International-music concert is a rousing success in only its second spin at the Public Theater

The ambitious world-music concert, GlobalFEST, will take place Saturday at three performance spaces at the Public Theater in New York. At least two of the spaces will be active at the same time throughout the event.

That will make for some tough choices.

Let's say it's 8 p.m. You're getting into the innovative salsa of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, but the Spanish flamenco-dance troupe, Noche Flamenca, has just begun playing elsewhere. Or, say, it's 11:30. You're enjoying the neo-gospel of Ollabelle, but wonder if you should leave to hear The Yoshida Brothers, who play traditional Japanese instruments with a modern rock edge.

Such dilemmas will face anyone attending GlobalFEST, which will present 13 artists from five continents over the course of five hours. The performance spaces will include a concert hall (the 270-capacity Anspacher Theater), a dance hall (the Martinson Theater, also accommodating 270), and the 150-seat cabaret, Joe's Pub.

This is the second annual GlobalFEST, timed, like the first, to coincide with an Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference. The idea is to showcase artists for the music bookers who attend the conference as well as the general public.

GlobalFEST 2005, like last year's event, is sold out, though additional tickets may become available if enough people leave after some of the early sets.

Bill Bragin, director of Joe's Pub and a GlobalFEST producer, says the biggest difference this year "is that people know what (GlobalFEST) is, so they've responded much more quickly -- both from the industry side and the public side.

"Last year it was a concept that everybody signed onto as a leap of faith, not knowing exactly what it would be. And I think as soon as the agents and the artists experienced the success, we got approached by a lot of people to get onto the program. And it sold out much more quickly."

Bragin adds that the success of the first GlobalFEST made it easier for organizers to stud the roster with prominent artists. Stars like Benin-born, New York-based Angelique Kidjo and Portugal's Mariza performed last year, but so did some fairly obscure acts.

This year's artists, Bragin says, "are better established on the international scene. Many of them still have a lot of opportunities for growth in the American and Canadian markets, but if you look at people like Rokia Traoré and Mory Kanté and The Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Eva Allyón, these are people who are already stars within their scenes."