Westlake Village Rotary Club to Hold Street Festival

Last year, the most exotic food to be found at the Westlake Village Rotary Club’s so-called International Street Festival was Chinese chicken salad.

But that didn’t stop the thousands of Conejo Valley residents attending the organization’s first major fund-raiser from gobbling up all the food before midafternoon.

On Sunday, organizers say, they will live up to their billing with a more global mix. And, they promise, there will be enough for everyone. “There will be Greek, Middle Eastern, Thai and Chinese,” said Max Keesling, event chairman. “And, of course, we will have pizza and Polish sausage.”

The event, featuring food, music and crafts, debuted as a way to raise money for Conejo Valley volunteer and service groups. But it was such a success--raising $17,000 and attracting more than 4,000 residents--that organizers decided to make it an annual attraction.

“The response we got from the community, including the City Council, was complimentary to the point of being effusive,” Keesling said. “So many people came that the food vendors all sold out by 3 p.m.”

Modeled after the Thousand Oaks Rotary Club’s October street fair, now in its third year and that group’s second largest fund-raiser, the Westlake Village festival will remain much the same as the premiere event--only bigger, Keesling said.

There will be nearly twice as many food and beverage booths, 12 total, and 114 arts and crafts vendors selling everything from pottery and wood carvings to flower arrangements and jewelry.

Last year, organizers had to beg artisans from other street fairs to come. “We had to scrounge to get about 70,” Keesling said.

But this year, more than 300 artisans from throughout Southern California applied for 114 spots.

“They had to apply and send pictures of their work, so they are the cream of the crop of craft vendors,” said Joe Palucci, president of the Rotary Club of Westlake Village.

Entertainment will include the Conejo Valley Cloggers, a Scottish dance troupe; the Agoura High School Jazz Band; Danza Azteca, a Mexican dance group; Country in Motion, a line-dancing ensemble; and Art Slade’s Band playing hits from the 1940s.

Palucci attributes the success of last year’s festival to its location.

Situated on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties at Lake View Canyon Road, the event drew people from throughout the Conejo Valley and the Agoura area.

And because the fair spilled from the street onto the front grounds of Westlake Village Inn, people relaxed on the hotel’s grassy lawn, he said.

“It is not like most street fairs where you walk by a bunch of booths and go home,” he said. “People came and stayed a long time because of the layout.”

Rotary Club organizers hope to raise up to $20,000 this year from private sponsors and vendor fees. The money will be funneled to nonprofit groups such as Many Mansions, Senior Concerns and the Wellness Community.

Service and volunteer groups are expected to bring in additional thousands of dollars by selling everything from hot dogs to strawberry shortcake.

Grethe Rivera, executive director of Hospice of the Conejo, said her group earned more than $5,000 last year selling barbecue beef sandwiches and running a face-painting booth. They will operate the same booths this year.

“It was very successful,” she said. “It is important for the community to know we are there . . . and it is a significant amount of money for us.”

The festival will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Lakeview Canyon Road between Agoura Road and the Los Angeles County line. Free parking is available at Charter House Hospital on Via Merida. A double-decker bus will transport drivers to the festival.

Admission is free.