Pretending you're on a Caribbean island is one way to deal with the onslaught of summer heat. It won't be so hard to imagine at the INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL. Formerly called the Reggae Riddums Festival, this weekend's event creates an exotic atmosphere at Marconi Meadows with music, food and art from a variety of African-influenced cultures. With live music all day Saturday and Sunday, this year's lineup is one of the most diverse since the festival's inception in 1987. On Saturday, David and Donald Batiste and Donald Harrison Jr. play a set of New Orleans-centric world jazz early in the day. Later, Coolie Ranx brings ska to the mix, film actor/singer Leon and the Peoples play New York City-style reggae, and Atlanta rapper Cee-Lo of the Goodie Mob offers a taste of the Dirty South. On Sunday, get a sampling of Cuban styles with Havana Soul, and experience Nigerian-tinged reggae with Majek Fashek, whose fans consider him a prophet for predicting the end of a drought in his homeland with his song "Send Down the Rains." The festival closes with performances by Trinidad calypso artist Arrow (internationally famous for the 1983 song "Hot Hot Hot") and Jamaica's reggae family band, Morgan Heritage. Several esteemed local bands are also performing, including the Revealers, Executive Steel, Early Brooks Jr. & Jah Posse, Bamboula 2000 (pictured), and the Wild Magnolias. Between acts, check out the South African Pavilion, featuring dancers, storytellers, artists and sculptors from Durban and Capetown. Founded by New Orleans native Ernest Kelly, the festival supports the International Arts Foundation, which offers assistance to local worldbeat and Caribbean bands and helps related businesses establish a presence in the mainstream market. The foundation supports the New Orleans Recreation Department, QUEENS (an organization that offers young women cultural and society training), and Kids to Africa, which raises funds to give children the opportunity to travel to Africa. The festival also offers teens apprentice opportunities to help with event production and marketing. Tickets $20 per day, $50 for a two-day VIP pass. Children under 12 admitted free. Music starts at 12:30 p.m. each day; call 367-1313 for more info -- Cristina Diettinger

Cinderella 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., Wednesday-Friday, June 5-7; through June 22 Rogers Memorial Chapel, Newcomb College, Tulane University, 865-5106 Not content to spend their summers playing video games and watching Leave It To Beaver reruns, the Patchwork Players annually allow the time off from school to showcase their burgeoning talents as actors and comedians. Marking its 19th summer, Tulane's improvisational children's theater company will again fall under the direction of Buzz Podewell, who will lead the troupe through performances of two timeless fairy tales, Cinderella and Rumpelstilskin this season. This edition of the Patchwork Players consists of Robin Baudier, Tom Dugger, Lara Grice, Sean Patterson, Gary Rucker and Greg Statton. The songs and script of Cinderella will be augmented with audience participation, with lucky kids being taken on stage as guests at the palace ball and to judge a beauty contest between the stepsisters. Tickets are $6, with group rates available. Call 865-5106 for reservations or more information. -- Etheridge

Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter Jr. & June Yamagishi live-CD recording 10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, June 5-6 Old Point Bar, 545 Patterson St., 364-0950 Drummer Johnny Vidacovich and bassist George Porter Jr. have held court with a rotating mix of guest musicians for the past year, and the shows with guitarist June Yamagishi have been particularly inspired -- inspiring the trio to record a live CD. According to Vidacovich, Yamagishi is the consummate team player. "His individuality, his personality, his ears -- the way he listens -- is totally a part of the moving machine, as opposed to him just playing his thing," says Vidacovich. Yamagishi also has that rare sense of tradition and innovation. "He brings a worldly knowledge and working expression of classic blues guitar players like Hendrix and Jeff Beck, and he brings a New Orleans thing, of being able to play a very free modern approach, and at the same time, you can still feel and hear the historical root of it." And specific plans for the recording? "We don't talk about it," says Vidacovich. "We don't think about it -- we just play." Admission $8. -- Scott Jordan

