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The Winter Solstice doesn’t seem to get much respect anymore. It’s usually just dismissed as the shortest day of the year and forgotten. All the love is thrown at the Summer Solstice, but it’s the winter Solstice that signals a rebirth. Therefore, everyone is invited to a Winter Solstice lantern walk today that leaves the Cedar Park point at 46th and Baltimore at 4:30ish. The walk will proceed to the Cedar Park playground at 50th and Baltimore.

Participants are asked to bring something delicious and portable to share along with flashlights and/or flameless lanterns (no candles please). There is very likely to be music, dancing and storytelling.

Performers run through their last rehearsal before the Y.T.A.P. program’s first performance tonight at The Rotunda at 7 p.m.

When a dozen or so 4th through 6th graders from Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust St.) take the stage tonight at The Rotunda for their performance of “Let’s Learn Each Other!” they will complete what Beth Nixon hopes will be the first of many semesters of collaborative youth involvement in the West Philly arts scene.

The students have worked with poets, musicians and puppeteers, including Nixon, to tell their story through performance. That collaboration has been difficult this semester, the pilot run of Y.T.A.P., but Nixon hopes the program can adjust and grow to become a unique after-school program that will allow kids to design and stage their own performances.

The program is still looking for funding and in-kind donations – from art supplies to snacks. It’s also looking for kids interested in spending a couple of days a week after school at The Rotunda working with an amazing group of artists.

Tonight’s show at The Rotunda begins at 7 p.m. and is free.

A sampling of things going on today. Check the happenings page for more. Send information on your event to: editor [at] westphillylocal.com

• Philly Youth Poetry and Open Mic Night • 8 p.m. • The Rotunda • 4014 Walnut St. • Tickets: $7 for youth, $10 for adults.

This festival of the word includes DEF POETS, Special guests, hip hop and more. The mic is open. You never know…someone from the Philly crew on HBO’s Brave New Voices might be in the house.

Here’s the leader of the 2009 Philly team, Josh Bennett, performing an amazing piece about his sister at the White House poetry slam last year:

• A Christmas Carol • 7:30 p.m. • St. Mary’s Church • 3916 Locust St. • Suggested donation: $10 for adults, $5 for children

Jared Reed from the Curio Theatre will star in the Dickens classic. The performance is a benefit for St. Mary’s Church, Hamilton Village. This would be a great show for older children.

A sampling of things going on today. Check the happenings page for more. Send information on your event to: editor [at] westphillylocal.com

• Mummenschanz • 8 p.m. • Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts • 3680 Walnut St. • $28-$48.

From the Annenberg website: “Using ordinary materials such as toilet paper, white sheets, foam and recycled junk that morph into giant balloons, huge slinkies, gargantuan potato heads and accordion-pleated tubes, this beloved Swiss company tells incredible stories that transcend the need for words.” That sounds kind of interesting.

Here they are (Oh, and it’s supposed to be quiet):

• Christmas Bazaar • 9 a.m. • Mercy Hospital lower atrium • 501 S. 54th St.

The bazaar will include jewelry, clothing, handcrafted items, artwork and more.

• Manga Cafe • 3 p.m. • Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library • 125 S. 52nd St.

Teen and ‘tween manga fans are invited to read, draw and chat about their favorite Japanese comics. Art supplies will be provided and Japanese snacks will be served.

A sampling of things going on today. There may be more in the happenings section (our ever-expanding listings). Send your listings to: editor [at] westphillylocal.com

• Tomas Fujiwara and the Hook-up/Ideal Bread • 8 p.m. • The Rotunda • 4014 Walnut St. • Free

Drummer and composer Tomas Fujiwara was born in Boston and studied under Joyce Kauffman and Alan Dawson. Over the years he has performed with Anthony Braxton, Norah Jones, Herbie Mann, Joe Morris, Roy Campbell, William Parker, Vernon Reid, Vijay Iyer, and many others. His current projects, in addition to The Hook Up, include his duo work with Taylor Ho Bynum, The Thirteenth Assembly, the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet and Trio, Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin, Ideal Bread, Red Baraat, and several others. He has released many records as both a group leader and sideman on labels like Important, hatOLOGY, Engine, Firehouse 12, Cuneiform, and 482 Music. Ideal Bread will perform the works of famed soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. Here is a review of Tomas Fujiwara and the Hook-up from the New York Times. Here’s a taste of the music:

• Son Step/Renne • 7 p.m. • Green Line Cafe • 4426 Locust St. • $5-10 sliding scale

Son Step is Pat Lamborn, Jon Coyle, Chris Coyle, Matt Scarano and they play garage/folk/experimental songs “with 2 voices and muchos drumming.” Renne features Tim Brey, Chris Pearlberg, Mike Rowland and Doug Raus and is a 4-piece rock/pop/jazz group that “churns out some really great, interesting music.”

• WPEB programming meeting • 6 p.m. • WPEB Studios • 541B S. 52nd St.

The programming committee at WPEB, West Philly’s low-power FM station, will hold their regular monthly meeting.