Tucson Weekly: Cheap Thrills (March 11

Cheap Thrills GREEN SCHEME: Toast the Emerald Isle at the 12th annual St. Patrick's Day at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 17.
A parade of ancient costumes and fantasy floats runs from 17th Street and Sixth Avenue through downtown. "We're hoping to top last year's participation, which was the greatest ever in number, featuring 17 bands and colors, in addition to several dance groups, pom-and-cheer, and the best floats ever," says festival president Mark Luther.
A party immediately follows in Armory Park, at Sixth Avenue and 12th Street. Attractions include continuous Irish and American music until 6 p.m., along with plenty of tot shenanigans in the Kid's Corner. The celebration will feature parachute and earth ball games, jump-rope contests, sack races, a miniature train and a leprechaun hunt.
This whole extravaganza is dished up by those dedicated folks of the Irish American Gaelic Society, with proceeds benefiting the Ulster Project, local stepdancers, UA Irish-language scholarships, and the dream of an Irish Cultural Center in Tucson. For details, call 797-9431.
FEZ FEST: Up goes the tassled big top this weekend, as the Sabbar Shrine Circus gets underway. Florida's Circus Hollywood spearheads three days of dazzling performances, spiced by a petting zoo with camels, giraffes, llamas and a baby elephant. Proceeds from this exotic celebration benefit the Shriners' funds for crippled and burned children.
Circus hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, 4823 S. Sixth Ave. Advance tickets are $2, $1 for children, available at the Rodeo Grounds, the Sabbar Temple or by calling 623-8824. Tickets at the door are $10, $6 for children.
TABOULI RASA: The UA stretches across the oceans to present the Middle Eastern Film Festival, sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. This modest series of screenings offers a vast cultural perspective on universal themes of love, marriage and divorce.
The four-day festival kicks off today with Divorce Iranian Style at 6 p.m. in the Gallagher Theater, in the east end of the Student Union on the UA mall. Set in a small Tehran courtroom, it's the story of three women who appear before a complacent judge and use whatever tools they can--from reason and argument to charm, outrage, pleas for sympathy and patience--to get what they need: in a word, divorce.
Showing at 7:45 p.m. is Date Wine, chronicling the able men of a small Egyptian village in their search for wealth. The only hold-out is Ahmed, who, on the threshold of adolescence, hopes to fulfill his dream right at home by scaling al-'alia, the tallest palm tree in town. The women, meanwhile, come to view him as the village's top and--for a while--only man.
Screenings of additional films continue through Sunday. Admission is $4.50, $3.50 for students. For schedules and other information, call 621-3102, or see this week's Cinema section.

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