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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23

BENEFITS

LIFE IS GOOD PUMPKIN FESTIVAL TO BENEFIT CAMP SUNSHINE with thousands of lit jack-o-lanterns, pie eating contests, a costume parade, magic show, rock climbing wall, and performances by Apollo Sunshine, Super Honey, Entrain, Don Campbell Band, and others is from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Boston Common. Free; (617) 905-6866.

MUSIC FEST TO BENEFIT THE OTTAWA REGIONAL CANCER CENTRE FOUNDATION with Barbara Kessler, Amy Fairchild, Georgette Fry, Tannis Slimmon, and Rick Fines is at 7:30 p.m. at McDevitt Middle School Auditorium, 75 Church St., Waltham. Tickets $22; (781) 646-4849.

THROUGH OUR EYES PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT TO BENEFIT NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION INC. is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Church of St. John the Evangelist, 35 Bowdoin St., Boston. Suggested donation $5; (617) 723-5800.

AT THE CLUBS

LOCAL ROCK. The world’s record for most simultaneously lit jack-o’-lanterns is somewhere around 29,000. So the goal of the Life Is Good Pumpkin Festival on Boston Common is to break it. (And there’s competition: a similar effort will get under way at the Six Flags amusement park in Agawam on Halloween.) Even if the LIG folks don’t succeed, the festival looks like a swell time, with pie-eating contests, rock climbing, a costume parade, and a day-long concert featuring Apollo Sunshine, Superhoney, Muck and the Mires, and many more. It runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; for more information, visit www.lifeisgood.com

If you miss Muck on the Common, you can catch them opening for the Lyres later on at the Middle East, 472 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square; call (617) 864-EAST. Around the corner, indie-pop chanteuse Paula Kelly drags out her big-band line-up for one last blast before moving to the West Coast. Former The Elevator Drops guitarist Garvy J opens. That’s at T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street; call (617) 492-BEAR. Then there’s psych/art-rockers the Alienist Outfit: presumed finito last year after they morphed into a new band called On Fire, they’re back with an EP, Selections from the Motionless Picture (Amalagate), and they’re throwing a CD-release party with Constants, Appomattox, and Dusky Silo at the Lizard Lounge, 1667 Commonwealth Avenue in Cambridge. Show up at 7:30 and you can catch the creepy-intense solo act of former Barbaro and current Chroma frontwoman Meaghan McLaughlin for free; call (617) 547-0759.

ROCK. Evan after she sang the words "Wanna hear me disco?", we never expected to hear Kathleen Hanna do the Pointer Sisters’ "I’m So Excited." On Le Tigre’s new This Island (Strummer/Universal), Hanna has located her inner Debbie Harry, and slick club pop shares the dance floor with raging electropunk. The band play Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street in Boston, with openers Gravy Train!!!, who make lo-fi hip-hop with the same anarchic energy and lack of polish that Hanna once brought to Bikini Kill; call (617) 262-2424.

Not even Rick Rubin could tame the unwieldy Seattle math-metal quintet the Blood Brothers, though the album he produced for them, last year’s lacerating Burn, Piano Island, Burn (ArtistDirect), landed them at the top of the avant-metalcore heap alongside Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan. We could bend over backward trying to deconstruct their new Crimes (V2), but all you really need to know is that for the first time, they’ve written songs you don’t need a slide rule to sing along with. With two singers trading panic-stricken gulps and falsetto warbles over Beefheartian hardcore, transcendental thrash, and keyboard-wrecking mars voltage, they’re in town to headline a 6 p.m., all-ages throwdown with Against Me! at the Jackson Mann Community Center, 500 Cambridge Street in Allston. Call (617) 635-5153, or visit www.massconcerts.com

The last Social Distortion album, 1996’s White Light, White Heat, White Trash, proved that Mike Ness’s pain was still louder, stronger, and more vital than that of bands half his age; eight years later, Sex, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Time Bomb) is the one where Ness starts to feel autumn coming on and grudgingly — but also gracefully — passes the torch to a new generation as the world begins to pass him by. Tonight Social D are at Lupo’s at the Strand (401-331-5876) in Providence.

OTHER LIVE SHOWS:

For the following shows, see the Club Directory for phone numbers and addresses.

ABBEY LOUNGE, Somerville. Shanghai Valentine.

AVALON, Boston. At 7 p.m., Le Tigre, Gravy Train, Cannonball Jane.

