WITH OR WITHOUT PARENTS : Gearing Up for Family Fun at TAFFY

It’s TAFFY time again. That’s TAFFY, as in Theatre Arts Festival for Youth, a major Southland children’s outdoor entertainment festival held each year at the Peter Strauss Ranch, a site in the Santa Monica Mountains national recreational area.

Produced by John and Pam Wood of the J.P. Nightingale musical troupe, this year’s TAFFY fest will take place on Oct. 16-17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature a potpourri of professional dance, music, storytelling and theater geared to family audiences.

Some of the many performers scheduled are Ben and Jerry’s touring Circus, Walt Disney Records’ Craig ‘n Co., the Bumblebeez, storytellers Paul Tracey and Diane Ferlatte, singers Dan Crow and Peter Alsop, the Banana Slug String, Ranka’s Revue puppets, KPFK-FM children’s radio host Uncle Ruthie with illustrator Barney Saltzberg and Japanese dance troupe Fujima Kansuma Kai.

Also on tap are the Puddle Dumplin’ Players, Victorian animal characters who perform continuing story lines--a wedding, an election, a play--with audience help throughout the day. Children can participate in arts-and-crafts workshops and design wedding gifts for Lord and Lady Bacon, build scenery for the Penny Pit Stage and make election signs.

New this year is the Little Dumplins’ area, providing games and activities for the under age 3 set. Taco Bell will be a major food provider, with most of the proceeds going to the Valley-based Tree of Life charitable organization. Park authorities “are looking at options for bee control,” John Wood added.

One sour note is that a drop in funding this year could mean that the popular family event’s days are numbered, Wood said, despite last year’s respectable attendance figure of 6,500 over two days. Mervyns and Target Stores are still sponsoring the event and the California Arts Council “has supported us with $2,000,” but the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department’s decision not to repeat last year’s $5,000 grant was a major disappointment.

“It has been an uphill struggle as far as funding goes. We are $10,000 below last year’s fund-raising. The quality of the show itself has not been impacted by the lack of funding, but it puts us in the precarious position of having to rely on good attendance to cover the festival, not an ideal situation. If this is not a good year, we would probably have a fund-raiser to pay off debts and then I probably would not have a 10th year.”

Pre-sale tickets for the weekend festival are $9 per adult, $8 per child; $7 for those in groups of 10 or more. Under age 3 are free.

Tickets at the door are $1 more. Information: (818) 99-TAFFY, (998-2339).

An Eye on Homelessness: Photographs created by homeless children in California will be on display in a special exhibit at the Los Angeles Children’s Museum during the month of October. One collection is from Photo Outreach, a hands-on program where children ages 4 to 15 who live in a homeless shelter document their everyday lives. The second is a series of photos and essays from Drawbridge, part of the Bay Area Homeless Children’s Project.

The Children’s Museum is at 310 N. Main St. Hours are 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Information: (213) 687-8800.