TASTE O’ PLENTY: The Taste of Orange...

TASTE O’ PLENTY: The Taste of Orange County festival this weekend at the Irvine Spectrum includes lots of music (OC Live!) and a variety of children’s entertainment. But the heart of the annual event is still the food: 37 restaurants will have booths--Friday night through Sunday night--including first timers such as the Hard Rock Cafe and the Cheesecake Factory, both of Newport Beach. . . . Says festival spokeswoman Kristin Brief: “Most of the food items are $2 to $3. The idea is to sample as many restaurants as you can.”

LOCAL CUP: All the attention may be on World Cup soccer, but another internationally popular sport gets a local showing starting today. Water polo’s Alamo Cup runs through Sunday at Corona del Mar High School (C12). The U.S. national team plays Mexico at 8 tonight. Ricardo Azevedo, the U.S. team’s assistant coach, isn’t worried about being overshadowed by soccer: “I think the aquatic fans are going to be there no matter what.”

ORPHAN’S SONG: The ticket prices aren’t as steep--just $50 tops instead of $350--but fans of Latin singing star Juan Gabriel consider his appearance at the Pond of Anaheim Saturday night every bit as spectacular as Barbra Streisand’s. The top Mexican balladeer brought out 75,000 people at the Rose Bowl last year. . . . Gabriel, 42, who was raised in an orphanage, says of his music: “When I was 15, I knew that I had to be somebody. So I exploited the only thing I knew, singing and songwriting.”

BIKE-A-WISH: If you’re a frequent visitor to Las Vegas, you know it’s about a five-hour drive from Orange County before you start losing your money. For Bill Harney of Santa Ana, it’s a 27-hour trek. But he’s guaranteed to come out ahead. Harney, 31, a limousine driver, bicycles to Las Vegas today for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an annual trip he calls “an unmatched high.” He hopes to raise about $2,000 in pledges for the foundation, which makes wishes come true for terminally ill children.