THE AVENUE, Allston. At 5 p.m., "Acoustical Pop" with Ali.

THE BEACHCOMBER, Quincy. Clutch Grabwell.

BULL RUN, Shirley. Jim Weider Band, Becky Chace Band.

CANTAB LOUNGE, Cambridge. Upstairs: Little Joe Cook & the Thrillers.

CAPO’S, Lowell. At 7 p.m., Swinging Steaks. At 10 p.m., Coots.

CENTER FOR THE ARTS IN NATICK, Natick. At 8 p.m., Pousette-Dart Band.

CLUB HOLLYWOOD, Boston. At 8:30 p.m., "Glitter Switch Drag Karaoke."

CLUB PASSIM, Cambridge. Flynn.

COMMON GROUND, Allston. Ten Mile Tide.

DICK’S LAST RESORT, Boston. Soul City.

ENCORE, Boston. DesPres & DeGraff.

THE ENORMOUS ROOM, Cambridge. "Breaks & Such" with Mark Estrada.

EVOS ARTS, Lowell. Life of Boys, Roh Delikat, Aria Decline.

THE GOOD LIFE CAMBRIDGE, Cambridge. Weepin’ Willie.

THE GOOD LIFE DOWNTOWN, Boston. Jim Porcella Trio.

GREAT SCOTT, Brighton. "The Plan" with Two if by Sea.

GREEN DRAGON, Boston. Freeze Pop.

GREEN STREET GRILL, Cambridge. Kilombo Mambo.

HARPERS FERRY, Allston. Knot.

THE HARP, Boston. Darik & the Funbags.

HENNESSY’S, Boston. At 4 p.m., "Irish Sessuin."

JACOB WIRTH RESTAURANT, Boston. At 7 p.m., Steve Fell Band.

JOHNNY D’S, Somerville. 5 Helena.

KENNEDY’S, Boston. "Reggae Lounge" with Bobbie Steelz & Moon.

KIRKLAND CAFE, Somerville. Tomorrow’s Remedy, Bettersweet, Russell Wolff, Leon Rich Band.

LIZARD LOUNGE, Cambridge. At 9:30 p.m., Alienist Outfit, Contants in Breaking, Appomattox, Codetta.

LUPO’S AT THE STRAND, Providence, RI. Social Distortion, Tiger Army, Explosion.

MIDDLE EAST, Cambridge. Upstairs: Lyres, Muck & the Mires, Triple Thick, Thee Monkey Butlers. Downstairs: "Boston Rising 2.0" with Baby Strange, Charms, Raymond, Eyes Like Knives, Emergency Music.

MIDWAY CAFE, Jamaica Plain. Coachmen.

MR. DOOLEY’S TAVERN, Boston. Inchicore.

O’BRIEN’S, Allston. 18 Wheels of Justice, Bipolarcoaster, Broadzilla, Bottlefight.

OVERDRAUGHT PUB, Cambridge. Scissormen.

THE PALACE, Saugus. "Rio" Brazil’s Carnaval; "Oxygen" rap, hip-hop, top 40, and progressive dance; "Male Encounter" all-male dance review; "Club Copa" Latino Night; "Underground" top 40, Dance, Techno, Hip-hop, Reggae; "The Beach House."

PARADISE LOUNGE, Boston. At 10 p.m., Meika Pauley, Jen Chapin, Dan Fields.

PARADISE ROCK CLUB, Boston. At 9 p.m., Stephen Kellogg, Braddigan.

PARRIS, Boston. Flavor.

PA’S LOUNGE, Somerville. At 9 p.m., Rock Bottom.

PLOUGH & STARS, Cambridge. At 5 p.m., Down Dog. At 9:30 p.m., One Thin Dime.

REGATTABAR, Cambridge. At 7:30 and 10 p.m., Billy Taylor Trio.

RYLES, Cambridge. Yoron Israel & Higher Standards.

SCULLERS, Boston. Tuck & Patti, Sonya Kitchell.

SEA NOTE, Nantasket Beach. Ronnie Baker Brooks.

SISSY K’S, Boston. At 4 p.m., Matt Browne. At 8 p.m., Kevin Kirrane.

TOAD, Cambridge. At 7 p.m., "Greg’s Saturday Showcase." At 10 p.m., Molly Coddle, Guitarzan.

TOP OF THE HUB, Boston. Chris Taylor Quartet.

T.T. THE BEAR’S PLACE, Cambridge. Paula Kelley Orchestra, Garvy J, Vitamin D.

