VENTURA : Festival Features Family Attractions

Gretchen Erickson wanted her 3-year-old son Stephen to touch a shark.

Holding the little boy with her right arm, she waved her left hand to catch the attention of Donald Woods, who was in charge of the petting zoo of fish, crabs and sharks swimming in a large fish tank.

“Can you pull the shark up so he can touch it?” Erickson asked.

Clutching tightly to his mother, Stephen put out a cautious hand and gingerly touched the rough skin of the puffer shark.

Woods put it back in the water, and Stephen smiled and began looking for a crab to stroke.

The petting zoo was one of about 20 exhibits at Fiesta del Sol, an annual pre-summer festival held this weekend at Ventura Harbor Village.

Events scheduled today from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. include a children’s fishing derby, a car show, scuba and kite-flying demonstrations, a baseball card exhibit and helicopter and elephant rides.

Admission is free, but there is a charge for some activities.

All of the merchants in the Harbor Village work together to put on the festival, which costs about $50,000 and will probably draw about 50,000 people over three days, organizer Linda Fisher-Hughes said.

As the name of the event--Festival of the Sun--indicates, attendance is influenced by the weather, Fisher-Hughes said. This year the crowds may not be as large because of cool, foggy weather, she said.

This year’s Fiesta del Sol is aimed especially at families, Fisher-Hughes said. “We wanted to really promote a family-type atmosphere. . . . For instance, there is no bikini contest this year.”