All day Family

A new 6,500-square-foot hands-on learning center opens at the Petersen Automotive Museum using interactive displays based on the automobile to teach childen about mechanics, motion, force and energy. Children can take a spin on a driving simulator, learn about physics on the Gravitram, discover the force of inertia by racing two wheels down a track or play the part of a sparkplug on a giant internal combustion engine. May Family Discovery Center was made possible through a $1-million grant provided by the May Family Foundation. The center’s target age is 6 to 16.

* The May Family Discovery Center, Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Admission to the center is included with the general admission to the museum. Adults, $7; seniors, students, $5; children 5 to 12, $3. Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (213) 930-CARS.

8 pm: Comedy & Dance

VIVA (a nonprofit gay and lesbian Latino artists organization) presents its sixth annual Chicks & Salsa laugh fest and dance party. The evening gets started with comedy by Tofu Tamale Queen Monica Palacios, Mimi Gonzales and Claudia Rodriguez, followed by dancing with Claudette Sexy DJ.

* Chicks & Salsa, Rudolfo’s, 2500 Riverside Drive, Silver Lake. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. $12. 21 and over. (310) 301-8035.

8 pm: Dance

Hot and contemporary, Montreal Danse brings a sampling of Canadian innovation to the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. The program includes Jose Besprosvany’s “Ciudad de Hierro” (City of Iron), set to music by Hughes de Courson as well as the sounds the dancers themselves make using junkyard objects (oven grills, car horns, boxes) as accompaniment. Also scheduled: “Lines From Memory,” the third Susan Marshall piece to music by Philip Glass that has been presented on local stages during the past month.

* Montreal Danse, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A. campus, East Los Angeles. $15-$32.50. (213) 343-6600.

8:30am: Family

The Pasadena Symphony’s Musical Circus is one place where you won’t hear the words “don’t touch.” Children can sample a smorgasbord of symphonic instruments, trying their hands at tooting a clarinet, flute, oboe or tuba, or plucking a violin or cello. The Pasadena Symphony’s woodwind quintet will present an interactive musical program at 9:15 a.m.

* Pasadena Symphony’s Musical Circus, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St. Free. (626) 793-7172.

10am: Tour

The Los Angeles Conservancy’s Fifth Annual Discovery Tour will give urban explorers the chance to take a self-guided auto tour of art and architecture in the Highland Park and Mount Washington areas, where more than 50 artists will open their homes and studios to the public. Saturday’s tour covers Highland Park and Eagle Rock and ends with a reception at the Judson Stained Glass Studios. Sunday’s tour covers the Mount Washington area and ends with a reception at the famous Lummis Home.

* Los Angeles Conservancy’s Fifth Annual Discovery Tour, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Purchase tickets day of tour at Random Gallery, 6040 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park. $10 for one day; $15 for two. (213) 550-8000.

7 pm: Music

With a cast headed by sopranos Ashley Putnam and Constance Hauman, L.A. Opera continues its season with the Santa Fe Opera production of Emmerich Kalman’s “Countess Maritza” in English. John Crosby, in his L.A. debut, conducts; stage director is Linda Brovsky. The cast includes Kevin Anderson, Robert Orth and Gert Henning-Jensen.

* “Countess Maritza” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown. $24-$135. Subsequent performances on Tuesday and Dec. 2, 5 and 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. (213) 365-3500.

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FREEBIE: Female writers and activists discuss feminism, Sisterhood Bookstore, Westwood, noon. (310) 477-7300.