A TASTE FOR GUMBO AND COUNTRY : This Year, There Will Be Lines for Food <i> and</i> Dancing at the Feast Fest in Irvine

If you still haven’t developed an appetite for line dancing, perhaps this weekend’s Taste of Orange County at the Irvine Spectrum will wet your whistle. Live country music and tush-pushing lessons will be served for the first time at this year’s feast fest.

The 60-minute line-dance lessons will be offered once on Friday and Saturday and twice Sunday. Festival attendees may also enjoy jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, reggae and zydeco music while sampling foods from 35 Orange County eateries. The munchies cost $1 to $5 per dish, but all musical performances, line-dance lessons and other entertainment at the festival is included in the daily admission price of $3 to $6.

Each line-dance lesson, led by deejays from country station KIK-FM (94.3), will be held an hour before appearances by country acts (including the Justice Band and Boy Howdy), so that neophytes can test their new skills if the music is suitable. (Jimmie Dale Gilmore, whose idiosyncratic style blends country, folk and pop, has yet to record anything remotely line-danceable. But as the “cosmic cowboy,” who has studied East Indian religions, might say, an open mind is an asset.)

Boots aren’t necessary for first-timers; any comfortable pair of shoes will do.

The sixth annual Taste even offers countrified food from the Buffalo Ranch Steakhouse of Mission Viejo, Burrell’s Barbecue & Cafe and Millie’s Country Western Cafe of Irvine, and the Ragin’ Cajun Cafe of Newport Beach.

Children’s activities include magic acts, dance performances and pantomime. Plus a fireworks display is planned for Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Kids may alternatively opt to embarrass their parents by learning line dances in half the time it takes mom and dad. Hey, it’s been known to happen.

A portion of the Taste of Orange County’s proceeds benefits The Los Angeles Times Fund, which supports local youth organizations.

Finding Fest: A map of the festival site, plus entertainment schedules and a list of restaurants and dishes is on Page 11.