GOINGS ON : Deals on Clothes Offered at Beach Benefit

There’s no entrance fee to this weekend’s Santa Barbara Beach Festival, but organizers are hoping visitors will spend a good bit of cash for C.A.S.H.

The four-block-long, two-day event is all about raising money for a good cause.

The festival was started in 1989 by former Santa Barbarans Georgeanne and Milan Melvin, who rallied their clothing manufacturer brethren nationwide to donate goods for the annual fund-raiser. Capitalists Against Suffering and Hunger was the result of their efforts.

There’s a full pallet of activities here: street performers, live performances of ethnic, folk, rock and jazz music, foods, plus children’s fun, including rides and hands-on activities. But maybe the biggest attraction: bargains galore. Festival-goers can thumb through loads of name-brand clothing, jewelry and accessories at wholesale prices, 40% to 60% off retail tags. All proceeds, organizers say, will help develop programs and relief efforts to assist refugees of El Salvador and Tibet.

Festival hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Festival site: downtown, across from the beach on Helena Street, near State Street and Cabrillo Boulevard. Four blocks of Helena and Mason streets will be blocked off for the bazaar. No charge. Call 893-2097.

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This week’s Music Academy of the West concerts:

The Granada Series, featuring a full student orchestra, continues Saturday night at 8. Conductor Yoav Talmi leads the symphony through Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin,” Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” and Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3. Tickets are $15. The Granada Theater is at 1216 State St., Santa Barbara.

Various Academy instructors will perform in trios and small ensembles for an 8 p.m. concert held Tuesday on campus grounds. The campus is at 1070 Fairway Road, Montecito. Picnicking encouraged.

Call 969-4726.

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The Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum will open Saturday with a trio of new exhibits.

“Michele Blondell: Incarnation of the Delicate Fire” will make its West Coast premiere in the Klausner Gallery. Blondell employs contrasting media--like steel, wood, liturgical vestments and hand-blown crystal--to examine the dualities inherent in the beliefs, rituals and myths of Christianity, according to the museum.

In the Norton Gallery, “Tina Gulett: Wax Paintings.” Here, the artist exhibits her keen interest in landscapes and earth sciences.

A rare collection of posters in the exhibit “Year of Rebellion”--displayed in the Partridge Library--were produced during the fateful student revolt in Paris in May, 1968. Twenty-five years later, the unexpected student uprising and its leader, Danny the Red, are still remembered by people around the world as symbols of idealism and hope for reform.

The exhibition is free and continues through Aug. 28. Viewing hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The Arts Forum is at 653 Paseo Nuevo, second floor, corner of Chapala Street and De La Guerra. Call 966-5373.

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So you’re out on a whale-watching excursion; a camera is clenched tightly in both hands, readied for action. “Look. Over there!” A humpback rises dramatically and maneuvers to soar out of the water. You turn abruptly and shoot numerous frames.

Too bad the results on film didn’t turn out so hot--out of focus and ineptly framed.

But there’s hope, for the next time.

The Sea Center--a cooperative project of the Santa Barbara Museum and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary--is offering two photo workshops and ocean excursions, Saturday and Sunday and Aug. 7 and 9, where amateurs can learn to photograph marine mammals properly.

The Saturday portion, to be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the museum, focuses on equipment, how to meter light, special problems of refraction in the water, polarization and the challenge of taking photographs from a moving boat. On Sunday, take to the Santa Barbara Channel and test your newly learned concepts. Workshop: $45. Excursion: $65 for museum members, $75 otherwise. Call 962-0885.