The Spirit of Halloween

Dylan Otte had no hesitation in declaring her favorite holiday of the year: Halloween.

“Because you get all the candy,” said the Ventura 5-year-old, who was among a large crowd at Faulkner Farm on Sunday grooving to the sounds of Arcadiana, a Cajun and zydeco band performing over the weekend at the 25th annual Pumpkin Patch Festival.

Dylan, who plans to dress up as a princess for trick-or-treating next weekend, had yet to head over to the 27-acre farm’s pumpkin fields with her parents to pick out that other essential holiday component.

Her mother, Dawn Delev, said she has made the festival a family tradition, and therefore did not bother to do any comparison shopping with other pumpkin vendors. Even though orange gourds could be had for a cheaper price elsewhere, “I’d still get my pumpkins here,” Delev said. “It’s fun.”

Jose Carrera of Santa Paula, who described himself as a regular at the annual event, brought along his camcorder this year to trace his family’s stroll thorough the pumpkin-lined fields. His 5-year-old son, Gabriel, pushed a wheelbarrow, stopping only to inspect the larger specimens, while his 2-year-old daughter, Santana, concentrated on the pint-sized ones.

“You want to get into the Halloween spirit,” said Carrera. “We’ve been bringing the kids since they were born.”

The festival, sponsored by the Hansen Trust, which manages the century-old farm for the University of California, also features a petting zoo, a life-size maze cut into a crop of sunflowers and a blacksmithing demonstration.

Kelly Carle, an equine podiatrist who customizes horseshoes for older, lame horses, drew a crowd as he hammered away on an anvil and fired up the shoes in a furnace. Carle, who is based in Channel Islands Harbor, said injured or disabled horses are often put down if they are not fitted with corrective devices.

Horse enthusiast Rylea Johnson, 13, watched Carle closely, while waxing romantically about bathing and brushing horses, and cleaning out their shoes.

“I’m a horse freak,” said Johnson, who lives in Moorpark. “I love them.

Throughout the month, the farm will be teaching schoolchildren about the basics of agriculture, including how pumpkins are grown.

Festival coordinator Karen Schott said visitors will also be taught about the importance of bees in pollinating sunflowers.

But eduction aside, the main draw to the festival on Sunday seemed to be good old-fashioned fall fun.

The Tovar family of Ventura planned to make a number of jack-o’-lanterns to accompany the decorations around their home, including a full-size Frankenstein’s monster already positioned on the roof.

Cynthia Tovar said her husband, Hank, and her two sons eagerly embrace the ghoulish holiday.

Their decorations went up on Oct. 1 and both she and her husband will be in costume when they take Jackson, 4, and Austin, 10, out trick-or-treating.

“We’re serious about it,” she said. “After you have kids, you say, ‘Let’s get it going.’ ”

On Tuesday, from 2 to 4 p.m., 4-H youth club members will offer gardening and art projects for children who visit the farm.

Admission is free. The farm is open for pumpkin shopping from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call 525-2226.