noon: Pop Music

Nearly 18 years after his death, Bob Marley’s legend and stature continue to grow. Similarly, the annual festival in Long Beach celebrating the legacy of the charismatic musician has become North America’s premier showcase for reggae music and African Caribbean culture. The 18th annual Bob Marley Day Festival leans toward tradition, with a Saturday bill headed by dancehall deejay Beenie Man and a Sunday lineup featuring “lover’s rock” stylist Gregory Isaacs.

* Bob Marley Day Festival, Saturday and Sunday at the Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, noon. $25 and $30 (children under 12 free). Festival hotline: (310) 515-3322.

11am: Children

It’s always a good time when Giraffe and Staff Puppet Company puts on its show at the South Bay Borders Books & Music. George Giraffe and his half-dozen animal friends pack ‘em in--the place has been known to be standing-room-only for the educational one-hour program.

* Giraffe and Staff Puppet Company, 11 a.m. at Borders Books & Music, 3700 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. Free. (310) 540-7000.

1pm: Family

“Moby Dick,” an adaptation of the Melville classic by “thirtysomething” star Timothy Busfield’s Sacramento B Street children’s theater company, kicks off six more weeks of family shows in Part 2 of the 24th Street Theatre’s “Saturday Explorer Series.”

* “Moby Dick,” 24th Street Theatre, 1117 W. 24th St., Los Angeles. Saturday, 1 p.m. (Program changes weekly; series ends March 20.) Free, but reservations required due to limited seating: (213) 745-6516.

8pm: Jazz

“A Night at the Cotton Club” re-creates the heyday of the famous Harlem nightspot with music and dancing from the Jazz Age. Ellington scholar and former director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra David Berger leads a 14-piece orchestra that includes trumpeter Art Farmer Checking??. Historic film footage and Cotton Club radio broadcasts will also be presented in this event sponsored by the California Institute for the Preservation of Jazz.

* “A Night at the Cotton Club,” Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. $21-$27. (562) 985-7000.

8pm: Theater

Marian Mercer heads the cast in “On the Verge,” Eric Overmyer’s surrealistic comedy about the odyssey of three Victorian female explorers who time-travel to 1955 Las Vegas, directed by Stephanie Shroyer.

* “On the Verge,” 24th Street Theatre, 1117 W. 24th St., Los Angeles. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 21. $15. (213) 667-0417.

7pm: Swing Dancing

Celebrate Valentine’s Day a bit early with a romantic evening of dinner and dancing. The Swing ‘n’ Hearts Gala at the Biltmore Hotel’s Gold Ballroom will have all the trappings of a 1940s supper club, including tunes from the Johnny Crawford Orchestra. All proceeds benefit the Family Assistance Program in Hollywood and the Hollywood Police Support Assn., which both assist at-risk youth.

* Swing ‘n’ Hearts Gala, 7 p.m., at the Biltmore Hotel, 506 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles. $300 per couple. Reservations required. (323) 461-9632 or (323) 933-7939.

Freebie: Sensei Yoko Tamae will demonstrate Sashiko, the traditional style of Japanese stitching and quilting, at the Little Tokyo Branch Library, 244 S. Alameda St. 1:30 p.m. (213) 612-0525.

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Freebie: Flutist-percussionist Derf Recklaw plays jazz at Borders Books, 2110 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach. 8 p.m. (562) 799-0486.