The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll seemed to be a great success last night. Great stuff available and tons of people on hand. How about those lines?

Here’s a quick slideshow:

Spiral Q Puppet Theater (3114 Spring Garden St.) is hosting an open house tonight from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Puerto Rican vocalist Taína Asili, flamenco dancer April Goltz, and guitarist Gaetano Vaccaro present an intimate and unforgettable performance of Latin American folk and flamenco tonight, at 7:30 p.m. at Crossroads Music (801 S 48th St.).

Taína Asili and April Goltz are former Philadelphians. Goltz took her first flamenco steps at the Arts League in West Philly beginning in 2002.

Tickets are still available here.

Before the main event, there will be a short children’s concert, from 6 p.m. to approximately 6:45 p.m. Tickets to this show are $5 for kids, with accompanying grownups free.

The Rita Jones Dance Company will present A Tribute To Billie Holiday concert tonight at 7:30 p.m. at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.). Proceeds from the event will go to Pancreatic Cancer Research program at Jefferson Hospital. General admission tickets: $10.

If you are still around after the Rapture on Saturday, you should check in with acclaimed illustrator G.B. Tran, who will be talking about his amazing graphic family memoir VIETNAMERICA at Locust Moon Comics (4040 Locust St.) from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A chronicle of Tran’s family’s journey from Vietnam to the United States during the war, VIETNAMERICA has been three years in the making.

The Library Journal writes of the book:

“This will be called the MAUS for the Vietnam War, and for good reason. Similar premise: clueless American-born son of immigrants confronts the legacy of family pain predating his birth. Similar outcome: a kick-in- the-gut graphic novel… he purposely fragments the plot, shifting points of view, narrative voices, and settings while the reader—as did Tran—must assemble the pieces to learn how his parents became the people he knew.”

Here’s an interview on ABC News with Tran (sorry about the commercial):

Everything from beautiful rugs to lavish dinners to Peter Gabriel tickets are up for grabs this Saturday. The University City Arts League‘s Annual Art Auction is 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Wilson Student Center on the University of the Sciences campus at 42nd and Woodland.

A preview dinner will precede the auction. SOOP Catering, run by former RX owner Greg Salisbury, is supplying the grub. Dinner begins at 6 p.m., the public silent auction starts at 7 p.m. and the live auction runs form 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Auction tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 13-18 years of age. Kids 12 and under get in free and must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available at the door or at the UCAL office at 4226 Spruce St.

Other items include two plane tickets to anywhere in the United States, a tour of the Philadelphia Inquirer and attendance at a morning news meeting, and a week’s stay at an Orlando resort. More information is available here.