BEST BETS Friday 10/7

10pm Pop Music

When the group Pere Ubu clanked its way out of Cleveland in 1975, it added a new, surreal wrinkle to the U.S. rock underground and introduced the jarring environmental sounds that would later describe a new genre, industrial rock. The influential band has survived stylistic evolution and personnel shifts. Founding members David Thomas and Tom Herman anchor the lineup as the group opens a brief tour to mark its 25th anniversary.

* Pere Ubu, Saturday at Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 10 p.m. $15. (323) 463-0204.

8pm

Theater

In the West Coast premiere of “Signature,” Beth Henley’s sci-fi drama set in Hollywood in the year 2052, everyone is obsessed with pursuing his or her “15 minutes of fame.”

* “Signature,” Actors’ Gang Theater, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 29. $20 to $25; opening night, $30. (323) 465-0566, Ext. 2.

all day

Festival

Street painting using chalk is an Italian tradition dating back to the 16th century. On Saturday and Sunday, this custom will be revived at Bella Via, Valencia’s Italian Street Painting Festival. Six notable street painters will produce original creations and famous artworks on Valencia’s Town Center Drive. Amateur artists from throughout the state will fill the remainder of Valencia’s “main” street. The event also will include a fine art exhibit, live music, stage entertainment and craft activities for children. A gourmet food and wine festival benefiting Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry transpires Saturday between 6 and 10 p.m.

* Bella Via Italian Street Painting Festival, Town Center Drive at McBean Parkway, Valencia. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. “A Slice of Valencia” gourmet food and wine festival takes place Saturday, 6-10 p.m. Free admission. (661) 255-4476.

7pm

Dance

Antique sacred shrine music and dance is the specialty of Hibakojin Kagura, the all-male performing group from Hiroshima, Japan, making a rare U.S. visit this weekend with two different programs in Little Tokyo. Originally executed only by priests, the specific Hiroshima style of ritual is what makes this company unique, with some of its repertory dating to the Middle Ages. On Saturday night, the main attraction is the dramatic spectacle “Yamata no Orochi,” featuring nasty serpents and a beautiful princess. On Sunday afternoon, Hibakojin Kagura is joined by Minami Issei, master of the traditional popular vocal idiom called enka.

* Hibakojin Kagura, Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., downtown Los Angeles. 7 p.m. Also Sunday, (different program), 2 p.m. $23 to $25. (213) 680-3700.

8pm

Music

The Bulgarian Women’s Choir, Angelite, brings its haunting and mysterious sounds--the confluence of Russian, Czech and German classical harmony and ancient vocal melodies developed and refined during 500 years of Turkish-Ottoman rule--back to Southern California for a single appearance at El Camino College Center for the Arts.

* The Bulgarian Women’s Choir, Angelite, Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College Center for the Arts, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance. 8 p.m. $25 to $28. (310) 329-5345.

all day

Art

More than 100 items drawn from one of the world’s largest collections of Egyptian artifacts will be featured in “Egyptian Treasures From the British Museum” at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art. The traveling survey includes traditional Egyptian fare: coffins and mummies, sculpture, paintings, jewelry, papyri and funerary objects, some of which have never before been loaned by the venerable institution.

* “Egyptian Treasures From the British Museum,” Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. Ends Jan. 2. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Adults, $17; seniors and students, $15; age 5-18, $11; under 5, free. (877) 250-8999 or (714) 567-3600.

Freebie

all day

Arts & Performance

L.A. pulls out all the stops--or at least sends home all the ticket-takers--once a year for the Los Angeles County Arts Open House. It’s the one day when admission to most of the city’s major museums is free, from the Natural History Museum to the Skirball, from the Hammer to the Autry. Plus, local arts groups will stage dozens of free performances. Among the events: Jazz Day L.A., a family-oriented jazz festival at the Performing Arts Center; the 18th Street Arts Fest in Santa Monica, with music, dance and artists’ open studios; and the Festival of Masks at the Craft and Folk Art Museum on Museum Row.

* Los Angeles County Arts Open House. Hubs of activity include the Performing Arts Center in downtown L.A., the 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica, Museum Row, Cal State Northridge, Self-Help Graphics, the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, the Palos Verdes Art Center, the Canyon Theatre Guild in Santa Clarita, Inglewood City Hall and the Baldwin Park Performing Arts Center. Hotline: (213) 972-3099 or https://www.lacountyarts.org. Schedules are also available at public libraries.