WALLY’S CAFE, Boston. At 9:30 p.m., Jason Palmer/Warren Wolf Jazz Collective.

WESTERN FRONT, Cambridge. Hot Like Fire.

WONDER BAR, Allston. Rusty Scott Quartet.

ZEITGEIST GALLERY, Cambridge. At 7 p.m., Nando Michelin Piano Trio. At 9 p.m., Either/Orchestra. At 11:30 p.m., "Underground Circus Jamboree."

ZUZU, Cambridge. "Soul-le-lu-jah."

DJ SHOWS:

AN TUA NUA, Boston. "Shake It Up," Top 40 with DJ Ren Justice.

ARIA, Boston. "Ecco," international and vocal house, with DJ Roger M. In the Angel Room, "International Saturdays."

ATLAS DANCE, Boston. "Top 40 Dancing."

AVALON, Boston. At 10 p.m., "Tease" sexy house with DJ Rick Naples.

THE AVENUE, Allston. At 5 p.m., "Acoustical Pop" with Ali. At 9 p.m., House with DJ Munroe.

AXIS, Boston. At 10 p.m., "Seductive Saturday" Hip-hop and Reggae with DJ Glen.

BLARNEY STONE PUB, Dorchester. Commercial dance and R&B.

BLUE CAT CAFE, Boston. DJ Casey.

BOSTON ROCKS, Boston. Interactive video Top 40 Dance & hip-hop party with VJ Johnnie Walker.

BUCK MULLIGAN’S, West Roxbury. R&B, rock, and dance with DJ Keith.

BUZZ BOSTON/EUROPA, Boston. "Killer Dance Club," gay night with DJs Mary Alice & Michael Sheehan.

CLUB CAFE, Boston. "Boys Night Out" with VJ Cliff Cunningham.

CLUB 58, Quincy. "Party Central Saturday" with DJ Greg.

DEVLIN’S LOUNGE AND BAR, Brighton. DJ Bruno James.

EMBASSY, Boston. At 10 p.m., "Essence" with DJs Reevz & Lograsso.

THE E ROOM AT THE GOLDEN TEMPLE, Brookline. Disco, motown, and classics from the ’80s & ’90s with DJ John Reed.

FELT, Boston. "Top 40 and Club Classics."

G-SPOT, Boston. "Deep, sexy house" with DJs Mike Traylor & Paul Incus.

HENNESSY’S, Boston. At 9 p.m., DJ Kriss Kross.

HONG KONG, Cambridge. Top 40 Hip-Hop, Rock & Club Classics with DJ Chris G.

IRISH VILLAGE, Brighton. "Left Saturday" with DJ Kelvin.

JUKEBOX, Boston. Top 40 and retro dance night.

THE KELLS, Allston. Hip-hop, house, techno, top 40 with DJs Darren Drag & Kieran.

LA BOOM, Boston. "Futurebeat: Alien Disco" with DJ Addambombb.

MAN RAY, Cambridge. "Liquid Disco Trash" with DJ Gary Conzo and retro new wave with DJ Chris Ewen.

MATRIX, Boston. "1984" ’80s night with DJ Gibby.

MILKY WAY, Jamaica Plain. At 8:30 p.m., "Mango’s Latin Dance Club" with DJ Antonio Ortiz.

THE MODERN, Boston. "Material" Funk, hip-hop, R&B with Bruno Dreads.

ORLEANS, Somerville. DJ Gabe.

THE PALACE, Saugus. "Rio" Brazil’s Carnaval; "Uptown" DJs spin faves from the ’70s and ’80s; "Oxygen" rap, hip-hop, top 40, and progressive dance; "Male Encounter" all-male dance review; "Club Copa" Latino Night; "Underground" top 40, Dance, Techno, Hip-hop, Reggae; "The Beach House."

PHOENIX LANDING, Cambridge. "Boom Boom Room," new wave, one hit wonders, and disco with DJ Vinney.

THE PLACE, Boston. VJ Laptop.

PRAVDA 116, Boston. High-energy dance music with DJ Rick Naples.

Q, Boston. At 9 p.m., DJ Profenna.

THE RACK, Boston. "Dance Party" with DJs Vinnie Peruzzi and Littles.

REDLINE, Cambridge. At 10 p.m., DJ Cherry.

RIVER GODS, Cambridge. "Peer Pressure: We Know It When We Mix It" with Unlockedgroove.

