FALLBROOK -- A tourism group dedicated to stimulating local commerce will offer a $10 tour of the town's shops and galleries, complete with bite-sized snacks and a sip of wine at certain stops, during the Dec. 13 "Wine & A Bite" event, officials said last week.

Designed to boost retail sales and encourage visitors to dine at Fallbrook's eateries, the event starts at 4 p.m. and runs through 7 p.m., putting a holiday spin on the popular series of art walks in downtown Fallbrook during the summer.

When visitors check in at the Fallbrook Area Visitors Bureau, 123 W. Alvarado St., they will receive a souvenir wine glass, map and menu, bureau director Linda Kissam said.

"There are galleries, clothing stores, shoe shops, baby clothes shops. There are decor and furnishings -- you name it, this one's going to have it," Kissam said.

She said the event was a bargain for local residents looking for something fun to do on a Saturday evening, as well as a good deal for participating stores, which will benefit from the additional traffic.

"It gets people into the shops, and while they're eating and drinking, they end up looking around and going, 'Oh, my gosh, look at all this cool stuff,' " Kissam said.

Attendees may have to hustle if they are to visit all 17 participating venues, mostly along Main Street between Hawthorne and Elder streets.

"You would be surprised," Kissam said. She said that in similar events in Temecula involving more than 20 locations, participants routinely made the rounds without a problem. "It's just a matter of how fast they want to move."

The idea, she said, is "to get locals to shop locally, and to entice our neighbors -- from Temecula to Escondido -- to try Fallbrook as a shopping source. Rather than the big-box experience, let's try a smaller, more intimate experience."

Kissam said she did some research when she first took over as director of the visitors bureau, trying to discover what popular art towns about the size as Fallbrook do to be successful.

"One of those things was to have 'art walks,' " she said. "If you're going to brand yourself as an art town, you'd better have events that are art-related."

So this summer's series of art walks combined galleries with wine produced mostly in Temecula Valley. In response to feedback calling for more local wine, this weekend's event will feature exclusively wine produced at the Fallbrook Winery, Kissam said.

Tickets purchased in advance cost $10 and are available through the Fallbrook Area Visitors Bureau, (760) 451-3282. Tickets cost $15 on the day of the event.

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 740-3516 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.