As West Philly Local recently reported, The Blockley, a popular music venue located at 38th and Chestnut, is closing at the end of the year and has announced its final shows this weekend (Dec. 26-29). For more information, go to The Blockley’s Facebook page.

Thursday, Dec. 26 – Hip-Hop Finale feat. Schoolly D, Reef the Lost Cauze, Cee Knowledge (Doodlebug of Digable Planets), Mic Stew, Beano, Voss, and Chase Allen. Doors – 8 p.m. , Show – 9 p.m. 21+. $10 adv/$12 D.O.S.

Friday, Dec. 27 – Splintered Sunlight (Grateful Dead tribute) w/ Sakima. Doors – 8 p.m., Show – 9 p.m. 21+. $7 adv/$10 D.O.S.

Saturday, Dec. 28 – Long Miles w/ Spiritual Rez. Doors – 8 pm , Show – 9 p.m. 18+. $10 adv/$13 D.O.S.

Sunday, Dec. 29 – A Funky Farewell feat. The Everyone Orchestra. Late night DJ Battle 1-3 am feat. DJ Logic & Special Guest TBA. Doors – 5:30 p.m., Show – 6 p.m. All Ages. $20.

We hope that most of you have emerged from your Thanksgiving food coma now and are getting excited for more upcoming holiday events. You better be because we have a lot of things to tell you about this month. This weekend alone, there are tons of exciting things going on in the area, including holiday gift shopping opportunities, a visit with Santa, book sale, and music, art and theater events for children and adults alike. Here’s our roundup and check our Events Calendar for more upcoming events.

Thursday, Dec. 5

Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

8 p.m. – Curio Theatre’s World Premiere of Gender Comedy: A Less Stupid Twelfth Night Gay Fantasia – Preview shows: Dec. 5, 6, 7 & 12; Opening night: Dec. 13; Closing night: Jan. 4.

Curio Theatre Company continues its season with a “very low-brow look at a rather high-brow play.” The show is written by company member Harry Slack, who set out to “turn Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night tale on its head” and make it more absurd, “more fun to watch.” The approximately one-hour play contains people struggling with gender identity, sexual identity, and the complications of love. All performances run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. This show will be performed in Curio’s Black Box space at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community at 4740 Baltimore Avenue. Tickets are $15-25 and are available online at www.curiotheatre.org.  Continue Reading

There are some spots still open for this great free event, where you can learn how to make your home more cozy for the winter. Many of the materials demonstrated are given away to participants in tonight’s Weatherization workshop (see details below) free of charge. The workshop is presented by the West Philly Tool Library in partnership with the Energy Coordinating Agency, who will teach you how to weatherize your home and save money on your energy bills. Participants will also receive kits to take home to weatherize their own homes.

What: Weatherization Workshop
When: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m.
Where: West Philadelphia YMCA, 5120 Chestnut Street

To sign up, click here.

The holiday season is here and many of you have already started looking for gifts and making holiday plans. According to national statistics, every $1 we spend at a local business, 65 cents is invested back into the local community. That’s roughly twice as much as big box stores. No big surprise there. Small businesses hook their success up to the success of the local community. Often they are our neighbors and friends.

At West Philly Local we are committed to helping local businesses and organizations succeed. We are also committed to telling residents about the community businesses that help make this a great place to live, work and shop. Please check out our annual “Shop Local for the Holidays” campaign page to see what our partners – local shops, restaurants, arts, fitness and other organizations – have to offer this holiday season.

On Sunday, Dec. 1, there will be a great opportunity to wind down your Thanksgiving weekend and learn more about other cultures at the 18th annual “Peace Around the World: Passport to Cultures” event at Penn Museum (3260 South St). This is a free event for the whole family. Visitors will receive museum “passports” with itineraries to visit different cultures (Brazilian, Cameroonian, Indian, Kenyan, Pakistani and more) and explore their holiday traditions.

The event includes a wide array of activities, such as dance, storytelling, sari-wrapping, yoga sessions, Middle Eastern drumming workshops, face painting and balloon art for children, and international family crafts. And of course, there will be free treats for children!

The event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. and guests are also invited to bring a new, unwrapped toy donation that will go to a West Philadelphia charity. For more information about this event and schedule of activities, visit this page.

(Photo courtesy of Penn Museum)

If you like the idea of the huge warehouse located at 3848 Lancaster Ave turning into a multi-use neighborhood event space for flea markets, food vendors, craft fairs, musical showcases, farmers markets, town fairs, expos, extravaganzas, contests, championships, food events, community events, karate demos, etc., you can show your support at tonight’s party at the space. The party called Lanxgiving will include performances by four bands – Pattern is Movement, Pile, Hound, and Amanda X. And hot food from Poi Dog and Ranch Road Tacos will be served with free cold drinks.

Entrance is from the rear of the building on Warren St. The event begins at 7 p.m. and here‘s its Facebook page.