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FESTIVAL: March 14i16

•	Local favorite Celebrating Hawai'i's own cowboys Giddyup on over to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki for a Paniolo Days festival 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 22. The event rounds up a host of cowboy-related festivities, including roping contests, a saddle-making demonstration, and even a cooking contest featuring a dude who's really home on the range, Alan Wong. It's free. 922-0588.

• Various times, March 14-16 / Various venues / www.honolulufestival.com

STAGE: March 15

A benefit performance of Dennis Foon's "War," a Honolulu Theatre for Youth production, will be staged March 15 as a fund-raiser for the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline. The play, a look at violence among young men, stars Jonathan Sypert, Junior Tesoro, Reb Allen and Scot Davis. A post-show forum will discuss the effects of the media and gender roles in teen-dating violence. Tickets: $20.

• 7 p.m. March 15 / Tenney Theatre, St. Andrew's Cathedral / 534-0040

CONCERT: March 15

Drum roll, please: The Hawai'i International Taiko Festival, showcasing taiko drummers from Hawai'i and Japan, will be held March 15 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall as a Cherry Blossom Festival event. The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble will be among the performers; Tao, a vibrant group from the Oita Prefecture on Kyushu, Japan, will make its Hawai'i debut. Tickets: $19, $29. (Also, a taiko workshop will be held 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. March 16 at Kapi'olani Community College's Annex Building. Cost: $15-$35; call 949-2255.)

• 7:30 p.m. March 15 / Blaisdell Concert Hall/ 526-4400

CONCERT: March 18

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, often dubbed LAGQ, is one of the top instrumental ensembles around, performing with top orchestras from Paris to Tokyo to New York. It arrives on O'ahu with a show March 18 at McKay Auditorium, Brigham Young University's La'ie campus. Tickets: $10.

• 7:30 p.m March 18 / BYU's McKay Auditorium / 293-3545

STAGE: March 21-April 6

"Romance, Romance," a musical about love and its inherent complications, premieres March 21 at Diamond Head Theatre. Act I is an operetta of old Vienna, about a wealthy businessman and an elegant courtesan, who discover amour only when disguised as a penniless poet and a milliner; Act II, set in the Hamptons, ponders the question: Can a married man really be best friends with a woman who happens to be married to another man? Tickets: $10-$40.

• Premieres at 8 p.m. March 21; repeats at 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays, through April 6 / Diamond Head Theatre / 733-0274

CONCERT: March 21, 23

Mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade, one of operadom's brightest stars, joins the Honolulu Symphony in the Halekulani MasterWorks series, March 21 and 23 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Tickets: $15-$57, available at the box office and Ticket Plus outlets.

• 8 p.m. March 21, 4 p.m. March 23 / Blaisdell Concert Hall / 792-2000

CONCERT: March 21, 22

Plus One, a Christian act that speaks to the young, takes the Hawai'i Theatre stage March 21 and 22. The foursome — Nate Cole, Jeremy Mhire, Nathan Walters and Gabe Combs — are hip in appearance and in sound, all the better to send out their message of commitment and purpose. Tickets: $15-$35.

• 7:30 p.m. March 21, 22 / Hawai'i Theatre /528-0506

CONCERT: March 22

Bobby McFerrin, who is mistakenly only associated with his "Don't Worry, Be Happy" mega-hit, brings his uncanny, must-see solo show to Hawai'i for a one-nighter, under the auspices of the Honolulu Symphony, March 22 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Since scoring with his "Happy" hit, McFerrin has reinvented himself into multi-task artist, ranging from symphonic conductor to one-man band. He uses his voice, and thumps on his body, to mimic a myriad of sounds. It's a symphony season add-on "extra." In a word: incredible. Tickets: $15-$57.

• 8 p.m. March 22 / Blaisdell Concert Hall / 792-2000

FLORA AND FAUNA: March 28-30

Have a blooming good time at the Windward Orchid Society's 24th Annual Spring Show and Plant Sale, March 28-30 at King Intermediate School in Kane'ohe. Floor and table landscape displays will tout an array of orchids in various categories and hues. Other plants also will be on sale. Tickets: $2.

• 9 a.m.-8 p.m. March 28, 29; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. March 30 / King Intermediate School / 689-8489

CONCERT: March 29

The ever-mobile Makaha Sons, easily one of Hawai'i's best musical ensembles, gives a benefit performance for the Maluhia Health Center March 29 at Leeward Community College Theatre. Expect Hawaiian favorites, comedic patter and a fun time. Tickets: $20, $25.

