Photo by ZakVTA on flickr.

Save up to splurge on holiday shopping with this upcoming plethora of free events around the region.

Panel and party for local producers: Join Smart Growth America, Think Local First DC, and Elevation DC for Production in the City, an event celebrating local manufacturers in DC. Get a local perspective on production during a panel discussion and shop the pop-up marketplace with over 20 local producers, including Gordy’s Pickle Jar, Cherry Blossom Creative, and Capital City Mumbo Sauce.

This free event happens this Thursday, December 5 from 5:30 to 8:30pm at the Yards Boilermaker Shops, located at 300 Tingey Street SE, and you can register to attend here.

After the jump: Reserve your space now to discuss all things nerdy with the Lobby Project, add two more exciting urban events to your docket for this Thursday, and remember to join the GGW and GGE crew for two upcoming discussions.

Get nerdy in NoMa: This Tuesday’s free event from the Lobby Project, “Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper: Better Cities,” appears to already have “sold out.” Make sure you register here for the next and equally-as-free event in the series, “Crafting Local Brews and Spirits,” happening on Tuesday, December 17. Both events take place from 6 to 8pm at 1200 First Street NE.

Hear new thoughts on New Urbanism: Also on December 5, you have the option of heading to Arlington’s RoundAbouts Speaker Series for Victor Dover’s talk on New Thoughts on Streets and Cities. A charter member of the Congress for New Urbanism, Dover’s projects include the Columbia Pike revitalization plan and code, and Plan El Paso, which the Natural Resource Defense Council has hailed as “America’s Best Smart Growth Plan.”

Of course, it is free, in the Founders Hall Auditorium at George Mason University’s Arlington campus, located at 3301 Fairfax Drive. The event goes from 6:00 to 8:00pm and you can RSVP here.

Meet transportation techies: Are you a techie looking to make innovative contributions in transportation? Join Mobility Lab for their Transportation Techies meetup: CaBi Hack Night. This debut event will highlight tools and apps built using open data from Capital Bikeshare and encourages attendees to share any programs they may have created using CaBi open data.

The event is this Thursday, December 5 from 7 to 10pm at 1501 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1100 in Rosslyn. You can RSVP here.

Greater Greater Events: And don’t forget about our two upcoming events involving the GGW and GGE teams.

Warm up for whichever Thursday night activity you choose with David Alpert and a talk on blogging and civic engagement. To join, make your way to Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies Downtown Campus, located at 640 Massachusetts Avenue NW, this Thursday, December 5 from 4:30 to 5:30pm.

Next Monday, December 9, join Greater Greater Education for an Evening with Councilmember David Catania, where we’ll discuss public education in the District of Columbia. The event runs from 6:30 to 8pm at the Hill Center at Old Naval Hospital, located at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE. You can register here. Whether or not you can make it, please submit your questions for the panel in the comments box here.