NEWSWIRE

Echo Park, that funky hill-and-ravine Eastside ‘hood, has been home to writers, musicians and other fringe characters for almost a century. The Echo Park Arts Festival taps into that history and to the area’s burgeoning arts scene. The Saturday and Sunday event features an artisan village at which locals can sell their wares, a shuttle to galleries and exhibition sites, craft programs for kids and live music.* Echo Park Arts Festival, at Sunset Boulevard and Lemoyne Street, Echo Park. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Free. (213) 250-4155 or https://www.echoparkarts.org.

2 pm: Theater

The “Conversations On ... A Life in the Theatre” series, featuring prominent actors of the stage talking about their work, ends at the Pasadena Playhouse with Gregory Hines. The discussion will be moderated by actress and concert pianist Pauletta Washington (Denzel Washington’s wife) and will be followed by a brief question-answer session with the audience. The series was inspired by the playhouse’s current production, David Mamet’s “A Life in the Theatre.”

* “Conversations On ... A Life in the Theatre,” Pasadena Playhouse, 39 N. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, 2 p.m. $10. (626) 356-7529.

3 pm: Theater

“Zones,” Cornerstone Theatre’s new community-based audience participatory theater piece, set during a local planning commission’s hearing on a proposed piece of religious architecture, will tour several site-specific, faith-based venues. * “Zones” Hsi Lai Temple, 3456 S. Glenmark Drive, Hacienda Heights, Saturday 3 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m.; St. Philomena Church, 21900 S. Main St., Carson, Oct. 21, 3 p.m.; Multipurpose Room, Los Angeles Baha’i Center, 5755 Rodeo Road, Baldwin Hills, Oct. 28, 4 p.m.; Fellowship Hall, Faith United Methodist Church, 1713 W. 108 St., South-Central L.A. (signed performance), Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.; Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, 815 E. 1st St., L.A., Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.; Beyt-Midrash Room, Temple Emmanuel, 8844 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m.; Auditorium, New Horizon School, 651 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, Nov. 9. Free. (213) 613-1740.

4 pm: Pop Music

What could make a Backstreet Boys show look like something for grown-ups? How about the “Radio Disney Live!” tour, a kid-bopping U.S. trek that concludes its itinerary at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The lineup is headed by lil’ Backstreet brother Aaron Carter, the Baha Men and Hoku, with a festival featuring games and entertainment preceding the show.

* “Radio Disney Live!” Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 4 p.m. (festival at 2 p.m.). Free tickets are all claimed, but a standby line will be formed before the show. (949) 855-8096.

6:45 pm: Pop Music

Two of the most influential guitarists in bluesdom are the main attractions at the annual Lloyd’s Blues Music Festival. B.B. King and Buddy Guy will be joined on the bill by John Hiatt & the Goners (maybe he’s not strictly a bluesman, but the acclaimed singer-songwriter knows the feeling) and Tommy Castro.

* Lloyd’s Blues Music Festival, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 6:45 p.m. $29.50 to $69.50. (818) 622-4440.

7:30 pm: Pop Music

And speaking of the Backstreet Boys, here they are, back on the boards after taking some time off while AJv McLean went through rehab. (Tickets from the postponed Aug. 18 show will be honored at this date.)

* The Backstreet Boys, with Sisqo and Krystal, Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion, 2575 Glen Helen Parkway, Devore, 7:30 p.m. $29.50 and $68.50. (909) 886-8742.

Freebies

* USC School of Cinema-Television’s biannual First Look Festival screens four programs of student work Saturday and Sunday, at the Norris Theatre on the USC campus, L.A., 1 and 3:30 p.m. (213) 740-1153.

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* The first Neighborhood Concert in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new season takes place at Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Symphonic Dances from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, 8 p.m. Call for tickets: (323) 931-1085.