COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS : Cinco de Mayo Festivities Planned

College of the Canyons will be transformed into a Mexican village from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today for the school’s second annual Cinco de Mayo Festival.

Last year’s event attracted about 1,000 people, despite temperatures that reached 102 degrees. Sue Bozman, the college’s public information officer, said campus leaders hope to attract more people this year. “We want to reach out to the Hispanic community and say, ‘This community college is for you.’ ”

The event will feature Latino music, dance, art, comedy and food.

Bernardo Feldman, a music instructor, has gathered artists and groups that are different from those who appeared last year. “To give residents of this valley a full understanding of the diversity in Mexican culture,” he said, “we would have to present different groups and an entirely different program every year for many years. There is much to see and appreciate.”

Aztec dancers, a ballet folklorico ensemble, mariachis, music from Veracruz and from the college’s Latin jazz band, a Mexican-American comedy act and pinatas will entertain festival-goers.

Also featured will be political cartoons, drawings, paintings and a film, “Dias Dificiles” (“Difficult Days”), by Mexico City artists. Luis Patino of Channel 9 news will be master of ceremonies.

Workshops will demonstrate the making of pottery, masks, jewelry, flowers and pinatas . For children, there will be chalk drawing on the sidewalks, pony rides and various game booths.

College of the Canyons student Jorge Velasco will demonstrate graffiti art, with emphasis on such themes as peace and education. “The pictures will basically deal with people getting along and understanding each other beyond the barriers of skin color,” he said.

Participants in the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Migrant Education Parents Assn. will sell home-cooked foods such as tamales, carne asada tacos, taquitos, guacamole, salsa and nachos . Proceeds from food sales will go into a migrant education scholarship fund.

Three campus clubs--the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services organization, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) and the student government--donated 140 pony rides to Latino families who will be given bus transportation to the festival.

Bozman said that Anglos who attend the festival can learn more about Latino art and culture. “Those of us who don’t know about the culture will learn something new every year.”

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the 1862 victory of the Mexican army of 2,000 soldiers led by Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza over a superior force of 6,000 Imperial Napoleonic forces in the city of Puebla.