Shop Local, Win a Diamond Necklace This Weekend

Need to do some Christmas shopping this weekend? Take your shopping trip to downtown Birmingham and you might have the chance to win some serious prizes as part of the city's annual event.

The city will celebrate the annual shopping event from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. this Saturday and Dec. 17, during which 2,000 shoppers will take home specific gifts while browsing discounted merchandise at dozens of participating retailers.

Here's how it works:

• Throughout both Saturdays, red ornaments will be passed out to random shoppers.
• Each ornament will have the name of a Birmingham shop, restaurant, salon or spa.
• Shoppers take their ornaments to the designated location to receive their gift that day.

According to John Heiney, executive director of the Birmingham , which is partly sponsoring the event, all prizes have been donated by Birmingham merchants and are worth a combined value of more than $20,000.

"Each store's generosity makes this event even more exciting for shoppers," said Heiney.

To heighten the suspense, one shopper will receive a special prize each Saturday. This weekend, one shopper will win a diamond necklance from while on Dec. 17, one shopper will receive two airline tickets for anywhere in the continental U.S. from .

Participating Birmingham businesses include:

• J.McLaughlin
• MADE
• Salon H202

While you're downtown, make sure to stick around to enjoy live carolers outside various stores, hot cocoa, or stop into the in . Don't forget the beginning at the at noon.