Three-day forecast

JAZZ

Towers resound all weekend

The Watts Towers, built by Italian immigrant Simon Rodia in his backyard between 1921 and 1955, are one of only nine works of folk art listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This weekend, the world-famous landmark will offer some world-class music. The 23rd annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival is slated for Saturday and the 28th annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival happens Sunday. The Tootie Heath Trio will perform Saturday along with several multiethnic, multicultural percussion troupes. Jazz and blues will be the order of the day Sunday with jazz trombonist Phil Ranelin, blues guitarist-singer Ray Bailey, the Buddy Collette Orchestra, bassist Nedra Wheeler and poet Kamau Daaood heading the bill.

Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday; 1727 E. 107th St., Watts. Free. (213) 485-1796.

POP MUSIC

Van Dyk on the ballot

Paul van Dyk didn’t observe much voting as he grew up in East Germany, but with the Wall long gone and the kid now an electronic DJ of formidable skills and international reputation, Van Dyk is hooking his beats with ballots -- his current tour is a partnership with Rock the Vote, whose volunteers will be registering voters at the Mayan, if they can get them to stand still long enough.

Paul Van Dyk, Mayan Theatre, 1038 S. Hill St., L.A., 9:30 p.m. today. $25. (323) 769-5628.

MOVIES

Che on a chopper

In 1952, two young Argentine men journeyed 8,000 miles in eight months aboard a 1939 Norton motorcycle. Their story, captured in director Walter Salles’ dramatic adventure “The Motorcycle Diaries,” is all the more notable because one of the men would later gain notoriety as the revolutionary Che Guevara. The then-23-year-old Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, a medical student specializing in leprology, and his 29-year-old biochemist friend, Alberto Granado, hopped aboard the aging bike on a lark and wound up seeing most of Latin America. Gael Garcia Bernal, as Ernesto, and Rodrigo de la Serna, as Alberto,

star. Playwright Jose Rivera wrote the screenplay

based on the men’s

journals.

“The Motorcycle Diaries,” rated R for language, opens Friday exclusively at the Grove, 189 the Grove Drive (between 3rd Street and Beverly Boulevard), L.A. (323) 692-0829

MUSEUMS

Two decades of vacation wheels

To explore Southern California: Vacationland after World War II, families looked to vehicles that could bring them from the beach to the mountains, allow them to traverse the desert highways and camp the Redwood forests. The new exhibition at the Petersen Automotive Museum showcases the cars, trucks, station wagons, specialized vehicles and camping equipment used in the 1940s through 1960s by vacationing Americans in the Golden State.

“Southern California: Vacationland,” Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Opens Saturday. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Ends April 3. $3-$10. (323) 930-2277.

THEATER

S. African secrets

The West Coast premiere of South African actor-playwright John Kani’s post-apartheid drama “Nothing but the Truth” opens at the Mark Taper Forum. Kani, who co-authored “Sizwe Banzi Is Dead” and “The Island” with Athol Fugard and Winston Nshona, plays a man who quietly protested apartheid at home while his activist brother chose exile in London. At a family reunion after the brother’s death, suppressed anger and long-hidden secrets emerge. Kani, Esmeralda Bihl and Warona Seane re-create the roles they played in the Lincoln Center production; Janice Honeyman directs.

“Nothing but the Truth,” Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. Opens 4 p.m. Sunday. Runs 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, except Nov. 7 (2:30 p.m. only). Ends Nov. 7. $34-$52. (213) 628-2772.

FESTIVAL

Take the Cannolis...

Brooklyn-born television comic Jimmy Kimmel (along with Adam Carolla and Tom Lasorda) is bringing the Feast of San Gennaro, a 76-year-old New York Italian neighborhood tradition, to L.A. for a third straight year. The fest celebrates Italian culture with entertainment, food, live music, carnival games, street performers, children’s activities and cooking lessons. Dom DeLuise, Henry Winkler, Jim Belushi, Joe Mantegna, Quentin Tarantino and Tony Danza are among the celebrities expected to attend the festival. The festivities kick into gear at 6 tonight with a charity gala dinner called Prima Notte.

Feast of San Gennaro 2004, the Grove at the Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St., L.A. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Festival admission is free. Tonight’s Prima Notte tickets $100-$250. (818) 994-4661 or www.feastofla.org.

MUSIC

The voice of New Zealand

Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa put her native New Zealand on the international musical map as she conquered one leading opera house after another, with concert stages soon to follow. An estimated audience of more than 600 million people heard her sing at the televised wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Te Kanawa will sing a recital of music by Handel, Vivaldi, Debussy, Strauss and other composers as part of the “Voices in Song Series” sponsored by the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Celebrated pianist Warren Jones will be her accompanist.

Kiri Te Kanawa, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 2 p.m. Sunday. $46-$78. (714) 556-2746.

ART

Armenians in America

The culmination of four years of work, “Traces of Identity: An Insider’s View Into the L.A. Armenian Community” is a documentary exhibit of photographs by Ara Oshagan that explores questions about Armenian life in the United States. This Sunday, the exhibit of 40 black-and-white photographs opens with a look at such aspects as religion, family, society and politics that shape immigrant and Armenian identities.

“Traces of Identity: An Insider’s View Into the L.A. Armenian Community,” Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. Opening reception, 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Hours: Noon-5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. Ends Dec. 31. $3-$5; 11 and younger, free. (323) 644-6269.

THEATER

‘Peter Pan’ farewell

After two successful Broadway runs and the logging of many frequent flier miles during national tours of her signature show, “Peter Pan,” Cathy Rigby will soar off to Neverland one last time in a farewell run of the musical, commemorating the 100th anniversary of J.M. Barrie’s classic.

“Peter Pan,” La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. Opens Friday. Runs: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays, and 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, except 8 p.m. only this Saturday and 7:30 p.m. only this Sunday; ends Oct. 10. $32 and $40. (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310.