A great exclusive offer: We have taken the Liberty of offering Christmas shopping without the crowds

For most people it is a pain, but for Independent readers, buying Christmas presents can be a pleasure. Following the success of last year's exclusive Christmas shopping evenings at Liberty, Weekend is once again offering you the chance of a civilised evening in one of Britain's most civilised stores. You can forget the panic purchases and the Christmas crush, and choose beautiful gifts for the people you love.

On Wednesday 1 December, Liberty stores will be open exclusively for Independent readers between 6pm and 8.30pm - when all the other shoppers have gone home. The flagship store in Regent Street will host a variety of special events and entertainments: wine, tea and liqueur tastings, book signings, cookery demonstrations, music.

And for readers around the country, Liberty is opening its stores - at the same time, on the same evening - in Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cheltenham, Chester, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Kingston, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Salisbury, Sheffield and York.

All 17 stores will offer a free gift-wrapping service, a pounds 5 shopping voucher for every pounds 50 spent, and a superb prize draw. Full details of these exclusive shopping evenings will appear in next Saturday's Independent, on 13 November, with an application form for the free tickets. Make sure you get a copy of the next Weekend, and fill in the form immediately: last year, every evening at every store was fully booked.

If you did not come then, bear in mind that you will be competing for the limited tickets with all the people who enjoyed the exclusive shopping evening at Liberty last Christmas.

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