KARMA After a two-year absence from the Peninsula, singer KARMA returned to Doc''s five months ago. She''s back in town tonight promoting her new album, and playing a mix of punk-tinged covers and original songs (See story pg. 32.)

8pm. Doc''s, 180 E. Franklin St., Monterey. Free admission. 649-4241.

friday 10|11

Rock Fair

BIG SUR JADE FESTIVAL As if you don''t need another excuse to wrap up some sandwiches, ice down a few drinks, grab a blanket, pack the brats into the station wagon and head on down Highway One, here it is. The flyer for the event lays it all out very neatly: Jade, Gems, Wood, Stone, Raffle, Barbecue, Live Music. For three days in the tiny coastal town of Pacific Valley (population 0.25) there will be crafts and food as well as several dance troupes including the Tribal Mundo Dancers and The Spirit Dancers of MamaLama. The event is a fundraiser for the South Coast Community Land Trust.

Noon to 6pm today, 10am to 6pm Sunday and Monday. Pacific Valley School on Highway One, 65 miles south of Monterey. Free. For more information call 394-8315

saturday 10|12

Chips ''n'' Squid on Parade

MONTEREY SEAFOOD AND MUSIC FESTIVAL The fishing boats off Cannery Row will be working overtime this week, bringing in extra-large hauls to fry up for the ninth annual Old Monterey Seafood Festival. The goings-on will fill Custom House Plaza today and Sunday, with live entertainment on two stages from 10 am to 5pm both days to go along with the fresh fishy delicacies-barbecued oysters, grilled salmon, and, of course, fried calamari. Music highlights include Red Beans & Rice at noon Saturday, the Cachagua Playboys at 3pm Sunday, and from 1-3pm Saturday, Peter Cor and Helios, a World Music-influenced smooth jazz ensemble whose music carries hints of Pat Metheny, Steve Ray Vaughn, Larry Carlton, Brian Auger and Bob James. Did we mention there will also be an arts and crafts fair?

10am-5pm, today and Sunday. Custom House Plaza, at the foot of Alvarado St., Monterey. Free.

Poet of the Coast

ROBINSON JEFFERS BENEFIT FESTIVAL When Robinson Jeffers died in Carmel in 1962, he was a lonely and embittered poet and playwright who had lost most of his audience. Today, thanks in part to the efforts of the Tor House Foundation that promotes both his work and the Carmel stone house he built for his wife Una, Jeffers'' classically-influenced writings are getting the popular exposure they deserve. An all-day benefit festival today examines Jeffers'' work through lectures and dramatic and musical performances based on his poems and plays, particularly his 1946 adaptation of Euripedes'' Medea, which will be produced next year by Pacific Repertory Theater. Morning and afternoon programs are punctuated by a $75 benefit lunch at noon at Pacific''s Edge Restaurant in the Highlands Inn, and the day ends at 5:30pm with a $25 sunset wine reception and dinner buffet at the Tor House Gardens, 26304 Ocean View Blvd., Carmel. Sunday, a free Jeffers Poetry Walk sets out at 9:15am from the Carmel River Beach parking lot.

10am-5pm at the Highlands Inn, Highway One five miles south of Carmel. Dinner from 5:30-7:30pm at Tor House. For reservations and schedule call 624-1813 or visit www.torhouse.org.

Tango For the Children

BENEFIT ARGENTINE TANGO PARTY Yeah, like you need a reason to learn to tango. The San Francisco Bay Area''s Tango Scene will play a set of music and dance in various styles from the Golden Age classic seen in snazzy movies, to the passionate and high-energy tango nuevo. Participation is encouraged, no partner necessary. As if that wasn''t temping enough, the proceeds of this event go to the children of Argentina, who''ve been hard hit by the economic crisis there. So put on your dancing shoes, make sure to clamp a rose between your teeth, and head out to dance for a good cause.

8pm. Carmel Scout House, Corner of Eighth and Mission, Carmel. $15. 394-1520.

Harvest Time

COSECHANDO NUESTRA CULTURA Just because Riverdance has become an international success, the Irish think they own fancy footwork. They don''t. Case in point: baile folklorico. Two of the best Mexican folklorico dance troupes will sway, spin and stomp into town this weekend as the Pajaro Valley Performing Arts Association presents Esperanza del Valle''s Consechando Nuestra Cultura, "Harvesting Our Culture." Local troupe Esperanza del Valle will perform traditional dance of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Special guests Los Cojolitos will wow audiences with their Son Jarocho, traditional music and dance of Veracruz. Recently featured in Selma Hayek''s new movie, Frida, the story of artist Frida Kahlo, the group began as a children''s workshop and has evolved into a professional touring troupe. See them perform live before the rest of the world catches their performance on the silver screen.

