Belated Birthday : Festivals: More than 10,000 people gather in Ojai for a community celebration, the first in 63 years.

It was the first festival celebrating Ojai’s anniversary in 63 years, and Delissa Aguilar and her high school buddies did not want to miss it.

Early Saturday afternoon the teen-agers gathered at the town’s Libbey Park, which was transformed into a hodgepodge of arts and crafts booths and concession stands.

“This is cool,” said Delissa, a sophomore at Nordhoff High School. “There is so much to look at. Cute guys, too. We’ve never seen Ojai like this.”

The first big community celebration to hit Ojai was in 1917. It was called Ojai-Libbey Day, in honor of city businessman Edward Drummond Libbey who built the park and the post office tower. He also financed the Oaks Hotel and the Ojai Country Club.

At the time, officials said the party would become an annual event as important as Thanksgiving. But their plans went by the wayside as the city was racked by the Depression and two world wars.

The last major community festival was in 1928.

This year, on the 70th anniversary of Ojai’s incorporation as a city, a group of volunteers decided it would be nice to revive the festival. It also was a good opportunity to recognize the recent $1.6-million renovation of the downtown historic Arcade, officials said.

Called Ojai Day 1991, the party attracted at least 10,000 people, far more than organizers expected.

“I’m just walking around spellbound,” said David Mason, town historian. “I’ve lived here 52 years and I’ve never seen so many people.”

Even before the event started at 9 a.m., eager residents gathered for the festivities, which included a parade and continuous flow of entertainment.

“Ojai Then and Now” was the theme of the celebration, and local history buffs told stories of the old days of the town under the shade of the gazebo in the park.

“The main thing is we wanted to get people in touch with history and culture,” said event organizer Craig Walker, a Nordhoff High School teacher. “It brings the community together.”

Among the highlights of the day were performances by jazz artist Maynard Ferguson and the Ventura County Symphony.

The Ojai Film Society showed clips from Charlie Chaplin movies, and a local car club showed off old-fashioned wheels.

Under an oak tree, Ojai artist Bill Fox carefully carved pumpkins for children.

“We need something like this to get people out,” Fox said as he carved the face of a cat into a large pumpkin. “It’s been too long.”

Two blocks of Ojai Avenue, the main thoroughfare into the downtown business district, were closed off to traffic to make room for more than 70 booths.

Walker said he had to turn away out-of-town people who wanted to sell their homemade wares at the event.

“This is for local people,” he said.

Even so, the event attracted spectators from across the county.

Gary Gilbertson, a Camarillo resident, said the festival was a perfect excuse to venture to Ojai.

“My wife and I enjoy this area anyway,” he said, standing in the hot sun. “Today is a good day for a festival.”

Despite the success of the event, Walker did not want to make the promises of the city’s party organizers of 1917. He would not speculate on whether the festival will become an annual event.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” he said, smiling.