Conejo Valley Days Folds Tents After Festival’s Blustery Finale

Conejo Valley Days chairman Tom Hartin swept clean a tarp lying on the trampled grass of Conejo Creek Park on Monday as, all around him, workers dismantled his handiwork.

The carnival rides from the 40th annual Conejo Valley Days were already down, folded and packed away on the beds of trucks. Concession booths had been sealed tight against the wind.

Aside from the men loading tables into trailers and trying to disassemble a madly billowing tent, the site of the western-flavored festival had become a dusty ghost town.

“It’s like putting a small city together, then taking it down--all in one week,” Hartin said.

By the time the five-day festival ended at 8 p.m. Sunday, more than 48,000 people had walked through the gates, a slight decrease from last year’s total of 50,000. Hartin blamed the drop on the high winds that kicked in Sunday and forced event organizers to close several rides.

“We had a little bit of a blowout,” he laughed.

Despite its gusty end, organizers considered the event a success. Attendance for the festival’s first four days increased by 4,200 people over the same period last year, said Mary Elva Anderson, the festival’s publicity liaison.

Thursday’s family night drew 30% more people than the same night last year, she said. And shuttle buses running between the park and two local high schools carried a 600 to 700 people from Friday through Sunday.

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Revenue from ticket sales was still being counted Monday.

As soon as the gates closed Sunday night, the tear-down, cleanup process began. Carnival rides were the first things to go.

Frank and John Espana of Henon Attractions in Santa Rosa packed up a three-story fun house and a 100-foot spiral slide called “Oh Chute.” Their task kept them at the dusty lot until 3 a.m., “Just to make sure everything’s nice and neat,” Frank Espana said.

Monday morning, they rested in the shade and wind-block of “Oh Chute,” which was lying on its side like a massive plastic and metal corkscrew. The ride was bound for a three-day church festival in Sherman Oaks, they said.

Across the park, Ron Earl had spent the morning taking down signs and fence posts and carting off trash. His company, Cal U-Rent of Thousand Oaks, had supplied the festival with tents, tables and chairs, all of which now had to be removed. On a day scoured by heavy gusts, the tents had been a problem.

“The wind is horrible,” he said. “You get a big piece of canvas, and it starts flying like a big kite.”

Nearby, Vicente Oliva had discovered the same effect. His work crew, from Aztec Rents and Sells in Torrance, was trying to dismantle the 100-by-200-foot big top, which heaved and swayed in the dry wind.

Earlier, they made the mistake of taking down a smaller tent by first undoing the ropes tying it to the ground.

“We started on the sides, and the wind started blowing really fast and ripped the top of the tent,” Oliva said.

So when handling the big top, they left the side ropes in place and slowly lowered the canvas from underneath. It still buckled and flapped as they let it drop.

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Although most of the stands and rides were gone by the end of the day, the cleanup will last into the weekend. Saturday morning, about 140 volunteers will scour the festival grounds, picking up any remaining bits of litter, Anderson said.

Park district employees will then water the site, hoping to save the park’s flattened grass.

“It’s pretty hardy,” Hartin said. “Put a little water on it and it comes right back.”