RIVERSIDE--The Dickens Festival celebrates the 185th anniversary...

RIVERSIDE--The Dickens Festival celebrates the 185th anniversary of Charles Dickens with a cake-cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday on the library steps at Mission Inn Avenue and Orange Street and a freestreet fair, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Mission Inn and Lemon Street. Dickens’ great-great grandson Gerald Dickens will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday ($10 per person). A costume ball will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday at Riverside Municipal Auditorium, 3485 Mission Inn Ave. ($25 per person). (800) 430-4140.

SANTA CRUZ--The Migration Festival, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Natural Bridges State Park, salutes migratory animals with lectures, and crafts and games for children. A play about sea turtles will start at 3 p.m. Visitors can also view migratory birds and monarch butterflies. The park is at West Cliff Drive and Swanton Street. Free; parking is $6 per car. (408) 423-4609.

SAN LUIS OBISPO--Belly dancers, Elvis Presley impersonators and gumbo are among offerings at the Mardi Gras Street Faire, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Local restaurants will compete in the Gumbo Cook-Off, and jugglers, dancers and bands will perform. The fair is on Garden Street between Marsh and Higuera streets. Free. (805) 781-2777.

DUNSMUIR--This city, on the Sacramento River south of Mt. Shasta, rolls out its fifth annual Rail Fair from Feb. 14 to 16. The fair will include a swap meet, slide shows, model railroad displays and vintage locomotives. At Sacramento Avenue and Pine Street. 5-10 p.m. Feb. 14, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 15 and 16. Cost for the weekend is $8, adults; $15, family. To register, call (800) 386-7684.

SAN FRANCISCO--The Chinese New Year will be ushered in with a bang Feb. 22 in Chinatown. Firecrackers, floats, bands, lion dancers, a 120-foot dragon and more will be featured in what is billed as the largest nighttime illuminated parade in the U.S. It begins at 5:30 p.m. at Market and Steuart streets. Free. Bleacher seats are $20 each. (415) 391-9680.

Call listed phone numbers for directions.