MOORPARK : Outage Slows, but Doesn’t Halt Festival

Despite a power outage that delayed the puppet show and deflated the moon bounce, about 100 children and adults celebrated Cinco de Mayo in Moorpark on Saturday.

The three-hour event at the Moorpark Civic Center got off to a disappointing start when a worker accidentally caused a power outage half an hour before the opening, said John Hall, a Conejo recreation and park commissioner. The worker allowed a balloon with metallic streamers to touch a wire, which caused a power surge, Hall said.

The lack of electricity caused officials to postpone the bilingual puppet show and shut down the moon bounce until emergency generators were hooked up at 1 p.m., but pony rides and pinatas still were popular with the children.

“Hey, I thought they were supposed to be blindfolded,” said Don Legerski, a volunteer from Ventura who was watching about a dozen children sans blindfolds take turns assaulting a yellow pinata hanging from a tree.

“But it’s dangerous if you blindfold them,” said Sandra Thompson, another park commissioner. “I mean, look at how hard they hit!”

Other events at the festival, which was primarily geared toward children, included face painting and a drawing contest.

The adults, who dedicated a children’s playground during the festival, spent most of their time watching the kids enjoy themselves.

Moorpark was the only city in the county to hold a Cinco de Mayo celebration this weekend. Santa Paula and Oxnard both postponed their festivities because officials feared that violence would erupt because of the civil unrest in Los Angeles.