THURSDAY

Just imagine: all the beauty of Asian cultures without 14-hour plane rides or dysfunctional websites! Come celebrate a host of Asian and Pacific Island cultures at the Lantern Festival, which features various performances by student groups, tonight in Corwin Pavilion. The festival is from 5:30 to 9. The event is free! Later tonight, the UCSB Jazz Ensemble performs a program which includes Henry Brant’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Concerto for Clarinet and Jazz Orchestra,” featuring faculty clarinetist and wind ensemble director Paul Bambach. The concert is at 8. Tickets are $10 general, $7 UCSB students. Tickets are only available at the door.

FRIDAY

I ask you: have you ever tried to blow one of those things? It’s tough! Tonight, the MultiCultural Center presents “Shakuhachi: Music of the Japanese Bamboo Flute,” a performance of music on this elusive instrument. Japanese-born UCSB alum Alcvin Ramos is the featured artist. The performance is at the MCC Theater at 8. Admission is free. Also tonight, relive your childhood with “Sesame Street Live: Everyone Makes Music.” Kids will enjoy the sing-a-long show, adults will enjoy the familiar tunes. It runs through Sunday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Tickets are $24, $18 and $14 through Ticketmaster.

SATURDAY

I wonder how long the Bible would be if there was discussion of identity politics in it. Tonight, the MultiCultural Center presents a screening of “Trembling Before G-D,” a film that examines gays and lesbians as they try to reconcile their love for Judaism and the Biblical prohibitions on homosexuality. The screening starts at 6. Admission is free. To continue the theme of beauty from suffering, consider witnessing the dynamite blues sound of Steve Copeland and Raging Sun at SohO tonight. Raging Sun won distinction as Southern California’s Best Live Blues Band at L.A. Blues 2000. They perform at 9:30.

SUNDAY

Don’t tread on me – this ain’t no State Street Beautification Project! Come celebrate the Italian tradition of street painting at the I Madonnari Festival this weekend at the Santa Barbara Mission. The festival is from Saturday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From 6 to 7 p.m. there will be evening concerts featuring Opera Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and Canticle A Cappella Choir. The Mission is located at 2201 Laguna St. in Santa Barbara. A little later on, come support the annual KCSB jazz concert, featuring Les McCann, the jazz artist credited with inventing funk. The show is at SohO at 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY

Put down the jay and come to the Bowl. Isla Vista garage band fans or no, come to see Reggae at the Santa Barbara Bowl 2002. The lineup includes Luciano, Israel Vibration, Toots and the Maytals, Tanto Metro and Devonte, and Stone Love. The show begins at 4 p.m. Tickets are $36/28. Call the Santa Barbara Bowl at 962-7411 for more information. If you’re into something older – and I mean much, much older, come to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for their exhibit, “Dinosaurs: The Next Generation.” The exhibit features hands-on activities for adults and special ones for kids. The exhibit runs through Sept. 2 during normal museum hours.

WEDNESDAY

Are we playing Questions? Did you know DJ Fatkid plays dirty? Tonight, Theatre UCSB opens its production of Tom Stoppard’s critically acclaimed “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” The performances run through June 1 at 8 p.m. and on June 1 and 2 at 2 p.m. at Hatlen Theatre. Tickets are $16/12. Or come explore the American tradition of slavery tonight with a screening of “Amistad,” presented by the MultiCultural Center. The film chronicles the true story of a group of captives from Africa, fighting to redirect their journey into slavery into a journey into the fight for freedom. The film screens at 6 p.m. The event is free.