KIDS WORLD

The kids have no reason to be bored this weekend because the 20th annual Pittsburgh International Children's Festival is taking over the North Side, and there are two ways to enjoy it -- the free way or the pay way, in which you get to see performances by international acts.

The free way gets you access to West Park, site of hands-on activities for kids, a Target stage with regional groups and free admission to the National Aviary. The good news here is that the food vendors have returned after having been sorely missed last year.

If you have money to spend, you can partake of the performers, who make this event one of only four international theater festivals for children in the United States. There are seven, one more than last year.

"We're still rebuilding and getting back to where it was," says director Pamela Lieberman, referring to 2004, the year the festival didn't happen.

Here are the performances with tickets still available:

Big Wooden Horse Theatre Co.: This British group is presenting the musical production "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!," based on Mo Williams' Caldecott Award-winning book. "This is a really popular one," Lieberman says. "Parents really seem to like that book and are excited to see it on stage." So are the kids, we hope. Cardinal Wright School. Friday 9:45 a.m.; Saturday 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m.; Sunday 2 and 3:30 p.m.

Stars of the Peking Acrobats: It's a hot ticket for these tumblers, jugglers, cyclists and gymnasts from the other side of the world. Allegheny Traditional Academy. Saturday 2 and 3:30 p.m.; Sunday 12:30 p.m.

Sunjata: Another hot ticket, Sunjata celebrates the culture of Timbuktu with an explosion of theater, music and acrobatics. Festival Tent. Saturday 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m.; Sunday 2 and 3:30 p.m.

"Cinderella": Lille Karofler and master puppeteer Matthias Kuchta retell the classic fairy tale. Aviary Tent. Friday 9:45 a.m.; Saturday 12:30 and 2 p.m.; Sunday 12:30 p.m.

Cashore Marionettes: "Simple Gifts" consists of scenes set to the music of Vivaldi, Strauss, Beethoven and Copland. Cardinal Wright School. Friday 12:30 p.m.; Saturday 2 and 3:30 p.m.; Sunday 12:30 p.m.

The Zany Umbrella Circus: The Pittsburgh group combines circus arts, physical theater and life-size puppets. Allegheny Traditional Academy. Saturday 11 a.m.; Sunday 3:30 p.m.

Gypsies and Crickets: Local group presents a world premiere piece based on the children's poetry of Spanish poet Fedrico Garcia Lorca, the visual symbolism of puppetry and the music of Spain. Children's Museum Theater. Sunday 2 p.m.

Ticket packages range from $7-$12. Call 412-321-5520 or visit www.pghkids.org.

It's jam season and that means funky dance grooves, guitar noodling and a pre-Altamont love vibe. Springfest 2006 kicks off at the River's Edge Campgrounds in Connellsville Friday and continues Saturday with Poogie Bell Band, Boogie Hustlers, People of Earth, Jazzam, Melvin Sparks, Fungus, Danny Longhair, No Bad Juju, Omega Love, Flowdown and Seven. Admission is $25. Call 724-628-4880.

For something more sophisticated, and with a better selection of cocktails, Late Night Cabaret presents Homemade Fusion, featuring "edgy" songs by Carnegie Mellon senior composer Michael Kooman and graduate playwright Christopher Dimond. It's at the Cabaret at Theater Square, Downtown, Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m. Proceeds will be donated to The Showcase to help actualize the aspirations of young artists. Tickets are $8 in advance; $10 at the door. Call 412-456-6666 or go to www.CLOcabaret.com.

The Renaissance City Choirs have different agendas for the Spring Concert, but it should make for two rich evenings of music Friday and Saturday at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. The Men's Choir is offering "Lush Life," a tribute to Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn, the Jazz Age and two of our native sons. The Women's Choir won't be wearing swimwear but will be "At the Beach," with music "to evoke the feelings of warm and relaxing locations." Concerts begin at 8 p.m. Premier tickets $50; general $15; students $7. Go to www.proartstickets.org or call 412-394-3353.

One of the most respected conductors to lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this season takes the podium at Heinz Hall en route to taking the ensemble to New York's Carnegie Hall a few days later. Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi, former music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, leads the PSO in Bartok's Divertimento for String Orchestra, Haydn's Symphony No. 88 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique," Friday and Saturday at Heinz Hall.

Mellon Park will be filled with green thumbs and the people attached to them for the annual May Market. It's a great chance to choose from thousands of annuals, perennials, herbs and shrubs, plus gardening tools and accessories offered by garden clubs and vendors. Times are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Call 412-441-4442.

Cooper Cabin in Butler is the scene for a Native American Weekend, with dancing, crafts and food. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $4; $2 kids 5-17. Call 724-283-8116.

OK, this marks the second mention of the Boogie Hustlers in this Hot List. WYEP launches its local music series "Third Thursday" with the band churning out its funky soul in the performance space at 6:30 p.m. The free concerts begin in the station lobby at 67 Bedford Square, South Side, around 5:45 p.m. with complimentary beverages. The series continues with Camera (June 15), School of Athens (July 20) and The Chad Sipes Stereo (Aug. 17). For details, go to www.wyep.org.