ROGGIE’S, Brighton. House with DJ Marc Farrell.

THE ROXY, Boston. "Roxy Saturdays," high NRG house and dance, with DJ Adilson.

SCRUFFY MURPHY’S, Dorchester. "Party Time" with DJ Jen.

SISSY K’S, Boston. Upstairs: "Dance Party," old school and new dance, with DJ Tom McKenna.

SUGAR SHACK, Boston. Hip hop, and top 40 with DJ B-Spin.

SWEETWATER CAFE, Boston. Old and new dance hits with DJs KC and Gallo.

SW1, Boston. Hip-Hop, Reggae, ’70s Funk, and House with DJ Bruno.

THIRSTY SCHOLAR PUB, Somerville. DJ Sean.

TOAST, Somerville. "Prescription Spinning House."

TRATTORIA IL PANINO, Boston. ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s with DJ Zino; progressive, top-40, club, and international with DJ Steve Anderson.

21st AMENDMENT, Boston. DJ Sean Daly.

VAPOR, Boston. "Crosswalk," with DJs David Skye, M.J.

VENU, Boston. European disco house with DJs Javier and Nico and "Mythos," ethnic house and Greek sounds with DJ Yorgo.

VERTIGO, Boston. "Vertigo Saturdays," hip hop, R&B, house, and reggae, with DJ Ron Steel.

WEST STREET GRILLE, Boston. Top 40 funk and dance with DJs Gabe and Lazee Boy.

WHO’S ON FIRST, Boston. At 10 p.m., DJs Garfield, Disciple, and Nate.

AT THE COMEDY CLUBS

BEANTOWN COMEDY VAULT, Boston. "BostonAttitude" with Paul Keenan.

CHOPS LOUNGE, Boston At 10 p.m., "Larry Lee Lewis Comedy Show."

COMEDY CONNECTION, Boston. At 8 and 10:15 p.m., Richard Jeni.

COMEDY STUDIO, Cambridge. Steve Calechman, Janet Cormier, Dan Sally, Andy O’Fish, Tommy Morello.

DICK DOHERTY’S AT THE CHINA BLOSSOM, North Andover. Chris Oakes, Sam Walters, Matt Soni.

IMPROV ASYLUM, Boston. At 7 p.m., "Burlesque Exposes Bush Or How Dubya Got Kerry’d Away."

IMPROVBOSTON THEATRE, Cambridge. At 6 p.m., "ImprovBoston Family Show." At 8 and 10 p.m., "ImprovBoston Mainstage."

JIMMY TINGLE’S OFF BROADWAY, Somerville. At 7:30 p.m., "Jimmy Tingle: Election Year Humor & Other Observations." At 10 p.m., "I Didn’t Vote for George W." with Brian Longwell.

KOWLOON, Saugus. At 8 and 10 p.m., Al Ducharme, Kerri Louise, Dan Miller.

NICK’S COMEDY STOP, Boston. At 8:45 p.m., Ira Proctor, Craig Boggis, Larry Lee Lewis.

NICK’S MAUI, Brockton. At 9 p.m., Brad Mastrengelo, PJ Walsh, Ben Boime.

CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS

Last night's performance of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Eighth Symphony marked the debut of James Levine as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t note that tonight’s remaining performance is officially sold out. A few tickets will surely be available on the steps of Symphony Hall; whether they’ll be less expensive than Sox playoff seats is another matter. That’s at 8 p.m., and Symphony Hall is at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, and tickets (check the box office for returns) are $27 to $105; call (617) 266-1200.

For us, Handel’s Giulio Cesare will always mean Susan Larson’s Cleopatra descending seated in that giant fish hook to snag her Caesar in the Peter Sellars/Craig Smith production back in the 1980s. Boston Baroque won’t have Susan or the fish hook, but it will have David Walker as Caesar and Lisa Saffer as Cleopatra and Martin Pearlman on the podium when it opens its 2004–2005 with a semi-staged production of Handel’s operatic masterpiece in Italian with English supertitles. That’s tonight at 7:30 p.m. ("Opera Introduction" at 6:30) at Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street in Boston, and tickets are $22 to $63; call (617) 484-9200.

OTHER CLASSICAL CONCERTS:

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC OPERA INSTITUTE presents Richard Wargo’s Ballymore Part One: Winners tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow and 3 p.m. at the Boston University Theatre, Studio 210, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston. Tickets $5; (617) 933-8600.

