets of Sunnyside this Saturday as they participate in the neighborhood’s fifth annual Santathon/pub-crawl.
Nine bars along—or near—Queens Blvd are participating in the festive event, where attendees are able go from bar-to-bar and get discount drinks. Each establishment will be offering $4 pints of Stella Artois and $4 vodka cocktails.
Participants will be required to pay $10 for a wristband and wear a Santa costume (or at least a Santa hat) to get the discounts.
The $10 wrist bands can be bought at any of the bars—from now until the time of event. The proceeds will be donated to children’s charities to buy toys for needy kids this holiday season.
The bars are also accepting toys and monetary donations from now until Christmas.
The pub crawl will begin at 3:00 pm and go until late. Participants are able to begin their journey at any of the bars and are encouraged to follow the order of Santa’s route (see map).
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The participating bars are: Arriba Arriba, Bar 43, Maggie Mae’s, The Courtyard Ale House, McGuinness’s Saloon, Ida’s Nearabout, Sidetracks, Jack’s Fire Dept. and The Gaslight.
Each establishment will stamp a card indicating that a party goer was at a given bar/restaurant. Attendees who go to all nine bars—and have a stamped card proving it—are eligible to be in a draw to win a $500 bar tab.
Last year’s Santathon raised about $6,000, in addition to several toy donations.
The toys will be donated to Hour Children, Inc., the The Floating Hospital‘s Candy Cane Lane Initiative, Queen of Angels and St. Raphael’s. Those institutions will distribute the toys to the children in need.
“We expect around 500 people,” said Melissa Navia, who is the chief organizer of the Santathon event. “This is a great community event that also raises money for children.”
The nine participating bars are part of what’s known as Sunnyside Boulevard Bars, a group that was formed in 2012 and holds three of four events each year, such as the St. Patrick’s Day Music Festival.
