Outdoor Adventure in the Arts

“The Children’s Woodstock”: That’s what the annual outdoor Theatre Arts Festival for Youth, TAFFY for short, has been called. Back for a seventh year, the performing arts event has expanded to two weekends to accommodate the thousands of parents, children and toddlers expected to trek out to the sprawling Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura to watch their favorite children’s entertainers in action.

Puppeteers, mimes, actors, singers, musicians and dancers--a raft of popular professional talent, both local and national--will perform on two separate bills, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 12-13 and Oct. 19-20.

J. P. Nightingale’s John Wood, co-producer of the festival with his wife, Pam, noted that some out-of-towners even plan their vacations around it now.

“The first year, I think we may have had 800 people total attend over two days,” he said. “Last year, we had over 6,500.”

Each day, a dozen or more groups and individuals will perform on three outdoor stages; in addition, there will be strolling performers and ongoing arts activities. “It’s almost like two separate festivals,” Wood said. “You can come each weekend and see something different.”

Parachute Express, Craig ‘n Co., Linda Arnold, Dan Crow, Norman Foote, We Tell Stories, the San Andreas Brass, Fujima Kansuma Kai and the Jim Gamble Marionette company are among the many artists scheduled to perform. The Puddledumplin’ Players are back too. This crowd-pleasing troupe of actors in animal makeup and Victorian dress will present a wedding, a Maypole dance, a Friar’s Club-type “pork roast,” two classic fairy tales and act as emcees for other events.

Besides stretching TAFFY over four days, Wood has made some prosaic changes for crowd comfort.

“The parking lot will be striped this year, so parking will be easier; we’ll have twice as many portable toilets, more bottled water, more food booths in different areas--the food lines were too long last year--and separate areas for drinks.”

Refreshments are once again provided by Tree of Life, with all proceeds to benefit the homeless and poor in the San Fernando Valley, and the nonprofit festival is donating hundreds of tickets to charitable organizations throughout the Southland.

Why is TAFFY a sweet success?

“We’ve kept the integrity of the event intact over the years,” Wood said. “We’re not a record label promotion venue; we have to turn some performers down to get a broad spectrum of the arts.

“We do have a couple of the Disney recording artists--Norman Foote and Parachute Express (A&M; recording artist Linda Arnold is on the bill too)--and it’s nice they come with that Disney name behind them, but it’s not what we look for. Our criterion is still quality performers in the five areas we present: theater, music, dance, puppetry and mime.”

TAFFY Festival, Peter Strauss Ranch (Lake Enchanto), 30000 Mulholland Highway, Agoura . Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 12-13, Oct. 19-20. Tickets: adults, $9; children (3 - 12), $8; $1 more at the door. Under age 3, free. Information: (818) 998-2339.