The second annual Taste of the Arts festival takes to the streets at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Parts of Nu'uanu Avenue and Hotel Street will be closed and taken up by three stages of entertainment, headlined by Go Jimmy Go. But even tastier are the grinds: Indigo, Soul de Cuba, Cafe Joy, Bale, Kevin's Two Boots, Tea at 1024, Le Crepe Cafe, Brasserie Du Vin, Epic, Bambu's of Restaurant Row and Little Village. Demonstrations to be held outside The ARTS at Marks Garage include chefs Dave Cruz of Indigo, Kamal Jemmari of Soul de Cuba, Scott Nelson of Brasserie Du Vin and David Hoffman of Epic Restaurant. And raise a glass with sommeliers Eric Chandler and Tiana Kahauwila. Information: 521-9699 or www.artsdistricthonolulu.com.

CELEBRITY CHEF

YAN RETURNS FOR SPLENDOR OF CHINA

Chef Martin Yan will be the starring attraction at the 6th Annual Splendor of China Cultural Festival and Tradeshow, Oct. 4-5 at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Also on hand will be an acrobatic and performing arts group from Beijing. Yan attended the festival last year as a guest of one of the vendors and enjoyed it so much that he agreed to return to do cooking demos. Also on the agenda: more than 130 booths and the debut of the 2009 Narcissus Queen pageant contestants. Tickets: $6 ($4 for military, free for keiki younger than 9); 533-3181 or www.SplendorofChina.com.