By Lookout Staff

March 15, 2012 -- The second annual “Buy Local Weekend” rolls out Saturday on Santa Monica's Promenade with more than 80 local vendors and food booths, live music, entertainment on two stages and community leaders who can explain exactly how buying local will improve your life.

The event will take place citywide Saturday and Sunday, March 17 and 18 with restaurants, hotels, art galleries and retail stores offering in-house specials to encourage visitors and local residents to spend their dollars in the city.

Shoppers inspect goods at last year's "Buy Local Weekend." (Photo courtesy of City of Santa Monica)

It will look like a party on the Promenade with booths, sidewalk sales, and events promoting local businesses and produce. Activities include a citywide Scavenger Hunt that seeks out Santa Monica-worthy prizes, St. Patrick’s Day specials the usual bounty of local Farmers Markets and an art walk at the airport. ("Santa Monica Airport Hosts ArtWalk Saturday," March 14)

And for those nursing a St. Paddy’s Day hangover, a sunshiny seat near the terminus of the LA Marathonon Sunday, not far from the north end of the Promenade, will find themselves smack in the middle of Buy Local heaven.

Surveys have proven the benefit of keeping it local. It is estimated that every dollar spent with a local merchant adds up to the city’s fiscal health, with up to $68 coming back to the city for every $100 spent at a Santa Monica business in taxes, payroll and other expenditures.

One of the more successful scheduled events held over from last year is a raffle for shoppers “caught with their local receipt showing,” according to Jennifer Taylor, the City’s Economic Development Administrator. Buyers can bring local receipts to a central booth and participate in a raffle for dynamic local prizes.

The 2nd Annual Buy Local Expo takes place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with local discounts and sales continuing throughout the weekend.