The Pink Spiders hail from Nashville, wear pink and black, have lots of spiky attitude and a power-pop sound akin to The Romantics. You can check them out at the Rex Theatre at 8 p.m. with The Adored. Tickets are $8. Call 412-323-1919.

What's it like to climb into a Tembe Indian canor, try out a hammock bed in an Amazon rain forest village and collect firewood in a mountain village in northern Vietnam? Kids can get a feel for it in "Children Just Like Me," the latest exhibition at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Based on the award-winning book of the same title, the exhibit explores children at home on six different continents with representations of their homes and surroundings, and hands-on activities that teach children about their language, food, games, music, pets and clothing. Visitors will receive a passport for a self-guided tour and get it stamped as they complete an activity. It opens Saturday and runs through Sept. 10 at the North Side museum. Hours are Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 pm. Admission is $7 for children 2-18 and seniors, and $8 for adults. Call 412-322-5058 or visit www.pittsburghkids.org.

Last week, Venture Outdoors got a cover story. This week, all it's getting is this lousy Hot List item. The occasion is the Venture Outdoors Festival, the highlight of Great Outdoors Week. The free event, sponsored by UPMC Health Plan, gives individuals and families an opportunity to try their hand at canoeing, kayaking, biking, dragon boats, rock climbing, inline skating, fishing and more. There will be more than 90 groups there with information and gear from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the North Shore, near Heinz Field. For details, call 412-255-0564.

Photographers and galleries from around the country have donated work to the Silver Eye Benefit Auction at the Silver Eye Center for Photography. Up for auction will be more than 114 lots of original prints by the likes of Ruth Bernhard, Esther Bubley, Todd Hido, Lewis Hine, David Levinthal, Duane Michals, Olivia Parker, W. Eugene Smith and Jerry Uelsmann. It begins at 10 a.m. at 1015 E. Carson St., South Side. Admission and bid number is $30. Reservations are recommended. Call 412-431-1810 or visit www.silvereye.org.

Steve Guyer and the Excellos, a Philly band led by a blues harp player who paid his dues with the greats in the Chicago clubs, plays the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville at 9 p.m. with The Pawnbrokers. Tickets are $12. Call 412-682-0177.

In the South Side clubs, you'll find return trips from surf guitar king Dick Dale (Rex Theatre at 8:15 p.m.) and endearing folk-pop veteran Steve Forbert (Club Cafe at 7 p.m.).

For something more ethnic, the Slavjane Folk Ensemble plays its 30th annual concert at 2 p.m. at Sto-Rox High School in McKees Rocks. It will be joined by Detsky Folklorny Subor Saris, a children's folk group from Slovakia. Tickets are $8. Call 412-331-3124.

Because some people have 60 miles of pedaling in them and some have only 6, Pedal Pittsburgh gives folks the option of how much ground they want to cover and how many hills they want to climb. A ride, not a race, Pedal Pittsburgh draws more than 2,000 riders annually and highlights neighborhoods and design landmarks along the way. It begins at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre at Station Square. Proceeds benefit the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, a nonprofit organization that improves the quality of life in the Pittsburgh region by encouraging good design of the built environment. Registration is $25 for individuals and $50 for families. Go to www.pedalpittsburgh.org or call 412-232-3545.

Here are the beginning times:

6:30 a.m.: Registration opens

7-8 a.m.: 50- and 60-mile ride

8-9 a.m.: 25- and 35-mile ride

8:30 and 9 a.m.: 25-mile guided tour

9-10 a.m.: 15-mile ride

9:30-10 a.m.: 15-mile guided tour

10-10:30 a.m.: 6-mile ride

11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: Lunch and entertainment at the Amphitheatre at Station Square.

Mozart and Bernstein. Most will agree that's great music, and on Sunday, it's also Music in a Great Space. The concert series at Shadyside Presbyterian Church presents this Choral Festival with the Shadyside Choral Society performing Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms ("contrasting spiritual austerity with impulsive rhythms in a contemplation of peace") and Mozart's Solemn Vespers ("perhaps the sunniest and most highly concentrated of his choral pieces"). Those are their descriptions, by the way. The concert is at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors; students and children free. Call 412-682-4300 or visit www.shadysidepres.org.

The Quiet Storm is a great place for music, too, and Sunday night it's the scene for a benefit show for groups who have been taking food to the New Orleans area, despite FEMA requiring a restaurateurs license, such as the Rainbow Kitchen and Catholic organizations. Performing will be Local Honey, Nude Butcher, Peevo, Dragstrippers, Evan Knauer/Erin Snyder Duo, Bob Zillers, Paul Labrise/Jay Matula, Bobby Porter, Leslie Addis and The Blindsiders. Each band will play a half hour and there will be video presentations and speakers who will talk about their recent experiences in New Orleans. It runs from 5 to 10 p.m. in Garfield.