The Melvins 9 p.m. Thursday, June 6 Shim Sham Club, 615 Toulouse St., 299-0666 Let's take a night off from fussing over Nirvana's unreleased material and pay homage to the Melvins. Arguably Kurt Cobain's favorite band, the Melvins adopted the young Cobain as a hometown protege before he ever recorded a track and even hooked him up with bassist Krist Novoselic. But the Melvins held fast to the heavy darkness that fueled the grunge movement, while their peers escalated to rock-star status with more palatable versions of the concept. The trio's artistic integrity endured through years of unstable record deals, including a three-album stint on Atlantic and several albums for Faith No More/Mr. Bungle singer Mike Patton's Ipecac label. The Melvins are as stubborn as they are prolific, and they refuse to depart from their slow, Black Sabbath-influenced, depression-metal just for the sake of the public's ears. At this show, you'll hear the pure elements that reinvigorated rock 'n' roll in the early '90s, minus the pop sensibility. Zeke opens. Admission $10 in advance, $12 at the door. -- Diettinger

Chicago 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, June 7-8; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 9 Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081 With a backdrop of Chicago during the Roaring '20s, a musical portraying the ethos of that time has much to deliver in the way of action and adventure. The famed and long-beloved Broadway show Chicago offers both in grand style, with added elements of murder, love, lies and a incredible score that make it a work not barred by time. The play starts off with a bang (literally) as party-girl Roxy Hart shoots her seedy lover and is sent to jail. A devious lawyer and a web of well-constructed lies help spring Hart, who returns to her nightlife with something to hide from her husband and the law. Sonny Borey and Derek Franklin direct the original script, with choreography by Karen Hebert. Hebert also stars as Hart, along with Diane Lala as Velma Kelley and John Grimsley as Billy Flynn. Jay Haydel directs the score, which includes hits such as "All That Jazz." Tickets $26 general public, $21 students. -- Etheridge

Rockin' Jake CD-release party 10:30 p.m. Friday, June 7 Blue Nile, 534 Frenchmen St., 948-2583 Rockin' Jake celebrates the release of Full-Time Work on Friday at The Blue Nile. Rockin' Jake seems to have two distinct musical personalities: the harmonica man whose playing oozes funk and R&B and avoids blues cliches, and the songwriter who won't leave those cliches behind. That dichotomy flows through Jake's new CD, Full-Time Work, which sounds like the work of two different bands. On tracks like "Only Love Can Conquer Hate," special guests like Brian Stoltz (who produced the album) and John Gros help cook up punchy grooves that sound like Papa Grows Funk complemented by wailing harp solos, while Jake's songs "Hit the Highway" and "Goin' Back to the Big Easy" are hampered by pedestrian lyrics about the hard knocks of touring and New Orleans cuisine. Vocals still aren't Jake's strong suit, either, though his limited range isn't as noticeable in his high-energy, often-humorous live shows. For his CD-release party, he's cooking up some of his mouthwatering brisket before the show, with barbecue proceeds going to the New Orleans Musician's Clinic. Admission $5. -- Jordan

Guided By Voices 8 p.m. Saturday, June 8 Shim Sham Club, 615 Toulouse St., 299-0666 Robert Pollard is a victim of his own excess; Guided By Voices' one-man wrecking crew rips through singles, albums and bandmates like we go through Kentwood water -- and the result is a steady stream of lo-fi rock gems that are difficult to track but great to enjoy. He's cranked out four releases over the past three years (not counting his second box set, 2000's Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft). Which takes us to his latest work, Universal Truths and Cycles (due out June 18 on Matador Records), as GbV returns to the creative peak that marked such classics as 1994's Bee Thousand. Here Pollard is stripped down and gussied up as ever, surging through power-pop tunes like "Everywhere With Helicopter" (is he from Ohio or Liverpool?) and dancing through shimmering moments like "Zap." It's nothing short of amazing that Pollard's been doing this for two decades and shows no sign of slowing down. Good luck keeping up. My Morning Jacket opens. Tickets $14. -- David Lee Simmons

