COUNTYWIDE : Safe Driving Will Be a Theme of Fiesta

Fair-goers at this year’s Fiesta del Sol in Oxnard will be warned, “Si toma no maneje,” or “Don’t drink and drive.”

The message comes from El Protector, a California Highway Patrol program that will co-sponsor this year’s festival with Golden State School, a trade school in Oxnard.

Fiesta del Sol will be held Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Del Sol Park. Organizers expect that more than 5,000 people will be on hand for the live music and games, said Dennis Barker, executive director of Golden State.

This year, the festivities were moved from Channel Islands Harbor to the park to accommodate the crowds.

At the festival, officers from El Protector will have Spanish-language brochures, T-shirts and hats advocating sober driving and seat belt safety.

Although the program uses schools and radio stations to relay its message, it can reach a larger segment of the Latino community at events such as Fiesta del Sol or Cinco de Mayo celebrations, said Officer Osiel Garza, El Protector’s coordinator for the CHP coastal division from Ventura County to Santa Cruz.

“Everyone needs the message to buckle up and everyone needs the message not to drink and drive,” he said. But before the program’s inception three years ago, that message was not reaching Spanish speakers, he said.