8pm today and 2pm Sunday. The Mello Center, 250 E. Beach St., Watsonville. $12 general; $10 seniors and students; $5 children 12 and under. 763-4047.

Sista Song

SISTA MONICA has been belting the blues hereabouts and elsewhere for 10 years now, and tonight she''s going to celebrate that fact. Anyone who''s seen this big-voiced, soulful party girl already wants to see her again; anyone who hasn''t seen her should.

9pm. Sly McFly''s, 700 Cannery Row, Monterey. Price TBA. 649-8050.

sunday 10|13

Romance in the Air

MONTEREY SYMPHONY OPENING CONCERT The Monterey Symphony revs up for the year with a season-opening concert from the Romantic Era: Berlioz''s Le Corsaire Overture (never before performed locally), Tchaikovsky''s Fifth Symphony and Chopin''s Second Piano Concert. The featured performer is German pianist Oliver Kern, who took first prize at the 2001 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. (That''s one for the wall, most certainly.) In addition to the concert, the symphony is holding a black tie gala fundraiser Friday at the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach; and a concert preview luncheon Monday at The Golf Club at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. Musicologist Dr. Jean Widaman will lecture on that evening''s performance one hour and 15 minutes prior to each concert.

3pm today and 8pm Monday at the Pacific Grove Middle School Auditorium, Forest Ave. at Hillcrest, Pacific Grove. $15-$46. Also 8pm Tuesday at Sherwood Hall, 940 N. Main St., Salinas. $15-$35. Call for tickets 624-8511.

We''ve Got Game

WILD GAME BARBEQUE Vegans, this would be a good time to avert your eyes and put cotton in your ears, because Carmel Valley is about to erupt into a carnivorous bacchanal on the most exotic order. The theme is wild game-wild boar, venison, salmon, abalone-fire-cooked to mouth-watering perfection at the deft hands of Lisa Magadini of Los Laureles Lodge, A.B. of Pacific Coast Catering and Brandon Miller of Stokes Adobe. The hoedown comes with cash bar, live music, dancing and a silent auction-and a righteous sense of doing it not for oneself (no, of course not, never) but for the environment. All proceeds benefit the Carmel River Steelhead Association, that band of dedicated fisherfolk who help the salmon up the river every year.

1pm. Los Laureles Lodge, 313 West Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel Valley. $30 (doesn''t include drinks). 626-6586.

tuesday 10|15

World on A String

LULUK ENSEMBLE Brought to you courtesy of the global village comes the Luluk Ensemble, a jazz quartet that weaves threads from wildly divergent cultures into a rich tapestry of sound. Violinist Luluk Purwanto, a native of Java, plays above an ingenious rhythm section comprising pianist Rene van Helsdingen of the Netherlands, Nigerian bassist Essiet Okon Essiet and Italian-born drummer Marcello Pellitteri, who''s shared the stage with Wynton Marsalis. The quartet travels to colleges and small clubs in its own stage bus, an unfolding mobile venue that can be set up in about 30 minutes. Today they give a lecture and demonstration on the Quad at 10:30am, then play for the working masses tonight.

7pm. University Quad (Third near Gen. Jim Moore Blvd), California State University-Monterey Bay. Free. 582-3009.

wednesday 10|16

Extra-Strength Culture Vitamin

CALIFORNIA PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL Been missing out on the myriad plays, art exhibits, concerts and other cultural events on the Peninsula? Feel a little out of the loop when all your hip friends discuss the Shakespeare histories playing at the Golden Bough, or the latest exhibit at one of the seventy billion art galleries in Carmel? Fret no more, the California Performing Arts Festival is here to rescue you, and it kicks off today! This 12-day festival promises to showcase performing arts from around the world, featuring some of those sought-after Shakespeare histories along with Hawaiian and Gypsy Flamenco-and that''s just the first day. There''s also African music, a poetry slam in Salinas, live radio plays and a children''s music festival in Pacific Grove. It''ll take you less than two weeks to catch up with all the art snobs, and it won''t even hurt.

The California Performing Arts Festival begins today and continues through Oct. 27. Various times and venues. For tickets and schedule information visit www.californiafest.org or call 642-9049.