After years of presenting dazzling family-friendly talents from around the globe under the off-putting name Seattle International Children's Festival, the organizers wisely switched monikers to Giant Magnet, a perfect title for this five-day festival of crowd-pleasing world entertainments. Things kick off tonight with an international variety show, featuring mini performances from Belgian acrobats/jugglers Les Argonautes, the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, and the Black Sufis of Gujarat. (Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St, www.brownpapertickets.com. $10–$20, 7:30 pm.)