ALL the world is a stage. In Melbourne, never is this truer than in the second half of October when thousands of actors, singers, musicians, artists, writers, dancers, mime artists, and clowns from around the world converge in the city for the annual International Festival of the Arts.

The city, known as Australia's culture and entertainment capital, becomes one big stage, where events and performances take place in just about every spot big enough to hold an audience. To visitors, the venues are as much a conversation piece as the performances themselves.

Major concerts and shows by world-renowned artists are staged at traditional venues like the State Theater and the Performing Arts Theater at the Victorian Arts Center, the Melbourne Concert Hall and any of the city's historic renovated theaters.

More colorful, however, are the street performances, which set the festive mood, and the non-traditional venues, which can be anything from a church to a store window.

For instance, last October chamber music was played at the St. Paul's Cathedral and at the Baptist Church, while the Rachmaninoff Vespers reverberated through the 101-year-old St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Along Bourke Street in the central city area, site of most of the free outdoor events, musicians from Bolivia and Chile charmed passersby in front of the 12-story Myer, the fifth largest department store in the world.

In one of the store display windows, a different kind of theater was being played out. A woman in a dressing gown had one foot upon a stool as she shaved a leg to demonstrate the benefits of a brand of shaving cream. Beside her stood a man who annotated. An ingenious festival-inspired marketing gimmick, it came complete with production credits handwritten in paint on the glass.

A thinner crowd stayed on for the next show in the adjacent window, pottery making.

Across the street, in front of David Jones store, a baby grand was being wheeled away, the pianist having completed his performance for the day.

The festival spirit spread even to the biennial national conference of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. At the gala dinner at the Crown Towers, "The Three Tenors" brought the house down with their impersonation of the famed operatic triumvirate.

To get visitors in the festival mood, Qantas Airways, one of the sponsors, gave away mementoes and discount coupons to passengers who could present their boarding pass at a special counter at Southgate, the popular dining, shopping, and entertainment complex overlooking the famous Yarra River.

According to The Age newspaper, this year's festival, the 13th, broke ticket sales records, with many events sold out after the first week.