8pm Music

Grand Performances at the California Plaza Watercourt opens its summer season at the lunch hour Friday, with the sizzling sounds of Johnny Polanco y Conjunto Amistad, a 12-piece salsa band. The adjoining terrace will be filled with crafts booths representing cultures from around the world. At nightfall, Bamboleo, a 14-piece fusion of Cuban son, R&B, rap and jazz, delivers the perfect recipe for an evening of rhythm and sound. And on Saturday, the hilarious comedy troupe that whipped up "A Bowl of Beings" and dished out "Nuyorican Stories" cooks up its own special brand of party--the Culture Clash Comedy Fiesta. Clashers Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza, along with the hip-hop band Maya, perform under the stars.

Grand Performances, California Plaza Watercourt, 350 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Conjunto Amistad, Friday, noon; Bamboleo, Friday, 8 p.m.; Culture Clash, Saturday, 8 p.m. Free. (213) 687-2159.

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all day Leisure

At the first Sawdust Art Festival in 1966, the organizers put sawdust on the ground of the vacant lot to keep everything from being covered with dust, hence the name. This year's festival, which opens Friday, will feature more than 175 artists offering ceramics, glass, watercolor and oil paintings, jewelry, leather, sculpture and more, plus workshops, demonstrations, live entertainment, three cafes and a saloon. And more than 50 tons of sawdust.

Sawdust Art Festival, 935 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through Sept. 1. $2 to $6.50; free for children 5 and younger. (949) 494-3030.

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all day Movies

Filmmaker Majid Majidi's "Baran," which had a one-week Oscar-qualifying run last December, makes a welcome return beginning Friday. Majidi, one of Iran's most acclaimed directors for such films as "The Children of Heaven" and "The Color of Paradise," tells a romantic tale of a group of Afghan refugees working illegally at a Tehran construction site, the young Iranian boy who serves as the site's caretaker and an Afghan girl with whom he falls in love. The Times' Kevin Thomas wrote that "the darkly glowing 'Baran' brings an irresistible blend of warmth and humor and a consistent embracing humanity in the face of life's harshness" and named it as one his top 10 films of 2001.

"Baran," rated PG for language and brief violence, opens Friday exclusively at the Laemmle's Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869 and Laemmle's Town Center, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 981-9811.