GOINGS ON SANTA BARBARA : Celebrating the Sun : Events marking the winter solstice are packed into the shortest day of the year.

The winter solstice--a.k.a. the shortest day of the year--a.k.a. the official start of winter--has long been a time for celebration.

In the Chumash culture, for instance, the day was considered one of the most significant of the year, the rebirth of the sun.

As part of the annual ceremony, Chumash priests would use their ritual sun sticks to help move the sun northward in the sky.

Santa Barbara’s Museum of Natural History on Saturday will try to maintain some of the traditions with a day (albeit a short day) filled with events. The actual solstice is Sunday at 3 a.m.

Festivities will kick off with a children’s theater presentation at Fleischmann Auditorium at 1 p.m.

It will focus on the mythical aspect of the solstice--with Druids, nymphs, fairies and the like.

Children are invited to come dressed as mythical characters for a post-show parade through the wooded area of the museum grounds.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for wizards, gnomes, Druids, nymphs, etc.

For the older folks, lecturer Ernest Underhay will give a 45-minute discussion on Chumash astronomy and mythology in the Gladwin Planetarium, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Then guests will move over to the Paleontology Hall for a boxed supper provided by the Wine Cask.

General admission for the whole affair is $15. Tickets are limited, so act quickly.

Finally, the Celtic group Queen Mab will perform a “Winter Tales” concert at Fleischmann Auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m. The ensemble will be joined by Akoni the Storyman.

General admission is $7 for adults and $4 for children. Tickets for the entire evening event package, lecture, supper and concert, are $18.

The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol. Call 682-4711 for information about any of the activities.

A note to those of you waiting for the third annual winter solstice parade put on by the Summer Solstice Committee: Don’t.

There won’t be one.

Last year, about 100 people braved 19 degree temperatures to parade along State Street to De La Guerra Plaza.

The celebration is expected to return next year.

Santa Barbara’s Victoria Street Theater will be busy over the next week, with plenty of cinema and a little bit of Christmas activity.

Tonight and Friday the theater will show the parental duo of “My Father’s Glory” (5:20 p.m., admission $4) and “My Mother’s Castle” (7:30 p.m., admission $4). On Saturday, short films produced by students at Brooks Institute will be shown at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Admission is $4.

From Sunday through Tuesday the focus will turn to the holidays as the Vineyard Christian Fellowship performs its Christmas pageant. Sunday’s performance will begin at 2:30 p.m.; the shows Monday and Tuesday will start at 7 p.m. Admission to each show is $2.

The theater is at 33 W. Victoria St. For information call 965-1886.

More than 100 black-and-white photos by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, one of Mexico’s foremost photographers, will be on display at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art beginning Sunday.

The show, scheduled to run through Feb. 12, is in the middle of a cross-country tour. The museum is at 1130 State St.

For information call 963-4364.