It’s a choice between the exotic and...

It’s a choice between the exotic and international and the familiar and patriotic at two free events Saturday in the San Gabriel Valley.

Tibet is the foreign attraction from noon to 5 p.m. at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, where a huge, white Tibetan tent will dominate the courtyard.

Inside the tent, flutist Ngawang Khechog and the Dolkar Dance Group will perform traditional Tibetan music and dances. A Buddhist monk, using butter as a medium, will mold small sculptures. Momo, a Tibetan snack food similar to Chinese pot stickers, will be served.

Chief Lama Geshe Nyima Dakpa, Rinpoche, will answer questions about the Bonpo religion, which preceded Buddhism.

Inside the museum at 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Tibetan textiles will be displayed, as well as the museum’s collection of Losel dolls, 2-foot-high figures in native dress made by monks living in isolation in northern India.

The focus of the second event will be strictly local, traditional and family-oriented: The city of Duarte will hold its annual picnic celebrating the 34th anniversary of its founding.

Good old American standbys--hamburgers and cotton candy--will be on sale, music will be provided by a Dixieland band and information booths will be set up by the Boy Scouts and the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.

A coloring contest for the kids, tennis and softball tournaments, horseshoes, hopscotch and a tug of war are planned.

Up to 3,000 people are expected to attend Saturday’s picnic, the city’s largest annual event. Military personnel who served in the Persian Gulf War, including about 25 from Duarte, will be honored at 1 p.m. in a musical tribute.

The picnic runs from noon to 5 p.m. at Royal Oaks Park, 2627 Royal Oaks Drive.