CONCORD ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY RICHARD PITTMAN performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale), Dvorák’s Violin Concerto, with Peter Zazofsky, and Chou Wen-chung’s And the Fallen Petals tonight at 8 p.m. at 51 Walden St., Concord. Tickets $18, $15 for students, seniors; (978) 369-4967.

AUROS GROUP FOR NEW MUSIC performs works by Bernard Rands at 8 p.m. at Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., Cambridge. Tickets $20, $10 for students, seniors; (617) 323-5444.

EL DORADO ENSEMBLE performs works by Brade, Johnson, Coperario, and Jenkins tonight at 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 11 Garden St., Cambridge; and tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Somerville Museum, Central and Westwood Sts., Somerville. Tickets $18, $14 for students, seniors; (617) 776-0692.

LUXEMBOURG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY BRAMWELL TOVEY performs works by Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Bright Sheng at 8 p.m. at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester. Tickets $41-$44, $20 for students; (508) 754-3231.

PROVIDENCE SINGERS perform Haydn’s The Creation at 8 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, 30 Fenner St., Providence. Tickets $18-$38; (401) 621-6123.

SARASA CHAMBER ENSEMBLE performs works by Buxtehude, Bach, Handel, Telemann, and Kuhnau at 8 p.m. at Friends Meeting House, 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge. Tickets $19, $16 for seniors, $12 for students; (617) 492-4758.

POP MUSIC CONCERTS

FOLK. These days, "folk singer" means "singer/songwriter," which means "pop musician in drag." Richard Shindell is having none of that — his bare-bones songs dig right into their Celtic roots. They’re mythic and strange, whether they’re being topical or setting John Donne to music, as Shindell does on his new Koch release, Vuelta, where he also covers Pete Seeger’s "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy." He’s joined by duet partner Lucy Kaplansky in a double bill (they’ll sing separately and together) at 7:30 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square; call (617) 628-3390.

OTHER POP CONCERTS:

AGAINST ME!, BLOOD BROTHERS, AND TRUE NORTH perform at 6 p.m. at the Jackson Mann Community Center, 500 Cambridge St., Allston; www.massconcerts.com

BALÉ FOLCLÓRICO DA BAHIA performs at 8 p.m. at the Orpheum, 1 Hamilton Pl., Boston. Tickets $30-$40; (617) 876-4275.

ROW-A-PALOOZA with Logan, Gavin DeGraw, and Spookie Daly Pride starts at 1 p.m. at Weeks Footbridge, Memorial Dr., Cambridge. Free; (617) 868-6200.

WHAT WE LIVE WITH SAADET TÜRKÖZ performs at 8 p.m. at Artists-at-Large Gallery, First Congregational Church of Hyde Park, 6 Webster St., Boston. Suggested donation $8; (781) 631-7641.

DANCE/PERFORMANCE

Boston Ballet opens its 2004–2005 season with "Balanchine Martins Balanchine" — which is to say, George Balanchine’s Rubies (the middle section of his evening-length Jewels, it’s set to Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra), New York City Ballet director Peter Martins’s Distant Light (set to the Peteris Vasks violin concerto of the same name), and Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 (to Mozart’s Divertimento K.287). Any program with two Balanchine works on it is already a winner, and Distant Light, which the Ballet commissioned from Martins, has looked promising in rehearsal. The program is presented today at 2 and 8 p.m., and tomorrow at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont Street in the Theater District. Tickets are $18 to $98; call (800) 447-7400.

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company marks its 20th anniversary and its annual Bank of America Celebrity Series visit to Boston with a program comprising The Gift/No God Logic (1987), the Boston premiere of There Were . . . (1993; revised 2002), the Boston premiere of Reading, Mercy and the Artificial Nigger (2003), and Mercy 10x8 on a Circle (2003). Performances are tonight at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont Street in the Theater District, and tickets are $42 to $60; call (800) 447-7400.

Yes, as noted, Boston Ballet and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane folks are in town tonight, but down in Rhode Island, Festival Ballet Providence is staging the world premiere of The Widow’s Broom, a new work by former Boston Ballet principal Viktor Plotnikov, whose choreographic contributions to the company’s "Raw Dance" productions over the past few years attest to a genuine talent. The plot has a witch dropping in on the Widow Shaw at Halloween and leaving her broom in the widow’s closet; the broom helps with the chores, and it would like to dance with the widow, but then the neighbors get wind and all hell breaks loose. The Widow’s Broom is presented tonight at 7:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at the VMA Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Avenue of the Arts in Providence, and tickets are $11 to $51; call (401) 353-1129.