• 7 p.m. March 29 / Leeward Community College Theatre / 832-6195

DANCE: April 2-6

"Footholds II: Young Choreographers on Stage," a program of student choreography, will be staged April 2-6 at Earle Ernst Lab Theatre at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. A rap session follows the April 4 show. Tickets: $9 general; $8 for students, seniors, military, staff; $3 for UH students with ID).

• 8 p.m. April 2-5, 2 p.m. April 6 / Earle Ernst Lab Theatre, UH campus / 956-7655

FESTIVAL: April 3-5

A three-day Waikiki Spam Jam, April 3-5 in Waikiki, offers ample opportunity to relish the joys of Spam. Love it loathe it, Spam is king in Hawai'i (6.7 million cans consumed annually). Thus, it should be no surprise that the world's longest Spam musubi will be attempted, from noon April 3 at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, where the mascot Spammy will appear. Frank DeLima, Hawai'i's chief dispenser of ham (and then some), will be there, too, since he's festival spokesman. Other events: Taste of Paradise Spam Cook-off, 6-9 p.m. April 4 ($50 per person), with participants sampling an array of menu items featuring Spam and paired with wine; a Spam Jam street celebration (free admission), 4-10 p.m. April 5 on Kalakaua Avenue, with food booths, craft booths and entertainment stages and Spam-related contests Spam-eating, scavenger hunt).

• Various times and venues, April 3-5 / 545-4195, www.waikikiimprovement.org or www.spam.com

HULA: April 5

Mapuana de Silva's Halau Hula 'Ilima — celebrating 25 consecutive years of Merrie Monarch Festival performances — will preview their 2003 Merrie Monarch presentation, and then some, at its fund-raising endeavor, April 5 at the Hawai'i Theatre. Besides the parade of hula, the halau's Miss Aloha Hula participant, Meali'i Kaiko, will be featured, along with a cluster of musical groups: Anuhea, 'Ale'a, Kilinahe and 'Ulaleo. Also performing for the first time: Wai'anae's Halau Mapuna Leo, directed by kumu Kamana'o Mano'i-Hyde, a 1999 graduate of Halau Hula 'Ilima. Tickets: $15, $25.

• 6 p.m. April 5 / Hawai'i Theatre / 261-0689

COMING UP:

• "Hanau Ka Moku: An Island Is Born," March 29, Hawai'i Theatre
• Olomana, April 4, Hawai'i Theatre
• "Morning's at Seven," April 11, Hawai'i Pacific University Theatre
• Hawai'i International Spring Film Festival, April 11-17, Dole Signature Theatres
• Margaret Cho, April 12, Waikiki Shell
• "Les Miserables," April 17, Punahou School
• "Rumble in the Jungle," 'Iolani School carnival, April 25-26, 'Iolani campus
• Lei Day concert, with The Brothers Cazimero, May 1, Waikiki Shell
• "Giselle" ballet, by Ballet Hawaii, May 3-4, Blaisdell Concert Hall
• Uluwehi Guerrero, May 16, Hawai'i Theatre
• Pianist Andre Watts, May 20, Blaisdell Concert Hall

BUZZING ABOUT:

To all the girls he's sung to before: One promoter is trying to woo Julio Iglesias for a return concert in Honolulu. Yes, even son Enrique Iglesias — though not on the same bill.

Off and on: The Hawai'i Guitar Festival, slated for June 26-28 on early calendar listings, has been canceled. In its place: Cajun guitarist David Doucet, June 27 at Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

Dates to log: The annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards is slotted for May 28 at the Sheraton Waikiki's Hawaii Ballroom, as usual, but a Lifetime Achievement Awards luncheon, a prelude to the gala night, will be held from 11 a.m. March 29 at the Tapa Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Call 235-9424. ... The King Kamehameha Day floral parade will be held June 7, from downtown to Waikiki, where a Folklife Festival follows at Kapi'olani Park. Call 586-0333. ... This year's 'Ukulele Festival will be held July 27 at Kapi'olani Park Bandstand. Call 732-3739. ...

Hush-hush, but: It's supposed to be an unadvertised, word-of-mouth-only gig, but it's too good to let go unannounced. Makana, the singer-guitarist, is doing a solo show (he did one last night) tonight at The ARTS at Marks Garage; tonight's show will include material he's been developing for a tour of the Mainland, Japan and Europe later this year. Tickets: $20 at the door.

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The Great Index to Fun (TGIF) four-week guide at least 10 working days before the event. This planner appears weekly, featuring major events only; others are listed in the weekend and daily calendars.

Write: TGIF, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802, or fax 525-8055.

Schedule is subject to change.