GOINGS ON : Tickets Are Going Fast for Live Oak Festival : * The music will include a variety of styles--blues, bluegrass, zydeco, jazz, Cajun, swing, ethnic, western and folk.

Charles Brown, Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan, Flora Purim, The Acousticats, Cats and Jammers, Pele Juju, The Cache Valley Drifters and The Turtle Island String Quartet are among the more than two dozen acts scheduled for the Live Oak Music Festival, Friday through Sunday at Live Oak Camp. The campground is off Highway 154 west of Santa Barbara, near Lake Cachuma.

About 2,000 people are expected to turn out for the mix of musical styles--which will include various forms of blues, bluegrass, zydeco, jazz, Cajun, swing, ethnic, western and folk music.

There will also be musical workshops, a Friday night Barn Dance, the Hot Licks Cafe for after-hours entertainment, an arts and crafts marketplace, storytelling and children’s musicians and activities. Breakfast (with musical accompaniment) will be served daily ($5 adults, $3.50 children under age 10).

Now the tricky part. Tickets are going swiftly. Many folks camp out for the three days, but no more camping spots are available. Single-day tickets still remain and may be available at the gate. Prices are $20 for Friday, $25 for Saturday or Sunday. Children under age 13 are free with an adult. To check on ticket availability and for schedule information, call 781-3030.

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Celebrate the Summer Solstice in uniquely festive--and offbeat--Santa Barbara style with the 20th anniversary Summer Solstice celebration Saturday morning to Saturday night. The theme of this year’s extravaganza is “Hot.”

As usual a collection of creative minds and talented hands have come together to create costumes for the parade, which will go up State Street from Cota Street to Micheltorena Street beginning at noon.

The parade will conclude at Alameda Park (at Micheltorena and Anacapa streets) where, not coincidentally, the Family Festival will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Party-goers will get to view the elaborate parade costumes up close, and celebrate with local dancers, musicians and storytellers.

Santa Barbara’s Solstice day will conclude at the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens (at Anapamu and Anacapa streets) where musicians, dancers and actors will join in the multicultural celebration from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission to this and the other events is free. For more information call 965-3396.

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The House of Blues band--made up of Santa Barbara musicians Bill Flores (saxophone), Gary Sangenitto (bass), Dennis Goddard (guitar), Mike Kowalski (drums) and John Lawston (vocals, guitar)--will perform Saturday at White Winds Studio in Montecito. The musicians currently play with the group Little Johnny and the Giants. Show time is 8 p.m. Admission is $10.

Also at White Winds, Mama Pat and The Inner Light Community Gospel Choir will give a Father’s Day concert Sunday at 4 p.m. The 11-year-old choir has performed in churches, schools, prisons, senior centers and other locations in and around Santa Barbara. Admission is $10 (general), $7 (fathers). The studio is at 113 Middle Road. Call 969-5718.

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Delores Bowles, a.k.a. “Peter Rabbit’s Mama,” will share tales of Beatrix Potter on Sunday as the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History continues its visit to “The World Of Peter Rabbit.” In addition to the stories, Bowles will show off her collection of figurines representing some of Potter’s characters. The presentation will begin at 3 p.m. Admission is $2. The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road. Call 682-4711 for more information.

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Folks at Pismo Beach are revving up their engines for this weekend’s ninth annual “Antique, Street Rod, Classic & Custom Car Show.” More than 600 cars are expected to line the streets Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to noon. They will be along Pomeroy, Cypress and Price streets, and in the Pier Parking lot. Food and crafts vendors will be stationed nearby. For more information call 773-1661.

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After the Jan. 17 earthquake, Steve Stein spray-painted the boarded up windows of his battered Sherman Oaks art gallery with the phrase, “The Glass is Half Full.” Beginning Saturday he will share more of this positive approach when his “Picking up the Pieces” exhibit opens at the Steve Stein Gallery in Montecito.

Stein created the art from what was left of craft work that was broken in his studio during the quake. Among the titles of his pieces are “It’s Not My Fault, It’s Not My Fault” and “Chicken Soup, Great for the Shaking.” A portion of sale proceeds will go to the American Red Cross Earthquake Emergency Fund.

Opening receptions are set for Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Gallery is at 1155 Coast Village Road. Call 565-2032 for more information.

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The beginnings of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the crumbling of Czechoslovakia’s Communist government and other historic European events are depicted in the exhibit “Art As Activist: Revolutionary Posters From Central and Eastern Europe,” opening Tuesday at UC Santa Barbara’s University Art Museum.

Most of the 82 posters in this Smithsonian Institution show were taken directly from public places in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. They represent a form of expression from professional artists and the public.

The show, on display through July 31, will open with a lecture called “Protest Posters: The Art of Opposition.” It will begin at 6 p.m. at the museum’s main gallery, and will be followed by a reception. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Call 893-2951 for more information.

Leo Smith is a regular contributor to Ventura County Life. Write to him at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura, 93003 or send faxes to 658-5576.