BALÉ FOLCLÓRICO DA BAHIA performs at 8 p.m. at the Orpheum, 1 Hamilton Pl., Boston. Tickets $30-$40; (617) 876-4275.

DANCE/PARTICIPATORY

GAY AND LESBIAN CONTRA DANCE is from 7:30 to 11 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, Centre and Eliot Sts., Jamaica Plain. Tickets $6, $5 before 8 p.m.; (617) 522-2216.

INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE is at 7 p.m. at Church of Our Saviour, 21 Marathon St., Arlington. Tickets $7; (781) 662-7475.

NEW ENGLAND CONTRAS AND SQUARES COUPLES DANCE is at 8 p.m. at the Scout House, 74 Walden St., Concord. Tickets $8; (617) 547-7781.

NOCHE DE LA SALSA is at 9:30 p.m. at the Brookline Community Center for the Arts, 14 Green St., Brookline. Tickets $10; (617) 738-2800.

NORWEGIAN COUPLE DANCE is at 8 p.m. at the Cambridge YWCA, 7 Temple St., Cambridge. Tickets $6; (617) 661-3670.

RYLES DANCE HALL with Latin, swing, and tango sounds with DJ Chris Johnston is at 9 p.m. at Ryles Jazz Club (second floor), 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge. Tickets $12; (617) 876-9330.

EVENTS

BOSTON VEGETARIAN FOOD FESTIVAL with samples, exhibits, demonstrations, speakers, and more is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St., Boston. Free; (617) 424-8846.

BREAK THE SILENCE RALLY TO END DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is at 1 p.m. at Cambridge City Hall, 795 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. Free; (617) 354-2676.

HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA with over 7000 rowers from 600 universities, schools, and clubs is today and tomorrow from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. along the Charles River, Memorial Dr. and Soldiers Field Rd., Cambridge and Boston. Free; (617) 868-6200.

KING RICHARD’S FAIRE with magicians, musicians, soothsayers, fire-eaters, jugglers, dancers, unruly fools, games, vittles, brew, crafts, and more is today and tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at King Richard’s Fairgrounds, Rte. 58, Carver. Tickets $24, $12 for ages 5-12, free for children under 5; (508) 866-5391.

NEW ENGLAND CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL with samples, exhibits, demonstrations, and prizes is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Showroom, 808 Comm. Ave., Boston. Tickets $10; (617) 353-9852.

STUDENTS FOR THE ARTS TOUR leaves at 4 p.m. from Starbucks, corner of Boylston and Berkeley Sts., Boston. Tickets $20; (617) 732-3920.

GAY & LESBIAN

GLITTER SWITCH DRAG KARAOKE is at 8:30 p.m. at Club Hollywood Boston, 41 Essex St., Boston. Tickets $5; (617) 417-0186.

HALLOWEEN

GHOSTS & GRAVESTONES TOUR leaves nightly at 6, 7, 8, and 9 p.m. from the Old Town Trolley Stop, at the New England Aquarium and Old Atlantic Ave., Boston. Tickets $30, $18 for children; (617) 269-3626.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN SHOW with one million pounds of carved pumpkins is nightly from 6 to 11 p.m. at Rockingham Park, Rockingham Park Blvd., Salem, NH. Tickets $15, $10 for children 4-12; (603) 898 2311.

JACK O’ LANTERN SPECTACULAR with over 5000 carved pumpkins over a three-acre trail is from 6 to 11 p.m. nightly at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence, RI. Tickets $12, $10 for seniors, $9 for children 3-12; (401) 785-3510.

WITCH’S WOODS with the Castle Morbid, Haunted Hayride, Nightmare Mansion, and Keeper’s Crypt is tonight and tomorrow from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Nashoba Valley Ski Area, Power Rd., Westford. Tickets $20, $17 for ages 12 and under; (978) 692-3033.

CASTLE OF THE DAMNED is tonight from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Hammond Castle, 80 Hesperus Ave., Gloucester. Tickets $10, $8 for students, seniors, $5 children; (781) 853-0583.

SIX FLAGS FRIGHTFEST with voodoo demons, Nightmare Island, Terrorvision Circus, Dead Legends live (with Elvis, Marilyn, Morrison), a Trail of Terror, flying goblins, savage mutants and more is today from noon to 10 p.m., and tomorrow from noon to 9 p.m. at Six Flags, Rte. 159 South, Main St., Agawam. Tickets $24.99-$39.99 depending on height; (413) 786-9300.

