Sun. Best Bets: 8/16

noon: Fair

Singer-entertainer Melba Toast will be master of ceremonies when a diverse group of performers like Texas Terri, flamenco dancer Susana Elena and 13-year-old gospel singer Chavonne Morris take the stage for Long Beach’s 4th Street Fair. There’s plenty of fun from game booths and rides to swing dance and Elvis impersonator contests. You can even learn to play an instrument with the Long Beach Community Band and paint a tortilla with representatives of the Museum of Latin American Art. All proceeds support ARK (Artists Reaching Kids).

* 4th Street Fair, noon-8 p.m. 4th Street between Junipero and Cherry avenues, Long Beach. Free admission. Games and activities, 50 cents to $3. (562) 438-3335.

4pm: Sing-Along

Take a “Sentimental Journey” to some “Faraway Places” at “A Little Travelin’ Music, Please!” The latest offering from Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing-along Participants will meander on “A Slow Boat to China,” a “Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” and will even “Take the ‘A’ Train.”

* “A Little Travelin’ Music Please,” Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. $15. (310) 271-9039.

6:15pm: Blues

In its seventh season, the traveling B.B. King Blues Festival this year takes the name of its perennial headliner. Giving the blues a New Orleans feel are the Neville Brothers, Dr. John and Storyville.

* B.B. King Blues Festival, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City. $25.50-$69.50. (818) 622-4440.

8pm: Pop Music

Some 23 years after she arrived with a searing mix of punk and poetry, Patti Smith still commands a loyal following. Her latest album, “Peace and Noise,” continues the agenda she established back then: “Three-chord rock merged with the power of the word.”

* Patti Smith, Hollywood Athletic Club, 6525 Sunset Blvd. Sold out. (323) 962-6600.

7pm: Music

The Verdugo Hills Showtime Chorus will perform “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “In the Mood,” “The White Cliffs of Dover” and other favorites from the 1930s and ‘40s in “The 1940s Radio Hour” at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. There will also be guest spots by Metropolis (1998 National Harmony Sweepstakes A Capella Champions), soloist Dani Avalos and others. The Showtime Chorus is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, an organization of female singers dedicated to sharing the musical form of four-part barbershop harmony through education, competition and entertainment.

* “The 1940s Radio Hour,” Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood. $15 and $22. (323) 461-3673.

12:30pm: Family

It’s OK to make a mess at Rancho Los Cerritos’ “Mud Mania: A Celebration of Adobe!” Wear old clothes and bring a towel for this hands-on history of adobe where kids and parents can get muddy while learning how to make real adobe bricks. Other offerings include games, music and food.

* “Mud Mania: A Celebration of Adobe!” 12:30-4:30 p.m. 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach. $3. (562) 570-1755.

FREEBIE: “SummerFest ‘98,” contemporary Christian bands, crafts and food, Venice Beach Boardwalk, 1 p.m. (310) 390-7717.