Best Bets Orange County HERE AND NEAR

TODAY

6:30 p.m.

Art

Are you an art-lover in your 20s or 30s, casting about for a way to get together with like-minded souls? Consider “Museum After Hours,” debuting tonight at the Orange County Museum of Art. The focus is the “1999 Biennial,” an exhibition of work by younger artists in California, some of whom will be on hand to chat. Also part of the deal: refreshments, music and the opportunity to make your own stamped-tin valentine.

*Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. Event admission: $12. (949) 759-1122, Ext. 212.

FRIDAY

8 p.m.

Dance

Under the direction of Sergei Radchenko, the Russian National Ballet will dance two full-length ballets this weekend: “Swan Lake” on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m., and “Sleeping Beauty” on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Some of the dancers and the artistic director visited Cerritos last year as the Moscow Festival Ballet.

* Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive. $11.50-$47. (800) 300-4345.

FRIDAY

9:30 p.m.

Pop Music

Sonichrome serves up tasty pure-pop with some noise-guitar crunch, a recipe that proved delectable on its debut album, “Breathe the Daylight,” one of the best O.C. rock releases of 1998. This gig comes with dessert: after Sonichrome plays, leader Chris Karn will step into the role in which local fans first knew him, playing guitar in a reunion show by his old band, Standing Hawthorn.

China Beach, 2369 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente. $5. (949) 492-6228.

SATURDAY

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 dance-hall deejay Beenie Man and a Sunday lineup featuring “lover’s rock” stylist Gregory Isaacs.

* Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd. Also Sunday. $25 and $30 (children under 12 free). Festival hotline: (310) 515-3322.

SUNDAY

1:30 p.m.

Family

Preschoolers and limber grown-ups can move along with the Clock Rug Stretch and the Ten Second Tidy when the first “Big Comfy Couch Live Concert” makes a tour stop in Costa Mesa. Loonette and Molly and Loonette’s 12-foot comfy couch share the spotlight in this sing-along musical stage version of the award-winning PBS children’s show.

* Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $19-$25. (714) 740-7878, (213) 365-3500.

SUNDAY

2 p.m.

Pop Music

On the evidence of her touring and recording guest slots with her dad, Van Morrison, and her new, self-financed debut album, “Caledonia,” Shana Morrison belongs to the ranks of offspring of rock eminences who are worth hearing in their own right. The 28-year-old from Marin County has blues, R&B;, rock and country influences like her father but never sounds imitative. This free Valentine’s Day afternoon show will probably include covers of Van nuggets and some of the traditional Irish songs Shana learned on her paternal grandmother’s knee.

Muldoon’s, 202 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. Free. (949) 640-4110.

SUNDAY

3:30 p.m.

Music

Formed in 1994 at the Berlin School of Art, the Jacques Thibaud String Trio was named after the famous French violinist (1880-1953), whose taste and style won him innumerable admirers throughout his life. Members include violinist Burkharda Maiss, violist Philip Duvier and cellist Uwe Hirth-Schmidt. They will play Beethoven’s Trio in G, Opus 9, No. 1; Penderecki’s Trio, and Mozart’s Divertimento in E-flat, K. 563. The concert is sponsored by the Fullerton Friends of Music.

* Sunny Hills High School, 1801 Warburton Way, Fullerton. Free. (714) 525-5836.