A HAUNTED CABARET with Rita Parisi and Joe Mulholland is today and tomorrow at 1 and 2:30 p.m. at Smolak Farms, 315 South Bradford St., North Andover. Tickets $5; (978) 682-4029.

LIFE IS GOOD PUMPKIN FESTIVAL TO BENEFIT CAMP SUNSHINE with thousands of lit jack-o-lanterns, pie eating contests, a costume parade, magic show, rock climbing wall, and performances by Apollo Sunshine, Much & the Mires, Super Honey, Entrain, Don Campbell Band, Kate Shrock, and Ben Rudnick is from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Boston Common. Free; (617) 905-6866.

MAUDSLAY IS HAUNTED with a walk through eerie vignettes, sketches, and scenes by Theater in the Open is today and tomorrow from 2 to 4 p.m. at Maudslay State Park, 1 Curzon Mill Rd., Newburyport. Tickets $5; (978) 462-6680.

SALEM’S FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD with the "Psychic Fair and Witchcraft Expo" and "The Haunted Crypt of Spirit Boards" is at various locations in Salem; visit www.festivalofthedead.com

AT THE MOVIES

Too drunk to seek that certain somebody to make the night more interesting? Just want to watch an independent Irish flick? Booze and film, the classic combination! Get your Irish-culture fix tonight at the sixth annual Boston Irish Film Festival, presented by Magners Irish Cider. Screenings will be held at the Harvard Film Archive (24 Quincy Street, Cambridge), the Brattle Theatre (40 Brattle Street, Cambridge), and the Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline). BIFF features the very best of contemporary Irish and Irish-related film and video, and bestows awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Best Short Fiction/Animation. Special guest Gabriel Byrne, who will receive BIFF’s Excellence Award on the festival’s closing night, will be in attendance. We could list all the flicks to hit the screen tonight, but the ice in our Magners is melting. Visit www.irishfilmfestival.com for full listings; you can score tickets at www.ticketweb.com

If you’re going to any of the following movies, you’ve doubtless already made up your political mind, but it may still be worth attending the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s week-long "Films To See Before You Vote" Festival just to restoke your ire. Among the features screening are local alternative-news legend Danny Schechter’s WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception, which Phoenix media critic Dan Kennedy has described as a more powerful indictment of the current administration than Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. It screens at 6 p.m. Then if you’re sick of the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, check out Paul Alexander’s Brothers in Arms to see what the people who were there have to say. It screens at 8 p.m. The Coolidge is at 290 Harvard Street in Brookline; call (617) 734-2501.

We’ve come a long way from the wine-women-and-song philosophy of Zorba the Greek to the dissolution and despair of Elissavet Chronopoulou’s A Song Is Not Enough (2003). It’s the melancholy but funny tale of a husband and wife whose free and easy ’70s lifestyle is disrupted by the arrival of a daughter and a visit from the secret police. It screens at 2 p.m., as part of this weekend’s Greek Film Festival, in the Remis Auditorium at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue in Boston; call (617) 267-9300.

OPENING THIS WEEKEND. If Ben Affleck’s movie career has trouble Surviving Christmas, maybe he can make a run at President Kerry’s vacant Senate seat. Here he plays a lonely man who rents out a family to celebrate the title holiday. Christina Applegate, James Gandolfini, and Catherine O’Hara help out; Mike Mitchell (Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo) directs. At least Ben hasn’t reinvented himself as the demon in The Grudge, Japanese director Takashi Shimizu’s Hollywood version of his Japanese Ju-on horror series about a curse spawned by rage and passed like a virus. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, and Bill Pullman star. Career crises for actors are nothing new, as the 17th-century female-role specialist played by Billy Crudup in Stage Beauty can attest: King Charles II (Rupert Everett) rescinds the ban on women taking the stage and suddenly Crudup’s Desdemona is no longer in demand. Richard Eyre (Iris) adapts the Jeffrey Hatcher play; Claire Danes represents her gender. Also perhaps looking for new work is the aging thespian played by Annette Bening in Being Julia, István Szabó’s adaptation of the Somerset Maugham novel Theatre. Julia would do well to avoid the second profession taken up by Vera Drake in Mike Leigh’s tale of a saintly abortionist in 1950s London. Imelda Staunton stars. Maybe Vera needs a visit from evangelist T.D. Jakes, who appears in this adaptation of his own "self-help novel" Woman Thou Art Loosed about a woman on death row seeking salvation. Michael Schultz directs. Or from Sainte Thérèse of Lisieux, who’s the subject of the Leonardo Defilippis bio-pic Thérèse, which stars Lindsay Younce in the title role. Good luck saving the souls of the underground musicians in Dig!, Ondi Timoner’s documentary about the friendship and the rivalry between Left Coast psych-rock indie heroes the Brian Jonestown Massacre and their more commercially successful brethren the Dandy Warhols. It screens at the Kendall Square, and if after watching it you’re still keen on putting up with Jonestown guru Anton Newcombe’s retro-rock messiah shtick, you can catch the BJM in the flesh next Thursday, October 28, downstairs at the Middle East, 480 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square; call (617) 864-EAST.