Preservation Hall Jazz Band 4 p.m. Sunday, June 9 Fairmont Hotel Grand Ballroom, 123 Baronne St., 529-7111 There's nothing like hearing the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in the hallowed environs of its St. Peter Street headquarters, but there's also something unique about hearing the band in a different setting. While national and international fans get that opportunity regularly with Preservation Hall's touring unit, it's still a rare occurrence in New Orleans. But in keeping with the band's reverence for tradition, this off-the-beaten-path annual fundraiser for the scholarship fund of the New Orleans branch of the National Association of University Women has been a mainstay on Preservation Hall's calendar for almost three decades. The version of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band appearing for this year's event at the Fairmont features trumpeter Reginald Koeller, trombonist Frederick Lonzo, pianist Lars Edegran, guitarist Carl LeBlanc, saxophonist Ernest Watson, and the rhythm section of drummer Gerald French and bassist Walter Payton. $7.50 donation at door. -- Jordan

Charity ER Gala 2002 7 p.m. Sunday, June 9 TwiRoPa Arts & Entertainment Building, 1544 Tchoupitoulas St., 895-6177, www.ticketweb.com Theresa Andersson headlines a ton of music, food, drink and fundraising at the Charity ER Gala on Sunday at TwiRoPa. In just two years, the Charity Hospital's Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) has helped more than 540 victims. And that's just one component of the hospital's services, which extend to domestic violence and child abuse victims in the area, as staff work with the New Orleans Police Department, the District Attorney's office and the YWCA. The result has been an increase in sexual-assault convictions. The Charity ER Gala, a co-op effort between the emergency departments at Charity and University hospitals and the Pediatric Emergency Department, has fueled this program. This year, the Gala hopes to raise money to complete the renovation of a treatment area, fund awareness programs, and expand services to include a screening program to identify domestic violence victims. Contrasting such weighty issues is a Gala that has fun written all over it; an auction will include memorabilia from Ernie K-Doe (including a blue-and-silver stage suit) as well as stuff from former Xena star Lucy Lawless. Music will be provided by Theresa Andersson, Henry Butler, Brother Tyrone & the Mindbenders, and Leigh "Little Queenie" Harris presenting her old Mixed Knots lineup, among others. And of course, there will be plenty of food and drink. Advance tickets are $30 per person, $50 per couple; only individual $30 tickets available at the door. -- Simmons

Jefferson Ballet Theatre concert 7 p.m. Monday, June 10 Pontchartrain Center, 4545 Williams Blvd., Kenner, 468-1231 Being a professional troupe made up of members of the community and performing for the community, the Jefferson Ballet Theatre annually shows its appreciation to area supporters with a free performance each summer. This year's installment comes with a program marked with a patriotic tone and the debut of work by a local choreographer. The patriotic theme is, says Jefferson Ballet Theatre Director Myra Mier, "our tribute to September 11," and features "2x Sousa," a work choreographed by Mier and set to the music of John Philip Sousa, including his famed toe-tapper "Stars and Stripes." Local choreographer Kenneth Beck debuts his "Brandenburg Concerto," a piece accompanied by compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach. In addition, the night will include a variety of other ballets, including an additional number by Mier, "Pachebel's Cannon." The performance is free and open to the public. -- Etheridge

Marion Post Wolcott: WPA Era Photographs Through June A Gallery for Fine Photography, 322 Royal St., 568-1313 Sometimes things happen in a flash. Even genius. As artists' careers go, four years is no time at all, yet all that legendary photographer Marion Post Wolcott became known for is the product of her four years of service with the Works Progress Administration, the legendary federal agency that employed talented photographers to document America during the Great Depression. Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange were among its stellar alumni, yet even in such storied company Marion Post Wolcott was a luminary. Traveling alone all over the country, she became known for her salient and incisive views of late-1930s America, including New Orleans, the setting of some of her more memorable images. Then, in 1941, she met and married a farmer and never worked in photography again. Even so, the output of her four-year career lives on, having attained a status of timelessness in spite of its brevity. -- D. Eric Bookhardt