READINGS & LECTURES

BREAKFAST WITH THE AUTHORS with Lan Samantha Chang, Howard Frank Mosher, and Dennis MacFarland is at 8 a.m. at American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton St., Lowell. Tickets $18; (978) 369-2405.

JOHN MAY discusses his Poe & Fanny at 2 p.m. at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge. Tickets $8; (617) 607-1981.

"OPEN BARK POETRY NIGHT" with Deborah Priestly is at 8 p.m. at Out of the Blue Gallery, 106 Prospect St., Cambridge. Suggested donation $3-$5; (617) 354-5287.

JANET TASHJIAN reads from her The Gospel According to Larry at 3 p.m. at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, 44 Baker Farm, Lincoln. Free; (978) 369-2405.

AMANDA EYRE WARD reads from her How To Be Lost at 7:30 p.m. at the Attic Bar, 107R Union St., Newton. Free; (617) 244-6619.

"FROM METAPHOR TO JOURNALISM: THE SORROWS OF SCRIBBLES WITHOUT WALLS" is a lecture by Andrei Codrescu at 7 p.m. at MIT, Stata Center Rm. 32-155, 32 Vassar St., Cambridge. Free; (617) 253-4771.

THEATER

Don’t you think it’s funny how cyclical things are? Stephen Sondheim’s big breakthrough, the Tony Award–winning musical Company, had its first public performance here in Boston back in 1970 (before our fingers could type "hype"), and from this pre-Broadway engagement it went on to get snubbed by the New York critics. But then it cashed in big at the Tonys before becoming a landmark of modern musical theater, and receiving innovative revivals in New York and London — so take that, you windbag New York critics. Anyway, now Company, which takes a fresh and witty look at how an unwed 35-year-old man relates to his married friends, is back in Boston for its 35th anniversary. It continues tonight at 8 in the Roberts Studio Theatre, part of the spanking new Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (539 Tremont Street, Boston). You can get your tickets for $40 at www.speakeasystage.com

Playwright Mark St. Germaine didn’t have to "Imagine" his play about FBI gumshoes trailing John Lennon during the Vietnam War. Ears on a Beatle, which opens tonight at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, was inspired by actual FBI surveillance records from those halcyon days of paranoia brought to you by the Nixon Administration, when J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI wanted Lennon deported. The play eavesdrops on the unusual friendship that develops between an embittered Dennis Franz–type undercover agent and his idealistic rookie partner as they turn their wire-tapping skills on "The Subject." Having debuted at Barrington Stage Company in 2003 and enjoyed a 2004 Off Broadway run, Ears on a Beatle now comes to the Lyric, 140 Clarendon Street in Boston, with Paula Ramsdell directing and Steven Barkhimer and Michael Kaye as the agents. Performances continue through November 20, and tickets are $19 to $43; call (617) 437-7172.

The Marx Brothers actually played the Majestic Theatre, in the flesh, in 1922 and again in 1925. Groucho: A Life in Revue can offer only the next best thing, with Frank Ferrante, who’s made a career of playing the cigar-sucking, eyebrow-waggling Marx sib of the title, standing in for Groucho between the ages of 15 and 85. Roy Abramsohn co-stars as Harpo and Chico; Marguerite Lowell plays "the women in the Marxes’ lives," from Mom to Margaret Dumont. Maybe the duck will come down and you’ll win $200. Groucho continues through tomorrow at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street in the Theater District. Tickets are $15 to $65; call (800) 233-3123, or visit www.maj.org/masters